well, i don’t know why but it has been 2-3 months since i have started nursing my 16 month old while showing her the tweedlewink DVDs and e-flashcard. i found that this way, she is more focus on what being shown. she stares at the screen while sucking on my boobs and i think it will not cause any harm. I kind of think that when she’s on mommy’s boobies, she feels connected and calm so her right brain would be open to absorb everything well. Do you think i should continue doing that or there are some reasons that i should change this habit?
Well, it has worked great for me! I’ve done this with educational videos as well. Yay for mommy’s milk! For that matter, I’ve seen my older kids gain better focus when I give them a snack, or we watch a video during mealtimes. A lot of parents have found success doing flashcards during mealtimes as well. Forming a new habit can be easier if you connect it with something else that is already a habit. Besides, I think babies would rather eat than learn IF they are hungry. Sorry Doman, I do. :wub:
We used to show all the educational apps/videos etc. to our daughter during mealtimes but this started off because she wasn’t co-operative with eating and would need distraction (which we figured was best done through educational stuff as at least she learnt something in the process). However, I was subsequently advised that having distraction is basically creating a bad habit and that mealtimes should only be about mealtimes and nothing else and that child should eat without needing distraction of any sort. As a result, we stopped showing her stuff during mealtimes. She still plays up over meals every now and then (for e.g. she’ll refuse to chew food that’s in her mouth, or refuse to open her mouth altogether etc.) but we have now gotten to the stage where we don’t need to specifically distract her to get her to eat. I would love to get views on whether it is indeed wrong/formation of bad habit of watching videos etc. whilst eating. Of course, we are able to use other (non-mealtimes) to teach her but indeed mealtimes would also be a good way of utilising time to learn (a la multi-tasking).
Hmm. I don’t know the answer. I never had to use learning activities to get my kids to eat. Maybe if we had the screen on during EVERY meal, it would be a problem? It’s usually just something I do when it’s just me and the kids. When my husband is home, it’s family meal time. I think my nephew went through a stage that screen time was how they got him to eat, he would refuse to eat otherwise, but the screen got him distracted and that’s how they snuck his veggies in. He outgrew it and now he eats very well, as he’s developed a taste for a good variety of foods, so I can’t say it was a bad thing in and of itself. I don’t have the option of spoon-feeding my toddler where I’ve got a baby, so it wouldn’t work for me. Whatever works for your family. I don’t think it matters that much in the long run. Disclaimer: I’m not a doctor or health specialist.