Please, please, please put away your phones...

@Mummy3Plus1 Disgusting example of neglectful parenting I believe you mean.

How is it ironic that we are posting from our phones. The last time we looked there weren't any children calling out for our attention whist doing so.

It's amazing that after so many pages of posts. You have spectacularly missed the point.

I suspect the kind of people who behave like this won't ever look back with regret.

I agree!! My boys are all in their teens now and I miss that baby / toddler stage. Too much technology and social media is a curse.

Disgusting example of mum shaming here.

You say it's late, they could be intentionally not providing attention to get the child to self soothe and go to sleep.

You've gone on your phone to complain about others being on their phone. The Irony here is hilarious.

Not your child, keep your judgements to yourself and stop grandstanding.

I pay more attention to my dog!
side note - a baby being up at 11pm is fine IMHO. As a young child my sleeping was all over the place and I remember my parents letting me stay up with them - meant I actually slept better and for longer!

and the baby is a baby. No school in the morning etc and a lot of cultures it’s normal to let the children stay up late

How would I get my 18 month old child to sleep when out and about at 11pm at night? I would avoid interaction and stimulation.
If I saw that, I would assume parents are aiming at the child going to sleep.

Ironically you are moaning about people on their phones, why you are proberly writing this on your phones.

I love a good doom-scroll BUT I do hate to see it in front of small kids. They're little sponges at that age and the more words they hear the better. They need attention and connection and just all the love they can get.

That said, I do think we have to remember that when we see people in passing like this we are seeing a tiny snapshot of their day.

From the comments here, it's not looking good though, is it? Are more kids going to be starting school with stunted language skills, as well as in nappies?

Mums speak on behalf of the mum. When my dc was at that age I was obsessed with dc. It is (supposed to be) biology.

Dads should do more- you won’t get anybody saying they shouldn’t.

So so sad, the poor little mite 😢 Mum and Dad should have both stopped for 2 mins and given a cuddle at the very least.

At 11pm, they should be conked out. I would put my child in their cot at that time and ignore them unless actually distressed so I don't see this as being very different. If I was going through an airport or out for some other reason which meant my toddler was out of routine and therefore awake at 11pm, then yes they could have an electronic device to 'zombify' them or whatever else would make my life easier and no, I wouldn't be big on engagement unless they were actually distressed. I don't chat to my children after 8pm beyond saying "back to bed, it's sleep time now", but obviously it's a bit pointless doing that on public transport when they're not actually going to sleep.

How is glancing up from your phone to acknowledge your child trying to get your attention for half an hour, providing 'entertainment'?

I wouldn't feel any guilt for not interacting with my child at 11pm. If they weren't sweetly unconscious or at least heading that way, and I had the misfortune to be out in public with them, then yes they'd be getting Peppa Pig on mute rather than three round of "I spy" and a rendition of Zoom, Zoom, Zoom for good measure.

Although as a parent I'm clearly on duty 24/7, the hours between 8pm in the evening and 7pm in the morning are the "graveyard shift" and I'm afraid the service provided is distinctly skeletal. I will keep my DC safe, I will administer medicine and clean up vomit and accidents, I will change sheets and offer water to drink. But that's it folks, the in-house entertainment doesn't resume until morning, I'm afraid.

It’s almost as hilarious as the time someone posted about a woman on the phone in public toilets with a kid in the pram, and the OP was told not to use the hand dryer as the kid didn’t like it - and a load of MNers told the OP to buy the woman a crème egg 🤣🤣🤣

I was thinking the same. 😂

I think I’ve reached peak MN. Speak to strangers on the tube at 11pm with a small baby. What a great idea.

you seem to have misstates so I’ll say it clearly:

Not every post is about the OP. Some posts are in response to other posts.

Hope that helped

Yesterday in the shopping centre I saw a couple,pushing a pushchair, the very young child was watching an iPad.
like the whole world is around the child to be curious about and its heads in a screen

Totally agree OP.
I also find it upsetting seeing very young children being forced to watch mindless stuff on screens. I was at the doctor's surgery the other day and a baby was trying to smile at an old lady opposite but the parent kept thrusting a screen in front of him so he couldn't see her.
The long term implications for their social skills doesn't bear thinking about.

Are these just bad parents though, not necessary anything to do with phones. I say that someone who does no social media (other than Mumsnet…). Anyone who would just ignore there child is a bad person, they would have done that before the advent of instagram.

11pm can sometimes be our 7pm equivilant.
if my daughter as a whiff of a nap after noon I am doomed and often thinking 1am is optimistic bedtime.

my imaginary overlay for this scene is that they have been out all day at a family event. Baby had a late nap and they are all tired and weary and just trying to get home.
mum realises in a panic that she forgot to order something for Mother’s Day next weekend and it’s taking the time to do it.
dad is busy arranging plans for his wife’s first Mother’s Day.
baby is awake but best to be ignored or they will never sleep

They are probably always like that.
Phone addiction is real.
How about putting it down and talking to not only your child but perhaps a word or two with the people around you too.

Exactly.

Okay you didn't understand. I'll break it down for you. The thread is about children being ignored by parents who are glued to devices.

Haha so true there’s so much berating and scaremongering around tech on MN, it makes me wonder if they’re logging on through the medium of a potato

You seem to have misunderstood. It's not just about technology.

Have you read the comments? Do you understand them? My post was in relation to a comment around mums relying on tech. Posted on a website called mumsnet.