There’s new meaning to the parental phrase, “You’re the Apple of my eye.” It now refers to wonders of apps for iPhones and iPads.  With over 350,000 apps available, an increasing number are devoted to either parents or babies.
           
For parents, the topics range from baby names, how to stay organized, become relaxed or healthy.  An intriguing array of titles are in search of happiness: “Live Happy,” “Happiness Tracker,” “Gratitude Stream.”  After all, when parents are happy, kids are happy.  But the line starts to blur when the app is designed to make kids happy, which in turn makes parents happy. For instance, “The Grouchies,” based on the book of the same name, offers wacky rhymes and silly pictures to change a grumpy mood.  

There are very good apps that parents use with their babies. Some apps are clever and provide continuing novelty. “AlphaBaby” allows the baby to touch the screen on a letter, number or shape with a voice saying the name when it’s touched.  The shapes can be made large or small and flung around with “neat bouncy physics.” 

Most apps, however, offer parents a new medium for distraction.  iPhones are the new babysitter, duct tape, lifesaver, pacifier – so the headlines claim victoriously.  There are a range of apps to help soothe babies.  “Bubbles” is made for toddlers who need a fun distraction.  It brings the simple pleasure of popping bubbles to your phone. BabySitter2Go Transforms an iPhone into a tambourine or bell and lets the child shake it.  Butterscotch.com’s “Trancit Lite Edition 1.3” fills the screen with swirling colors and images.  

A mother was quoted as saying, “At a restaurant it comes in handy if your baby is crying. They kind of zone out, staring at the lights.” This feels a little creepy to me; it strikes me as just short of choosing Valium.  The talk radio host Dr. Laura Schlessinger claims that “If a baby did stop crying in response to a novel sound or sight, it would be because he was startled by it and worried that maybe he had better pay attention in case it is dangerous. ..If [the app] really stops the baby from crying, it is not because the baby has been calmed, and it will only happen once, while the stimulus is novel to the baby.”  
           
While parents may want quiet, they’re also interested in their children learning.  Most apps claim to stimulate brain development and help children learn.  There are many forms of coloring books with fabulous graphics and even a “save and send” command that allows true masterpieces to be forwarded to friends and family (“Kid Art”).  Many apps are electronic forms of flash cards that test knowledge of numbers, letters and shapes.  A cute array of apps connects animal sounds and their pictures (“Animal Fun”, “Animal Sound Board,” “I Hear Ewe” “PeekaBoo Farm” with translation into Spanish) or musical instruments and their sounds (“Sound Touch,” “BumbleBee Touchbook” and “Baby Piano”).  Another group of apps takes favorite books and uses beautiful animation and voices to read them to children.  This conjures the potential picture of a child sitting alone with an electronic gizmo that reads to them before they go to bed.
           
In a story on the “Best Apps for Babies and Toddler and Sanity-Loving Parents” on the Gizmodo site, one parent commented, “I’m sorry, but handing a $500 electronic piece of equipment to a sub five-year-old is asinine. Put the little [kid] on the teeter totter or in the sand to eat some dirt. They’ll learn a lot more about life that way.” And that’s the basic truth.  What really stimulates brain development is having babies engaged with parents.  The attachment that a baby has with parents is the critical foundation for all learning.  They feel safe and secure to explore their environment and try new things.  Babies get all the stimulation they need when parents carry them around and engage with them in life.
           
Remember that the American Academy of Pediatrics says no screen time for children under the age of two.  Apps are just for very little screens, but they’re screens nonetheless.  The research on TV viewing suggests that it decreases attention span.  Despite industry claims, it doesn’t make sense that apps would increase attention span.  As busy parents, there’s often a need for peace and quiet and respite. But with a little patience, those things can be provided by parents talking and singing, strolling through a park or playing in the mud.  These activities are a lot cheaper than an iPhone.