There are so many awful screen products for babies these days, but the Fisher-Price Newborn-to-Toddler Apptivity™ Seat for iPad® device is the worst yet. It’s a bouncy seat for an infant – with a place for an iPad directly above the baby’s face, blocking his or her view of the rest of the world. And because screens can be mesmerizing and babies are strapped down and “safely" restrained, it encourages parents to leave infants all alone with an iPad. To make matters even worse, Fisher-Price is marketing the Apptivity Seat - and claiming it’s educational - for newborns.
It’s wrong to create a product whose very existence suggests that it’s fine to leave babies as young as newborns alone and with an iPad inches from their face. Please take a moment to tell David Allmark, Executive Vice President of Fisher-Price, to pull the plug immediately on the Newborn-to-Toddler Apptivity Seat.
To learn more, please visit: http://www.commercialfreechildhood.org/action/tell-fisher-price-no-ipad-bouncy-seats-infants
Dear Mr. Allmark,
I am writing to urge you to stop selling the Fisher-Price Newborn-to-Toddler Apptivity™ Seat for iPad® device. It’s troubling enough when companies promote screen time for babies – the American Academy of Pediatrics discourages any screen time for children under two. But this product is clearly designed to occupy infants alone and free parents up from interacting with them. Placing an iPad directly above baby’s face blocks his or her view of the rest of the world. And to make matters even worse, Fisher-Price is marketing the Apptivity Seat -- and claiming it’s educational -- for newborns. Babies need laps, not apps. Fisher-Price should focus on developing products that actually facilitate learning and development instead of encouraging parents to strap down babies -- even those too young to sit up -- inches from a screen.
Please immediately recall the Fisher-Price Newborn-to-Toddler Apptivity™ Seat for iPad® device.