Sugar makes children hyperactive. Popular belief states that a candy is capable of transforming the world’s calmest child into a cocktail of nerves. This assumption is, however, completely false, since sugar does not alter the behavior of minors, being only a mistaken perception that parents form because of their prejudices regarding sweets. Some studies have shown that abusing sweets impairs our brain skills and promotes violent behavior, but to date none have linked the consumption of sweets with a behavior prone to hyperactivity, although it is true that sugar provides energy instantaneously due to its rapid assimilation by the body.
Listening to Mozart during pregnancy makes babies smarter. Completely false. This widespread myth is taken to the extreme by some parents who decide to listen to classical music at full volume to model, with total comfort, the cognitive abilities of their future offspring, when in reality a good part of them are conditioned by genetics. There is evidence that music helps to calm babies and that musical performance develops our intellect, but not that simply listening to the great songwriting geniuses will transmit their prodigious intellect to us.
Eating solid foods makes the child sleep better . Some people advise including a dose of cereal in the last bottle of the night, since solid food fills the baby’s small stomach and generates a greater sensation of sleep. Unfortunately, the wakefulness of the parents during the first months of parenting is not so easy to solve. The early introduction of solid foods in the child’s diet (before 6 months according to the WHO) has been linked to poorer quality sleep by a study from Harvard Medical School. It is therefore a false myth that it will not prevent the baby from waking up every two hours.
Cereals are the ideal food for babies . Although it is usually the first food a baby tries after milk, there is no reason to opt for cereals with rice starch over other equally healthy and tastier foods such as banana or avocado. After these six months, the baby is ready to eat a multitude of foods such as fruit, vegetables and meat. Experts recommend daring even the most allergenic products, such as eggs, fish, and soybeans, since, according to a statement from the American Academy of Pediatrics, they can be consumed without problem from the same date. Milk, yogurt and other dairy products should be substitutes for treated milk, and sweets and salty snacks should be delayed as long as possible.
Baby cups cause speech problems . Training cups for babies have a bad reputation since, supposedly, they limit the mobility of the tongue and prevent the normal development of the facial muscles necessary for speech. However, there is no scientific evidence to support this widespread theory, although a study published by British researchers in 2010 stated that this type of recent disease can contribute to the appearance of cavities in children.
