Children Under Two Should Not Watch TV

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Kid size computers and tablets are more popular this year with toymakers than ever. However, it has been recommended that children under 2 do not watch screens, and children over the age of two should watch no more than two hours a day.

This year, a number of toymakers are hoping to stuff babies’ stockings with kid-size computers, some targeting babies too young to talk — a trend that worries many parents and pediatricians.

iPad-like options for kids include LeapFrog’s $99 LeapPad Explorer Tablet, VTech’s $80 InnoTab Learning App Tablet and the $389 Vinci Touchscreen Mobile Learning Tablet. Vinci’s ads feature a cherub-cheeked baby — who looks only about 8 months old — mouthing the product’s rubbery handle.

STORY: Smartest toys for kids can be the simplest

That has earned the Vinci the honor of “worst toy of the year” at the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends no screen time — TV, computers or cellphones — for children under 2, and no more than two hours a day after that.

“Parents are getting really ripped off,” says the campaign’s Susan Linn, who notes that babies learn more from cuddling with parents than from computers. “Children’s leisure time is really dominated by screens.”

About 38% of kids ages 8 and younger have used a mobile device, such as a smartphone, video iPod or… continue reading

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World’s Tiniest Babies Grow Up Fine

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Two of the world’s tiniest babies have grown up to be fine. One is an honors college student while the other is a healthy first grader.

CHICAGO (AP) — One is a healthy first-grader, the other an honors college student majoring in psychology. Once the tiniest babies ever born, both girls are thriving, despite long odds when they entered the world weighing less than a pound.

A medical report from the doctor who resuscitated the infants at a suburban Chicago hospital is both a success story and a cautionary tale. These two are the exceptions and their remarkable health years later should not raise false hope: Most babies this small do poorly and many do not survive even with advanced medical care.

“These are such extreme cases,” said Dr. Jonathan Muraskas of Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, Ill. They should not be considered “a benchmark” to mean that doctors should try to save all babies so small, he said.

The report involves Madeline Mann, born in 1989 weighing 9.9 ounces, then the world record; and 7-year-old Rumaisa Rahman, whose 9.2-ounce birth weight remains the world’s tiniest. Rumaisa’s birth weight was initially reported as several ounces less, but that figure was based on a different conversion scale.

Two other babies born since 1989 weighed less than Madeline, and a German girl was born last year at her same… continue reading

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