Your Baby’s Brain on Books

Why it’s critical to reduce screen time for little ones

Research indicates that modern babies are getting too much screen time—and this trend is harming their development. To learn more about the problem, we spoke with Tracey Tasker, MA, CCC/SLP, who provides early intervention speech therapy to families in the North Inland San Diego community. A resident of 4S Ranch and mother of four, and having attended more than 40 IEP meetings as a parent, Tasker loves helping families advocate for their children.

Q. We know that children under 24 months old are spending too much time looking at screens. How big is the problem and what concerns you most about this trend?

A. A national poll found that 36 percent of children under 2 were given tablets to use and 38 percent were given smartphones. COVID has made a poor situation worse; in 2020 the number of children under 4 who spent four or more hours daily using electronic devices doubled. We are already starting to see declines in cognitive development for these children. A longitudinal study that was published before COVID found that the more time children spent on screens between ages 2 and 3, the poorer their behavioral, cognitive and social development. Other issues from too much screen time include poor sleep, vision problems and obesity.

Q. How does screen time interfere with language development?

A. The most important period of brain development occurs before age 3. We call this period of development the “sensitive period” because of the rapid growth of the brain and the density of brain cells and connections between those cells. The most important part of language development during the sensitive period is reciprocity (“serve and return”) between parents and children. Screens interrupt reciprocity—and research has found that an increase of just 30 minutes per day in mobile device use is associated with a 2.3 times increased risk of expressive language delay.

Children need to move and use multisensory input to holistically learn about the world. When children learn words from a two-dimensional screen, they cannot take that information and apply it to the real world. For example,

Resources for Screen-Free Family Time

Screen-Free Parenting www.screenfreeparenting.com

Children’s Screen Time Action Network www.screentimenetwork.org

Raising Dragons www.raisingdragons.com

Hello, Wonderful www.hellowonderful.co

Toddler Approved www.toddlerapproved.com

Follow @BusyToddler on Instagram

Find a great list of books for babies and toddlers at www.sandiegofamily.com/ for-the-kids/book-multimediareviews/interactive-fun-forbabies-and-parents.

they may learn the word “apple” and associate it with a picture of an apple, but when they can taste, touch, smell and compare that apple to other fruits it enables deeper learning.

Q. Researchers believe parent technology use is disrupting language acquisition as well. Tell us more about that.

A. Researchers use the term “technoference,” which refers to technology interfering in relationships. Parent surveys show that parents have difficulty switching attention between devices and children. Surveys with children as young as 5 found that parents spend too much time on phones and are distracted during conversations. Research shows that parent phone use is associated with less talking, less responsiveness, and sometimes harsher responses to children. In addition to phone use disrupting language acquisition, research shows that when background TV is on, it decreases time spent interacting with young children and decreases the number of words children hear from an adult. This lack of interaction results in poorer vocabulary scores and lower levels of language development.

Q. What is happening in a baby’s brain as parents read aloud from a book?

A. When parents read picture books it promotes connectivity between various parts of the brain, including visual processing when they see pictures, auditory processing when they hear the story, and language processing which helps comprehension.

Q. Can you explain why e-books and audiobooks are poor substitutes for printed books?

A. Research from Cincinnati Children’s Hospital shows that when young children listen to audiobooks, they don’t have enough context to make sense of the story, so connectivity is reduced between language processing and other parts of the brain. The animation of e-books hijacks the visual processing part of the brain and children cannot keep up with the story. Traditional picture books are “just right” because the combination of hearing the story and having pictures to support the context promote connectivity to all parts of the brain.

If children are only exposed to e-books, their brains do not get enough practice making connections among different parts of the brain and may later have trouble with reading comprehension. E-books also don’t facilitate the same warm interaction as traditional books; parents and children talk less, so story comprehension is reduced.

Q. As parents read to little ones, what are strategies to boost connection and development? What would an ideal reading session look and sound like? A. Follow your child’s lead, rather than trying to read a book word for word. A child’s attention span is about two minutes per year of age, so rather than trying to read a whole book, let them explore or look at pictures as you name them. Parents should also tie a child’s own life experiences to what they are reading to help children’s comprehension and make it meaningful. For toddlers and preschoolers, parents should ask open-ended questions to engage their children in conversations around books. An ideal reading session is one in which a child is enjoying the experience and actively participating. Q. Do you have additional recommendations for those reading to babies with developmental differences?

A. For children with developmental differences, parents must provide extra support to help with language and story comprehension. Extra support could include reading face-to-face so children can see mouth [movement] and pausing a little longer after asking questions. Also “preview” the story before opening the book by drawing attention to the cover picture and predicting what the book might be about, and then “review” the story afterward by acting it out with props. For children with hearing and visual impairments, it’s important to provide manipulatives to make concepts more concrete. For example, if reading a book about farm animals, pair it with stuffed animals or puppets.

Q. Should screens be delayed even longer for children with special needs?

A. Parents must think carefully about how screens are used with young children with developmental differences. Research has found that toddlers with social-emotional delays are more likely to be given a mobile device to calm down. The problem is that often it makes a bad situation worse. Screen time creates a dopamine boost for kids; when the device is taken away, it creates irritability. The more we give the device to children, the more it becomes a habit and the harder it is to break that habit. Research has found that the more we give children devices to distract or reward them, the more children will ask for the device and become upset when it is refused.

Q. Can you offer any practical alternatives to screen time? What should parents do when a few minutes are needed to work/shower/cook?

A. Think about the simple items you were given as a kid to play with, such as blocks, fridge magnets, mixing bowls, crayons and paper. Parents should expose children to fine motor tasks since studies are finding that children entering kindergarten now have less hand strength and dexterity due to too much time on screens. For kids with developmental differences, sensory bins are a wonderful tool. They can be filled with rice, beans, pom-poms or sand. Young children love to imitate parents, so let them help clean up, sort socks or set the table.

Read more about the importance of fine motor skills in “Activities that Promote Confidence and Fine Motor Skills in Toddlers” at www.sandiegofamily.com/ parenting/toddler.

Anne Malinoski is a contributing writer and mother of two boys. Her older brother has special needs.

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