Ok, since the day we found we were pregnant over a year ago I have inundated myself with baby information. First, it was all about the babe’s growth in my belly. I had this fabulous book called “Day By Day Pregnancy,” which I have referred to almost anyone and everyone I know who is pregnant. This book allowed me to geek out to a daily factoid about the baby’s growth, tell me what would be best have in my diet that week and an ultrasound pic of what my babe may look like that day. Needless to say, I LOVED this book. Once the little man came out, I began to overwhelm myself and most definitely my hubby with breastfeeding and baby growth trivia. So far, he has been a great sport about humoring me with interest in these topics. Whenever we are on the home or phone and a silence begins to come on…he knows a “did you know” factoid is coming his way. LOL! Thank goodness for smart phones, otherwise having an infant who falls asleep in the weirdest ways would totally interfere on my baby trivia acquisition.
So, a little while ago I went to a teething workshop where one of the questions a woman asked was if all pediatric dentists have tvs on their ceiling. The doc explained that all practices are different but they use the tv to play cartoons to distract kids from have their teeth cleaned. He said that unlike several years ago, when we were all kids, kids today no longer have long appointments. Each appointment should be quick and fun and tvs help with that. The woman stated that she has been reading that babies/children under the age of two who have been exposed to television have been shown to have higher rates of ADHD and autism. She said that for her family, she will not be exposing her children to tv until they are a minimum of two years old, so she would prefer that her children not have it on while they are the dentist. This whole scenario made me think…
There are a million books with a million and one theories about anything and everything…so which one do you choose? Who the heck knows? All I know is that at some point we, as parents, choose one theory or thought process that works for us and keeps us sane. What works for us doesn’t always work for the next mom or dad. It all ranges from setting your kid in a swing for an hour while you shower and get dressed to sleep training to co-sleeping to
For me, I think it wont kill my kid to watch some fun cartoons while getting his teeth cleaned. Will I set him in front of the TV everyday..no, but the couple minutes he catches here and there will be ok. I grew up watching Pepe Le Peu and seem to be ok. Well, I can be a little stinker and normal is in the eye of the beholder…LOL!
So the question remains…read or not to read???