You need your phone for phone calls, to check your e-mail, and to post adorable pictures of your baby, but when it interferes with face to face time with your baby, it’s time to put it away.
The latest studies show that babies rely on the back and forth conversation and the constant confirmation from mom or dad to learn and interruptions from texts and phone calls distract parents and prevent babies from learning from them. Not only are we distracted from providing babies with language, but we are distracted from responding to baby’s cues and this is critical for early language acquisition.
Here are some strategies to help:
- Designate one hour phone free per day when your baby is awake and wants to play.
- When you do get on your phone, set the timer first. Give yourself one to five minutes to do what you need to do and not get sucked into the digital black hole.
- Use your texts or e-mails as an opportunity to speak to your baby, adding words to his vocabulary. Read them aloud and make eye contact with your baby as much as possible.
- After you hang up from a phone call, tell your baby who you were talking to and what they said.
- Put your phone in your purse or in the trunk when you are driving. You might think you teach your child how to drive when she is 16, but really you start teaching her how to drive as soon as you turn that car seat around. Babies learn by watching their parents.
- Tell friends, family, and co-workers that you are focusing on your baby and they should not expect responses from you immediately.
- Set your phone to grey scale. Experts say that makes us less inclined to want to look at it all the time because it is less aesthetically pleasing. This may help your baby to not be attracted to it as well!
References:
Harsh-Pasek, K. (2018). Parent distraction can hinder babies’ language skills. Herald-Tribune. Retrieved from: http://www.heraldtribune.com/news/20180325/parent-distraction-can-hinder-babies-language-skills