Exposing your baby to screens of iPad/tablets/smartphones: Are you hindering her development?

These days babies are glued to smartphones and tablets from the tender age of 9 months or so. Parents hand over smartphones and tablets for the babies to pacify them when they throw tantrums or cry a lot. But according to research, those babies who use smartphones and tablets at such a tender age develop developmental issues with their brains and are not able to develop their social and emotional development compared to other little ones who are not exposed to screens. 

Effects of smartphones and tablets on babies: 

1. During the first year, the brain of the baby develops at a rapid pace and she is more curious to know about the things that she sees and her interaction with people develops her mental and speech ability as well. 

When you restrict your baby to a smartphone or a tablet, she would not be able to see things around her and will not interact with the people around her either. As a result, there will be no curiosity and there will not be any interaction with other people, which would definitely restrict her growth. 

Grandma’s Tip: It is not just about keeping your child away from smartphones and tablets, it is about keeping yourself away from those as well! Practice what you preach to your child because unless and until you let go of your addiction to your smartphone or another gadget, you won’t be able to successfully keep your child away from those.

2. Screen time takes away the chance from your baby to interact with parents, siblings or her friends as she grows. As a result, she will not go out of the house and her social skills will find a backseat, which will make it difficult for her to adjust in social gatherings and meeting new people, as she grows. 

Screen time will also affect her language and speech development and her speech would also have a possibility of getting delayed. This also affects the development of insights, empathy and connecting with relationships. 

3. When your baby will be glued to a tablet or smartphone, she will not be physically active and this will hinder her growth. She would not be able to explore the environment, trees, flowers and many other things that are present outside. 

Physical play will develop your baby’s physical and mental ability and let her learn many new things through sense experience and more. 

4. While reading anything to your baby make sure that you do not read it on the screen as this restricts the visualization of your child. When you read physical books then this contains bold and printed words with pictures and colors as well. This helps the child to visualize various objects and animals along with different colors given in the book and improves her mental ability. 

This will also improve her language skills and vocabulary. So, keeping your child away from the screen is indeed a good idea for her better development. 

5. More and more exposure to the screen time will also affect the visual ability of the child as her eyesight can go weak and there will be a need for specs at a very early stage. This should be avoided at all cost and your child should stay away from screens. Spending 10 to 15 minutes on a smartphone or a tablet is not a bad idea but then exposing her to the screen for more than half an hour is indeed a bad idea when it comes to her mental and physical development. 

6. Long exposure to screen time also deprives the baby of sleep, which is extremely harmful to her mental growth. Babies’ brains at this stage develop at a maximum pace when they tend to sleep but if they are glued to the screens then their minds stay active and they are unable to sleep on time. 

This also develops behavioral issues in the babies and makes them more cranky than usual. 

How to keep your baby away from screens? 

1. Choose creative toys 

Choose colorful toys of different shapes that will attract the attention of your child. You can buy building blocks, play dough, craft supplies as these are good for keeping your baby busy and develops her mental ability as well towards creativity and imagination. 

Make sure that you are also involved with your child while she is playing with these toys as this will build up her interest and she will be more happy to play with you. 

2. Get on the floor and play 

There are many games that you can play with your 9-month-old baby as she can easily crawl now and come to you. She will also learn to stand on her own gradually now, so you need to get on the floor and play games like ‘hide and seek’ where your baby will crawl and look for you but just keep an eye on your baby when she is doing so, to avoid any injury. 

Do not be bossy while playing with your baby, instead just let her do what she is doing and enjoy this time with her.

Disclaimer: This content is for informational purposes only, based on industry experience and secondary sources. It is not a substitute for professional advice. Please consult a qualified expert for health or insurance-related decisions. Content is subject to change, refer to current policy wordings for specific ACKO details.