{"id":2203981,"date":"2025-07-07T09:24:56","date_gmt":"2025-07-07T16:24:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/?p=2203981"},"modified":"2025-07-08T19:36:17","modified_gmt":"2025-07-09T02:36:17","slug":"screen-time-babies-sensory-differencess-study","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/screen-time-babies-sensory-differencess-study\/","title":{"rendered":"Screen Time for Babies Linked to Sensory Differences in Toddlerhood, Study Shows"},"content":{"rendered":"

What parent hasn’t resorted to some Elmo or Bluey time when faced with a squirmy one-year-old on an airplane<\/a> or waiting for a never-on-time pediatrician? It’s inevitable. But a study looking at the impact of screen time on sensory processing<\/a> has found that less is more when it comes to little kids and screens. “[E]arly-life television or video exposure was associated with atypical sensory processing in low registration, sensation seeking, sensory sensitivity, and sensation avoiding,” according to JAMA Pediatrics.<\/p>\n

The study followed 1,471 children, half male and half female, and measured their viewing of television or video at 12 months, 18 months, and 24 months of age. This was followed up with a measure of sensory processing<\/a> at around 33 months, when caregivers filled out surveys about each toddler’s reaction to sensory inputs like lights, textures, and noises.<\/p>\n

Babies who watched any television or videos at 12 months of age were twice as likely to experience challenges in processing sensory information appropriately, as compared with their peers. At 18 months, kids with higher levels of screen exposure were found to have both difficulties in processing sensory information as well as a higher motivation to avoid sensory exposure. By 24 months, the researchers saw higher screen time linked to sensation seeking, sensory sensitivity, and sensation-avoiding behaviors.<\/p>\n

This comes on the heels of another recent study linking screen time to developmental delays in children<\/a>. However, the causal relationship between screen time and these negative developmental and sensory outcomes can’t be proven at this time. “Further research is needed to understand the relationship between screen time and specific sensory-related developmental and behavioral outcomes, and whether minimizing early-life exposure can improve subsequent sensory-related outcomes,” says the JAMA Pediatrics study. It’s also important to gather more updated data, since this research started a decade ago when kids were more likely to be watching TV or DVDs rather than tablets or mom’s phone.<\/p>\n

\u201cConsidering this link between high screen time and a growing list of developmental and behavioral problems, it may be beneficial for toddlers exhibiting these symptoms to undergo a period of screen time reduction, along with sensory processing practices delivered by occupational therapists,\u201d lead author Dr. Karen Heffler, an associate professor of psychiatry in Drexel\u2019s College of Medicine, said in a statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Now, we know what some of you may be thinking: Oh great, another study telling me I’m messing up and can’t rely on screen time?<\/em> But even study researchers wouldn’t take that away from you. The bottom line is, if you think you’re relying on TV time a bit too heavily, try to dial it back. And make sure to mix in lots of family time playing with your baby face-to-face, showing them a wide range of emotions and expressions, reading to them, and engaging with toys. It’s all about balance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

But researchers aren’t expecting you to ditch Elmo completely.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":80705326,"featured_media":2203998,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"city":[14331571,551419385],"ml_tag_age":[700852499],"ml_tag_interest":[700860031,700860207,700852669,700853912],"ml_tag_season":[700852448],"ml_tag_holiday":[700852449],"class_list":["post-2203981","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ages-and-stages","category-baby-help","category-baby-development","category-news","category-technology-for-kids","city-baby","city-national","ml_tag_age-adults","ml_tag_interest-behavioral-problems","ml_tag_interest-developmental-delays","ml_tag_interest-screen-time","ml_tag_interest-sensory-processing","ml_tag_season-all-seasons","ml_tag_holiday-non-holiday"],"yoast_head":"\nScreen Time for Babies Linked to Sensory Difficulties as Toddlers<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A recent study in JAMA Pediatrics finds that babies who are given screen time are more likely to have sensory differences later in life.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/screen-time-babies-sensory-differencess-study\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Screen Time for Babies Linked to Sensory Differences in Toddlerhood, Study Shows\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A recent study in JAMA Pediatrics finds that babies who are given screen time are more likely to have sensory differences later in life.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/screen-time-babies-sensory-differencess-study\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Tinybeans\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/tinybeanskids\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-07-07T16:24:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-07-09T02:36:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/a-baby-playing-on-an-ipad-screen-time-and-babies-2.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"675\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kate Loweth\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@tinybeanskids\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@tinybeanskids\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Kate Loweth\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/screen-time-babies-sensory-differencess-study\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/screen-time-babies-sensory-differencess-study\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Kate Loweth\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/#\/schema\/person\/609cff7c13d38b4c80ce3e87b98d5d0a\"},\"headline\":\"Screen Time for Babies Linked to Sensory Differences in Toddlerhood, Study Shows\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-07-07T16:24:56+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-07-09T02:36:17+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/screen-time-babies-sensory-differencess-study\/\"},\"wordCount\":486,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Ages & Stages\",\"Baby\",\"Baby Development\",\"News\",\"Technology for Kids\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/screen-time-babies-sensory-differencess-study\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/screen-time-babies-sensory-differencess-study\/\",\"name\":\"Screen Time for Babies Linked to Sensory Difficulties as Toddlers\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-07-07T16:24:56+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-07-09T02:36:17+00:00\",\"description\":\"A recent study in JAMA Pediatrics finds that babies who are given screen time are more likely to have sensory differences later in life.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/screen-time-babies-sensory-differencess-study\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/screen-time-babies-sensory-differencess-study\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/screen-time-babies-sensory-differencess-study\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Screen Time for Babies Linked to Sensory Differences in Toddlerhood, Study Shows\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/\",\"name\":\"Tinybeans\",\"description\":\"Make Every Moment Count\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Tinybeans\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/cropped-Icon250.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/cropped-Icon250.png\",\"width\":250,\"height\":250,\"caption\":\"Tinybeans\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/tinybeanskids\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/tinybeanskids\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/tinybeanskids\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/tinybeans\/\",\"https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/tinybeans\/_created\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/#\/schema\/person\/609cff7c13d38b4c80ce3e87b98d5d0a\",\"name\":\"Kate Loweth\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7171490983c254388f0afb4ebc1dbadbadceef587cbbf1355a1f9dc1cee13d39?s=96&d=https%3A%2F%2Ftinybeans.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2022%2F07%2FGray.png&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7171490983c254388f0afb4ebc1dbadbadceef587cbbf1355a1f9dc1cee13d39?s=96&d=https%3A%2F%2Ftinybeans.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2022%2F07%2FGray.png&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Kate Loweth\"},\"description\":\"Kate Loweth has been a passionate travel writer for nearly a decade, dragging her three kids all over the US and as far as Tahiti. She knows what families want whether they are traveling with toddlers or teens, and loves nothing more than when one of her stories inspires readers to take a trip with their kids. Her home is in the San Francisco Bay Area, but her heart is always on the next trip to come.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/k8loweth\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/kateloweth\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/author\/rtkateloweth\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Screen Time for Babies Linked to Sensory Difficulties as Toddlers","description":"A recent study in JAMA Pediatrics finds that babies who are given screen time are more likely to have sensory differences later in life.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/screen-time-babies-sensory-differencess-study\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Screen Time for Babies Linked to Sensory Differences in Toddlerhood, Study Shows","og_description":"A recent study in JAMA Pediatrics finds that babies who are given screen time are more likely to have sensory differences later in life.","og_url":"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/screen-time-babies-sensory-differencess-study\/","og_site_name":"Tinybeans","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/tinybeanskids","article_published_time":"2025-07-07T16:24:56+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-07-09T02:36:17+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":675,"url":"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/a-baby-playing-on-an-ipad-screen-time-and-babies-2.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Kate Loweth","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@tinybeanskids","twitter_site":"@tinybeanskids","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Kate Loweth","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/screen-time-babies-sensory-differencess-study\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/screen-time-babies-sensory-differencess-study\/"},"author":{"name":"Kate Loweth","@id":"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/#\/schema\/person\/609cff7c13d38b4c80ce3e87b98d5d0a"},"headline":"Screen Time for Babies Linked to Sensory Differences in Toddlerhood, Study Shows","datePublished":"2025-07-07T16:24:56+00:00","dateModified":"2025-07-09T02:36:17+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/screen-time-babies-sensory-differencess-study\/"},"wordCount":486,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Ages & Stages","Baby","Baby Development","News","Technology for Kids"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/screen-time-babies-sensory-differencess-study\/","url":"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/screen-time-babies-sensory-differencess-study\/","name":"Screen Time for Babies Linked to Sensory Difficulties as Toddlers","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-07-07T16:24:56+00:00","dateModified":"2025-07-09T02:36:17+00:00","description":"A recent study in JAMA Pediatrics finds that babies who are given screen time are more likely to have sensory differences later in life.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/screen-time-babies-sensory-differencess-study\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/screen-time-babies-sensory-differencess-study\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/screen-time-babies-sensory-differencess-study\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Screen Time for Babies Linked to Sensory Differences in Toddlerhood, Study Shows"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/","name":"Tinybeans","description":"Make Every Moment Count","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/#organization","name":"Tinybeans","url":"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/cropped-Icon250.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/cropped-Icon250.png","width":250,"height":250,"caption":"Tinybeans"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/tinybeanskids","https:\/\/twitter.com\/tinybeanskids","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/tinybeanskids\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/tinybeans\/","https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/tinybeans\/_created\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/#\/schema\/person\/609cff7c13d38b4c80ce3e87b98d5d0a","name":"Kate Loweth","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7171490983c254388f0afb4ebc1dbadbadceef587cbbf1355a1f9dc1cee13d39?s=96&d=https%3A%2F%2Ftinybeans.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2022%2F07%2FGray.png&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7171490983c254388f0afb4ebc1dbadbadceef587cbbf1355a1f9dc1cee13d39?s=96&d=https%3A%2F%2Ftinybeans.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2022%2F07%2FGray.png&r=g","caption":"Kate Loweth"},"description":"Kate Loweth has been a passionate travel writer for nearly a decade, dragging her three kids all over the US and as far as Tahiti. She knows what families want whether they are traveling with toddlers or teens, and loves nothing more than when one of her stories inspires readers to take a trip with their kids. Her home is in the San Francisco Bay Area, but her heart is always on the next trip to come.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/k8loweth\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/kateloweth\/"],"url":"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/author\/rtkateloweth\/"}]}},"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/a-baby-playing-on-an-ipad-screen-time-and-babies-2.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2203981","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/80705326"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2203981"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2203981\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2221197,"href":"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2203981\/revisions\/2221197"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2203998"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2203981"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2203981"},{"taxonomy":"city","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/city?post=2203981"},{"taxonomy":"ml_tag_age","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ml_tag_age?post=2203981"},{"taxonomy":"ml_tag_interest","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ml_tag_interest?post=2203981"},{"taxonomy":"ml_tag_season","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ml_tag_season?post=2203981"},{"taxonomy":"ml_tag_holiday","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ml_tag_holiday?post=2203981"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}