Mark Wieczorek

It turns out that the so-called education videos such as Baby Einstein that show lots of trippy visuals with little to no dialog may actually hinder a baby’s linguistic abilities. Even shows like Spongebob Squarepants were better for children than these videos.

It seems that there are only so many hours in the day, and with a developing baby’s brain constantly growing new connections and pruning old unused ones, during infancy it’s very important that children be exposed to language.

The researchers believe the content of baby DVDs and videos is different from the other types of programming because it tends to have little dialogue, short scenes, disconnected pictures and shows linguistically indescribable images such as a lava lamp. By contrast, children’s educational programs, which make up the largest viewing category at this age, are, crafted and tested to meet developmental needs of preschool children.

Read: Infants’ Language Development May Be Hindered By Baby DVDs

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