For every hour a day that babies 8 to 16 months old watched such popular video series as "Brainy Baby" or "Baby Einstein," they knew six to eight fewer words than other children.
The makers of the videos sell hundreds of millions of dollars worth each year to parents aiming to put their babies on the fast track, even if they are still working on walking.
Unfortunately it's all money down the tubes, according to Dr. Dimitri Christakis, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington in Seattle.
Christakis and his colleagues surveyed 1,000 parents in Washington and Minnesota, determining their babies' vocabularies using a standard set of 90 common baby words, including mommy, nose and choo-choo.
The researchers found that 32% of the babies watched the videos, and 17% of those watched more than an hour a day, according to the study in the Journal of Pediatrics.
The videos, which are designed to engage a baby's attention, hop from scene to scene with minimal dialogue and include mesmerizing images, like a lava lamp.
Christakis said children whose parents read to them or told them stories had bigger vocabularies.
"I would rather babies watch 'American Idol' than these videos," Christakis said, explaining that there is at least a chance their parents would watch with them - which does have developmental benefits.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends no television for children under 24 months.
So now, when I have to babysit Baby Poop, Mrs. Poop is going to make me find ways to entertain the kid myself. But at least I can use this as a defense to watch Mets games with the kid, at least I'll be talking and explaining stuff.
Also my elder niece Cayla is a genius and she watched a lot of TV before 2 years old, but I don't think she liked Baby Einstein, she prefers "Jack's Big Music Show" and "Annie."
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