Television Ads

The Claim: Your Baby Can Read! teaches babies to read.

The Facts: According to literacy experts who examined Your Baby Can Read!, the program does not teach reading; at best, it’s memorization. Even though babies and toddlers may recognize written words, their brains aren’t developed enough to actually learn to read.

The Claim: Your Baby Can Read "gives your child the tools to achieve lifelong success by teaching reading early, helping to increase your child’s confidence, self-esteem, and later academic success.”

The Facts: There is no evidence that babies who watch the videos are better readers—or have more academic success—late on. What has been proven to encourage literacy? Reading books and stories to children from infancy and talking to them from birth.

The Claim: Your Baby Can Read! is a reading system—including a series of DVDs—for babies as young as 3 months.

The Facts: There is no evidence that babies can learn how to read by watching DVDs. Videos are not an effective or efficient means of educating infants and toddlers. While videos visual and audio cues may capture the attention of babies as young as 3 months, it is not until about 18 months of age that videos will hold babies' attention because the content is comprehensible to them. In fact, so called “educational” baby videos like YBCR take babies away from two activities known to promote learning—interacting with real live, caring adults and engaging in hands-on creative play.

The Claim: Parents are encouraged to start Your Baby Can Read when babies are 3-months-old and to follow the above schedule.

The Facts: If parents follow the viewing instructions, their baby will have watched more than 200 hours of Your Baby Can Read by the age of nine months. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends no screen time for children under age two. Research links infant screen time to sleep disturbances and delayed language acquisition, as well as problems in later childhood such as poor school performance and childhood obesity.

The Claim: Your Baby Can Read teaches babies to read during a “short window of opportunity.” “A baby's brain thrives on stimulation and develops at a phenomenal pace...nearly 90% during the first five years of life! Seize this opportunity before it closes!”

The Facts: There is no basis for claiming YBCR takes advantage of a “short window of opportunity” for reading. It is true that biologists have identified certain times when infants and children are more receptive to learning certain behaviors, such as language acquisition. However, a “window” for reading does not snap shut at age 5.