Technology advances by leaps and bounds, and although many times its use makes life and day-to-day easier, I have the feeling that on other occasions our instinct annuls us, especially if we talk about technology and gadgets designed to understand the baby and meet their needs.
Hugging cushions, cartoons that promise to stimulate your intelligence, app to teach the baby to talk ... where is skin-to-skin contact and human communication?
Technology and parenting: an aid or something expendable?
A few weeks ago I read the news of the development of an artificial intelligence tool to "translate" the baby's crying. This tool is based on some something capable of interpreting the cries of newbornsSo parents can tell if their baby is crying because of hunger, because he has a wet diaper or because he needs attention.
But it is not the first tool of these characteristics that is invented, since there are several apps that promise parents to decipher the cause of the crying of their babies, just by listening to them through an audio.
Another of the ads I've seen on Instagram lately, and that has surprised me, is that of an app to teach the baby to speak. The app is presented as an "educational game" for children, from 12 months to five years learn everyday vocabulary (colors, animals, numbers, body parts ...) through the screen.
And what about the famous Baby Einstein DVDs? In their day they were announced as a tool to stimulate children's intelligence, thanks to its moving images and classical background music. There were many babies whose parents sat in front of the television to see these drawings, believing that they would learn more and better than other children.
But the fraud was capitalized when a group of ingestigadores discovered that Baby Einstein not only did not contribute to improving the intelligence and language of the baby, but children who had been too exposed to television had a lower vocabulary.
In Babies and more Disney returns the money of its Baby Einstein products because they do not stimulate children's intelligenceBut this is not all, because with relative frequency they come to light gadgets and applications to entertain or calm children, such as spoons with support to put the mobile and get the children to eat, automatic whispers to comfort the crying baby, mechanical arms to give the bottle, or cushions with false beats that replace the arms of dad or mom. How far can technology go?
Where is the bond and our parents instinct?
As I commented at the beginning, there is technology that can really help us a lot in our day to day, but when it comes to raising our baby, I consider that, on many occasions, so many gadgets and tools can do us more harm than good, since they generate confusion, nullify our instinct and contribute to breaking the bond between parents-baby.
In Babies and more, seven essential apps for new parentsIt is true that the baby's crying, especially when we are first time, overwhelms the parents a lot. We do not know what may be happening to him and we may see in technology to interpret his crying, our salvation table. Nothing could be further from the truth.
The most logical and natural thing is that if our child cries we try to calm him immediately, checking that he has a clean diaper, offering his breast or bottle, cradling and kissing him. Wasting time trying to find out through applications what may be happening to you It makes no sense, let alone leverage remote whispers, hammocks that reproduce our voices or cribs that immobilize the baby and swing alone.
And with regard to the neurological and psychomotor development of the child, the same thing happened, because there is nothing better than to accompany them from respect and freedom, so that they develop at their own pace, and discovering the world around them thanks to us and our example.
Who better than their own parents to teach the baby to speak? Respond to his babble, interact with him (although our conversation seems to make no sense) and correspond to his interests is, according to experts, the best way for the child to learn. Let's not replace it with a mobile screen or a DVD!
In Babies and more Do not use technology as an emotional pacifier: recommendations of the AAP on the correct use of ICT by childrenIn short, when our children arrive in the world the only thing they expect from us is our attention, human warmth and arms that protect them. It is true that sometimes the upbringing can be exhausting, but at that time it is advisable to ask for help from family and friends respectful of the baby's needs, who will be happy to assist you while we rest.
What do you think about it? Have you ever resorted to this type of technology, or do you prefer the skin-to-skin bond and bidirectional communication?
Photos | iStock
