Dr. Dana Suskind

7 Best Newborn Toys, Tested by babies in 2025 Shopping for baby's first toy? Check out our favorite newborn toys, tested by babies aged between 4 and 10 weeks and rated by their parents.

Your baby doesn’t need fancy toys or gadgets for healthy brain development. What they need most is lots and lots of your words and nurturing interaction.

Grateful to The Bump for letting me weigh in here 🩷

www.thebump.com/a/newborn-toys

New book argues child care is a ‘societal imperative’ In ‘Raising a Nation,’ researcher Elliot Haspel says everyone should want strong supports for early childhood, even those without children.

“We have never established that good child care belongs among the pantheon of American values.”

So true! The first 5 years are the most rapid period of brain development and the foundation for, well, everything.

Great interview here with @ehaspel.bsky.social.

hechingerreport.org/why-american...

Chelsea Clinton: Supporting Families Where They Are Matters for Early Childhood Chelsea Clinton reflects on impact, lessons learned and what lies ahead for Too Small to Fail, an initiative supporting families with early learning.

All my faves in @swartzmark16.bsky.social's interview w #ChelseaClinton on the 10th anniversary of @toosmalltoofail.bsky.social. #JoanLombardi @drdanasuskind.bsky.social tinyurl.com/32r5hykj

Chatting with bots could rewire the youngest brains As chatbots enter children's lives, pediatricians warn that the interactions could alter their development.

I’m grateful to @axios.com for tackling this topic and allowing me to weigh in. We need to be extremely intentional about the tech we introduce to young children, whose brains are at risk of being wired away from the relationships so central to our humanity.

www.axios.com/2025/07/21/a...

Best quote for parents struggling with an AI powered toy:

What do my kids need to know about AI? or “Mattel, I have questions.” What if I was that new mother, over a decade ago, desperately searching for answers as to how to be a "good" mother? I would have been tempted.

What do my kids need to know about AI? or "Mattel, I have questions."

What if I was that new mother, over a decade ago, desperately searching for answers as to how to be a "good" mother? I would have been tempted.
Hear from Dr. Dana Suskind, leading child development expert at the Univ. of Chicago

What do my kids need to know about AI? or "Mattel, I have questions." What if I was that new mother, over a decade ago, desperately searching for answers about brain development and how to be a "good" mother? I would have been tempted by AI.

"The question isn’t whether to embrace innovation, but how to ensure these tools enhance rather than replace the irreplaceable bonds and experiences that build brains.”

Thank you to @outthinkmedia.bsky.social for this conversation on AI and early childhood.

outthinkmedia.com/2025/07/01/w...

AI is already impacting children’s developing brains in profound ways, and kids’ wellbeing is not at the center of tech industry innovation, @drdanasuskind.bsky.social writes‬. “Every time we replace a human with AI, we risk rewiring how a child relates to the world.” thehill.com/opinion/tech...

I’m grateful to The Hill for publishing my oped calling for more information on AI’s impact on early brain development.

Tech can be a powerful force for good—as a cochlear implant surgeon, I rely on it to help children hear! But we must apply it with intention...especially in early childhood.

So what does this all mean?

Kids don’t just trust robots — they form social bonds with them. As tech companies design robots for education, therapy, and home use, they’re not just building tools — they’re shaping kids’ companions ... and future generations’ brains 🧠

Robots weren’t just trusted for knowledge. Kids wanted them as friends, teachers, even secret-keepers. Trust in robots was strongest in younger kids, but even older ones showed bias toward robots.

And when the robot made mistakes, kids still liked it more than the human. They believed the robot didn’t mean to mess up. They said humans make mistakes “on purpose,” but robots don’t...

Children ages 3–6 watched a robot and a human label familiar and unfamiliar objects. When a robot and a human both give the right answer, kids STILL prefer to ask the robot questions...

When is it right for a robot to be wrong? Children trust a robot over a human in a selective trust task Little is known about how children perceive, trust and learn from social robots compared to humans. The goal of this study was to compare a robot and …

What happens when a robot is wrong? A recent study reveals that young children trust robots — even when they mess up.

Some fascinating findings ...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

It pays off in the form of more educational attainment, higher wages, lower crime, fewer illnesses. More states would be wise to follow in the footsteps of Montana, New Mexico, and others who are adopting bold policies to increase access to high-quality child care. The benefits couldn't be clearer.

This is a huge win for Montana’s children, families and business. It’s also a win for advocates who are fighting for more universal access to high-quality child care in other states.

Investing in early childhood is one of the smartest, soundest investments a state can make...

<em>Child Development</em> | SRCD Journal | Wiley Online Library Since robots are becoming involved in children's lives, it is urgent to determine how children perceive robots. The present study assessed whether Japanese 5-year-olds care about their reputation whe...

New research shows kids as young as 5 modifying their behavior based on what robots "think" about them

As AI enters classrooms & homes, we're seeing early evidence of kids forming real social bonds with machines — for better or worse

Full study here ⬇️
srcd.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

Today’s priorities and policy choices will affect us for decades to come. Because today’s young children are society’s future.

I hope policymakers — and the people they listen to — understand just how much is at stake as they negotiate this historic bill.

On the other hand, if those developing brains are exposed to toxic stress, it’s when disparities take root and grow exponentially. And make no mistake. Food insecurity is toxic stress.

This would be catastrophic for young children’s development. Early childhood, when close to 90 percent of all brain development occurs, lays the foundation for a lifetime of academic, social, and emotional success.

This bill proposes the largest cuts to nutrition programs like Medicaid and SNAP in history. More than 2 million children live in households that would lose at least some SNAP benefits. SNAP could end in some states entirely.

Right now the U.S. Senate is negotiating the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which already passed the House. This Bill focuses on a variety of programs, but I want to talk about one part that intersects with the work I do as a researcher, a social scientist, and a pediatric surgeon.

I hope policymakers will consider all the promise and progress that could be lost if we stop providing this vital service, which truly has transformative impact on children’s lives and futures — meaning it has transformative impact on all of our lives and futures.

It would be nothing short of tragic for families to lose access to these critical tests, which have changed the public health landscape in this country.

We think of tools that help children hear—like the cochlear implant—as tools for the ear. But truly, they’re tools for the brain. The sooner the brain starts to receive and process sound, the greater chance children have to reach their full potential, academically and socially.

I want to take a moment to talk about how incredibly important it is to detect hearing loss early and intervene with treatment as soon as possible. Just as every moment is precious with your new baby, so is every moment of brain development.

All of my work—as a researcher, as a social scientist, as an author—stems from my role as a pediatric cochlear implant surgeon, which means I have the privilege of unlocking the world of sound and spoken language to children who are deaf and hard of hearing.

How Having a Baby Is Changing Under Trump Cuts to federal health institutions could alter newborn hearing and rare disease screening programs.

Public health advocates are warning that newborn hearing screenings are at risk of being cut because of drastic cutbacks at federal health agencies.

This would have grave consequences for our children.

A 🧵

time.com/7278169/baby...

Economics for Everyone initiative adds new lessons, Spanish resources Free platform for foundational economics education expands with multilingual website and new partnership

'But how can we scale economic literacy?'

I'm so proud of @johnlist.bsky.social, my partner in life and work, and I'm thrilled for the growing number of students whose curiosity will be ignited by his Economics for Everyone curriculum!

news.uchicago.edu/story/econom...

I am particularly honored to participate alongside brilliant co-panelists Hamda Mohammad Al Suwaidi, Laura Litvine and Andreas Schleicher to discuss how behavioral science can help parents, educators and policymakers navigate AI's impact on children's education and development. So timely.