At the moment with the country under lockdown for over half of the year, screen time has become a great way of educating and entertaining our little ones. Of course like everything balance is key. In this article Bloom Baby Classes discuss the many benefits for infants and parents for allowing some screen time and who our Bloom Wellbeing mums recommend as babies favourite channel.

With touchscreen technology now on all our devices

It’s easy for even the smallest of hands to get to grips with a tablet or smartphone. It’s important to note that too much time spent watching a screen can affect brain development too and paediatricians are concerned about this widespread access and its effects on young children. There is mixed information on whether screen time is the right or wrong thing for your child but as ambassadors for positive empowered parenting at Bloom we believe balance and parents instincts know what is right for their child.

The Benefits

There are of course many benefits for little ones getting some screen time depending upon exactly what it is they watch. Many early years providers have had to switch to online classes for babies during lockdown so watching a little bit TV from their favourite class may not be too much of a bad thing. Many online baby classes are engaging infants online and encouraging vital skills too. Since March feedback from our Bloom parents who usually attend classes has been that they are worried that their baby is missing out on vital developmental and social skills whilst unable to attend a class. Having access to support online can provide some advice on how to encourage baby’s development whilst at home.

Favourites

We recently asked our Bloomwellbeing Group what their baby’s favourite programme or Youtube channel was and we had a great response!

HEYBEAR SENSORY

HeyBear Sensory - Voted a huge hit from our Bloom babies Heybear sensory came out on top. Featuring its high contrast and interactive sensory videos for families across the UK. Characters are dancing fruits and vegetables with funky music in the background. We wanted to know more about the people behind the viral baby videos that so many of our parents had recommended so we contacted them over insta and this is what they said.
“Heybear is Wayne and Lucie, husband and wife we have two daughters and live in the West Midlands. Heybear started on the App store before its transition to Youtube, Wayne was employed at the time as a computer games artist and he wanted to create an app, we decided to make one inspired by the black and white high contrast toys we had use with our children.
We didn’t ever plan to have a Youtube channel, I suppose we thought it was for Vloggers?! We were required, by Apple to put a trailer on Youtube, we noticed the views were growing and people liked it. We decided to start making videos for Youtube. We then created (probably) the world’s happiest pineapple and have never looked back!”

Hey Bear videos are great for encouraging movement, rhythm and even to aid tummy time! The videos also build positive associations with healthy foods. They are especially beneficial to children who suffer from eye issues (CVI and lazy eye syndrome) and they regularly get fantastic feedback from parents of children with autism.

LITTLE BABY BUM

2. Little Baby Bum - Featuring bright nursery classics for babies and toddlers this was voted a second favourite for our Bloom parents. As a mum of three myself, my girls enjoyed their wide range of videos. Songs feature first words and encourage speech and language skills.

ALL BABIES CHANNEL

3. Allbabieschannel Another bright and catchy channel for infants to enjoy songs and nursery rhymes.

Discount Code Alert!

Heybear Sensory have kindly offered our Bloom parents and babies 25% off a subscription to Wayokids the online marketplace for kids videos. Featuring the likes of Baby shark, Little baby bum and Heybearsensory you can get to download your favourites for when you are on the go. A massive saving thank you HeyBear!!

Enter Code Bloombaby25 to get your discount here

Is Screen Time OK For My Baby?