Mobiles

Who remembers going to the doctor’s office and playing with one of these? Likely very few children are playing with mobile bead toys like these anymore – instead they play with their parents’ mobile phones. This is less of a tip or trick and more of a rant. More and more when I enter the room to see a patient, the child (as young as 1 year old) is holding the parent’s mobile phone and watching a video or playing a simple game. When it comes time to examine the child, the parent struggles to wrestle the phone out of their child’s hands. Often there are tears, tantrums, and the very second I finish my exam or even if there is a brief pause to grab the otoscope, the child is reaching for the phone. I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of parents I’ve seen reading a book with their child or presenting their child with any sort of non-digital toy. Growing evidence is showing negative effects of screen use in children, teens, adults, and elders. I don’t really know the answer here – perhaps we have to count on our general pediatrician colleagues to fight this battle. If you have any tips on this topic, leave a comment.