Pediatricians Debunk 16 Baby Myths

Aliza Pressman: "Baby walkers help babies walk."

Baby walkers do not help babies walk.

Blair Hammond: "Picking up a crying baby will spoil them."

Pressman: Picking up a crying baby will not spoil them.

Hammond: "Putting honey on a dummy,"

aka a pacifier, "will help with teething."

This is a dangerous myth, actually.

"Teething can cause fevers."

I get paged about this myth all the time.

Hi and welcome.

I'm Dr. Blair Hammond.

I'm a general pediatrician at Mount Sinai Hospital.

Pressman: And I'm Dr. Aliza Pressman.

I'm a developmental psychologist

and cofounder of the Mount Sinai Parenting Center.

The other cofounder.

Hammond: The other. We did it together.

Today we're going to be actually talking

about debunking myths with babies.

Ready, Aliza?

Pressman: Let's do it.

Hammond: All right!

First myth.

Pressman: "Babies who walk and talk early

are the brightest of their peer group."

Even though an early talker may tend to do better

in language skills later in life,

it doesn't mean that children who are not early talkers

aren't going to equal or rise above those talkers.

And with walkers, which is a different thing,

that's motor development.

Motor development is better at predicting delays

and associations with other issues that may arise.

So if you notice there's a delay in walking,

that's an important thing

to talk to your pediatrician about.

But it is not necessarily true or likely true

that an early walker is going to get you into Harvard.

Hammond: "Never wake a sleeping baby."