The Most Reliable Parental Control App
FamiSafe lets parents control screen time, track real-time location and detect inappropriate content on kids' devices.
With the advent of technology, things have changed a lot. These days people like to spend more time on gadgets than in person and so do the babies. But it is not right to hold babies responsible for this. It is the responsibility of the parents to decide screen time for babies.
You might be wondering, Is screen time bad for babies? If so, what should be the screen time for babies under 1 or screen time for babies under 2. If we go with the World Health Organization, it recommends no screen time for babies under 2. This means you must be careful with this. Let us discuss this in detail to get better clarity on the same.
Part 1: Is Screen Time Bad for babies?
Studies have shown that most of the baby’s brain development happens in the first two years itself. So it is essential to allow your baby to explore the environment. The baby must have experience with sights, sounds, tastes, textures, etc. Apart from this, it is good to allow your baby to interact and play with other children. This will help your baby to learn about the world around them.
But these days, parents let their babies spend a lot of time on screens. You must know the effects of screen time on babies. If your baby is spending more time on screen, it is not good for you and the proper growth and development of the baby. Babies and screen time must be taken care of. Let us dig deeper into what is essential to your baby and how screen time is creating a hindrance.
- Language Development
Language acquisition is essential for a baby. A study has shown that until your baby is about 2 and a half years old, it is difficult to learn effectively from watching something on the screen. Another study has shown that a child younger than 4 years learns fewer words by watching television. This draws attention to the effects of screen time on babies.
It is better to interact with your baby. This will help your baby learn a lot by picking up sounds, words, body language, eye contact, etc. Let them experiment with a voice in your presence. This quality time is certainly going to help your baby a lot in language development.
- Social and Emotional Development
Social and Emotional development is essential for a baby. They learn to socialize by connecting face to face. But if you are giving them screens to spend time with, you are not doing any good. Digital screens are distracting them from building that connection.
Research has shown that babies who were allowed to spend time on screens may have a tougher time managing their emotions as they grow older. A study had shown that when parents were interacting with their kids, and the TV screens were on in the background, the interaction was disturbed. Another study has shown that screens can lead to shorter attention spans and various behavioral issues. It also disturbs their comfort level.
- Weight Issues
Researches have shown a relationship between too much screen time and obesity. A recent study found that a toddler’s body mass index increased with every hour of screen time per week. It limits physical activity. You must encourage your baby to be involved in physical activity as much as possible. This will not only keep the blood flow normal but will also bring up agility. It will count to the physical development of your baby.
- Sleep Problems
Screen time is bad for babies, and this can be evident from the researchers that show that the more time a child spends in front of the screen, especially in the evening, the less sleep they will get. This even holds for infants as young as 6 months.
It is a fact that babies sleep more as they are developing rapidly. If we go with a study, a general requirement of sleep for a baby of about 6 months and older is approximately 15 hours a day. So it is essential to keep your babies away from screens as it can affect the sleep quality and become a hindrance in the proper rest that a baby needs in a day.
Apart from this, your baby learns the most when all five senses are utilized properly. It is much better to let your baby get an experience of holding an apple and watching it carefully, smelling it, tasting it, listening to real sounds than watching an apple on the screen.
Part 2: How much screen time should a baby have?
According to World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines, babies must not be left to watch TV or other screens passively. It should not happen before a child is 2. This means no screen time for babies under 2. If the age is between 2-4 years, even then, this limit is set to 1 hour or less a day. Even if we go beyond 4 years, this limit is of 2 hours or less a day.
This is for your baby's proper growth and development, especially during the early years when most of the development is under process. It will aid your baby in growing mentally and physically strong.
Part 3: How to set limited screen time for babies?
So now you are familiar with the effects of screen time on babies. You might be wondering how to set limited screen time so that you can ensure safety both in your presence as well as in your absence.
Well, FamiSafe from Wondershare is all you need. It is one of the most reliable parental control apps. It lets you track kid's app usage details and lets you manage how much time kids can spend on their devices.
Wondershare Famisafe - The Most Reliable Parental Control App
5,481,435 people have signed up.
Location Tracking & Geo-fencing
App Blocker & Web Filtering
Screen Time Control
Smart Parental Control Setting
Block In-app Purchase
Let us go through some features of this app.
- Know the Screen usage: FamiSafe lets you get details of a kid's screen time remotely. It lets you know how much time your kid spends on devices per day, week, or month. It also lets you know how much time is spent on a specific app. Apart from this, you can also know the most used apps and the period in which the phone has been used most.
- Apply Screen TIme Restriction: You can manually and remotely block or unblock devices to get more off-time screens. FamiSafe lets you set up daily or recurring screen time limits to restrict phone usage. Apart from this, you can also customize the blocked app list to whitelist certain apps during the lockdown.
- Cultivate Good Digital Habit: You can easily schedule to block chosen apps or devices at any specific day period. You can also set screen time restrictions around specific places. Apart from this, you can set the schedule to repeat on a specific or chosen date.
Moreover, you can manage up to 30 devices and cross platforms. You will also get additional features like. Real-Time Location for safety, Location History by timeline, Geofencing, Activity Report, Smart Schedule, App Blocker, Web Filter, Browser History, YouTube Monitor, Explicit Content Detection, Suspicious Photos, and much more.
Part 4: Screen Time Tips
Prepare the Environment: The best thing that you can do is to prepare a gadget-free environment. It is good to spend time with your baby rather than spending unnecessary time on gadgets. Use gadgets only when there is a need to do so.
Use Parental tools: There are tools like FamiSafe that allow you to limit screen time. One of the most reliable parental control apps lets you set up daily or recurring screen time limits to restrict phone usage.
Keep your baby’s room screen-free: It is good to keep your baby’s room screen-free as there are many, who watch TV, play video games in the presence of a baby. In another scenario, there are chances that you might be caught up in work, and the child spends a lot of time watching TV in your absence.
Spend time outside: It is good to take your baby to the lawn, garden, park, etc. This will let your baby experience the environment. This will also reduce the chances of spending time on screen.
Encouragement: This is one of the biggest solutions to limit screen time for babies. Deal with them wisely, and they will follow you.
Conclusion:
Gadgets are a good source of both entertainment and learning. But their overuse can harm your baby. This is why you are required to maintain a balance between babies and screen time. This will prevent your baby from getting addicted to gadgets at later stages and help in the proper physical and mental growth. Let them learn from nature itself.