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Original poster

My 2 yr old son has been using mobile since almost a year.

78 replies

sarahhoping · 02/02/2022 16:50

My concern is how much is his eyesight affected due to this.
My husband has strongly suggested and I too feel we stop him access to Mobile phone and TV. Even when watching tv he goes very close to it . We had to use mobile phones to get him to it 😢 but now i wonder if we have already done harm to his eyesight. My son having glasses in his childhood is last thing I would want

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WhoAre · 02/02/2022 18:31

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VeronicaVanHoopen · 02/02/2022 18:39

"My son having glasses in his childhood is last thing I would want"

I rarely comment on how insensitive people can be on here as I would prefer to give the benefit of the doubt but please have a think about the things you say. My daughter has worn glasses since she was 2 and has a minor visual impairment. Do you think she's worth less than children who don't wear glasses?

Hugasauras · 02/02/2022 18:45

Definitely get him checked out. By 2 he should be putting words together. If he's just turned 2, the expectation is being able to name singular objects like 'cat, dog' etc,, repeat two-word sentences back, and start putting two words together to make rudimentary sentences ('dog gone') etc. Are you under any HV or other care?

An ophthalmologist will be able to carry out some tests that don't rely on communication to see how the eyes respond to things.

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Justkeeppedaling · 02/02/2022 19:10

You had to use mobile phones to get him to eat???HmmShock

Thesearmsofmine · 02/02/2022 19:15

@Hellocatshome

What does he do with the phone that helps him eat? Mine would eat better if watching TV as they sort of ate without thinking about it. Could he do that as the TV would be further away from him than the phone?
Yes this is true of children and adults. It’s mindless eating.
MissyB1 · 02/02/2022 19:17

@Justkeeppedaling

You had to use mobile phones to get him to eat???HmmShock
They didn’t have to, they chose to.
Justkeeppedaling · 02/02/2022 19:19

Mine would eat better if watching TV as they sort of ate without thinking about it

I find that sad too. Food is to be savoured and enjoyed, not to be eaten mindlessly.

girlmom21 · 02/02/2022 19:22

@Justkeeppedaling

Mine would eat better if watching TV as they sort of ate without thinking about it

I find that sad too. Food is to be savoured and enjoyed, not to be eaten mindlessly.

Not all children enjoy eating or like food.
lemondrop21 · 02/02/2022 19:26

Take the phone and screens away. Sing and talk to him to encourage eating.
No 1 year old needs screen time.

BendingSpoons · 02/02/2022 19:47

Some judgemental responses here. Not all children will eat if hungry enough.

OP I don't think you have damaged his eyes with screens. I do think you should chat with your Health Visitor about a referral to Speech and Language and possibly a paediatrician. There seem to be concerns about him not eating, sensory concerns (holding things too close) and not speaking. I think he may need some support in these areas. I say that as a Speech and Language Therapist.

Peachandpearl · 02/02/2022 19:56

Do you eat with him and talk to him? Or are you on a screen yourself? Kids model their parents behaviour. And I say that as an iPhone junky with screen obsessed kids. So I get it, but the best way to get a disinterested eater to eat, is to make food fun, not to distract them while they eat. Screens do work in short term, but long term they get more and more addicted to them, the fights and tantrums with older DC over screens and I know it's my fault for cutting corners when they were littles

SMBC2020 · 02/02/2022 20:11

[quote sarahhoping]@deeplyrooted my MIL is pre screen times. Those old style nokia phones came when my husband was teenager lol

To all the mums here saying to take my 2 yr old to the doc , ok I wud . There's a child opthalmologist here.
But how can she tell if sons vision is fine if my son can't even speak[/quote]
They show them different pictures and track their eye movements and put drops in their eyes to dilate their pupils so that they can see the optic nerve. My DD got her eyes tested at 14 months and it's amazing what they're able to do!

Peachandpearl · 02/02/2022 20:26

One of my DC used to always watch the TV really closely and had a few eye tests. No issue. Then his hearing screening came back and he is partially deaf. So might be worth screening for that too especially if lots of ear infections etc.

toomuchlaundry · 02/02/2022 22:20

@Peachandpearl that could possibly also explain lack of speaking in OP’s DC

Original poster
sarahhoping · 03/02/2022 02:08

Hi moms op here
A lot of you asking if my son doesn't speak at all. No he does speak basic words and gibberish sentences . Also points out to us when asked where is mom , dad , grand ma grandpa etc.

He also climbs chairs and beds.
He does enjoy offline activity too . But i m concerned abt him gluing himself to screens at times. Sad
With mobile phone within one feet distance he sits for atleast half an hour for a slow feeding. Sometime even after that.

Someone asked if he likes YouTube . Yes mostly that. He has even learnt swiping across the YouTube videos. You know those YouTube short reels you swipe .
That will have to stop now

OP posts:
Original poster
sarahhoping · 03/02/2022 03:54

When our son was born and they did the newborns ear test they suspected some things i guess and they suggested to do BERA test for hearing . But my baby never had issues of hearing. He even got alert at sound of a motorcycle running across the street at times.. he's scared of whistles of the pressure cooker or mixer grinder in kitchen too and covers his ears lol
Could he really have hearing issues

OP posts:
inheritancetrack · 03/02/2022 03:59

It's a pretty common technique to distract young children while they're eating if they are difficult eaters, so dont feel guilty. We used tv and cartoons. If not we would have had daily battles over food.

Apart from those times take the phone away as he doesn't need a screen at this age. Get his eyes tested. I'm sure it won't have harmed his eyes unless it was all his waking moments.

00100001 · 03/02/2022 07:57

[quote sarahhoping]@deeplyrooted my MIL is pre screen times. Those old style nokia phones came when my husband was teenager lol

To all the mums here saying to take my 2 yr old to the doc , ok I wud . There's a child opthalmologist here.
But how can she tell if sons vision is fine if my son can't even speak[/quote]
Because they're trained to find out and know what tests to do.... And they have machines...

Fallagain · 03/02/2022 07:59

@sarahhoping

Hi moms op here A lot of you asking if my son doesn't speak at all. No he does speak basic words and gibberish sentences . Also points out to us when asked where is mom , dad , grand ma grandpa etc. He also climbs chairs and beds. He does enjoy offline activity too . But i m concerned abt him gluing himself to screens at times. Sad With mobile phone within one feet distance he sits for atleast half an hour for a slow feeding. Sometime even after that.

Someone asked if he likes YouTube . Yes mostly that. He has even learnt swiping across the YouTube videos. You know those YouTube short reels you swipe .
That will have to stop now

At two he should be speaking in sentences. He needs a hearing test and a SaLT referral.
girlmom21 · 03/02/2022 08:04

@sarahhoping

When our son was born and they did the newborns ear test they suspected some things i guess and they suggested to do BERA test for hearing . But my baby never had issues of hearing. He even got alert at sound of a motorcycle running across the street at times.. he's scared of whistles of the pressure cooker or mixer grinder in kitchen too and covers his ears lol Could he really have hearing issues
If they were concerned at his newborn hearing test did they ever redo it?
sashh · 03/02/2022 08:20

But how can she tell if sons vision is fine if my son can't even speak

They look at his actual eyes to see the shape, pupil reaction etc.

They also have eye charts with pictures of animals, even though your child can't talk they can point, smile etc.

The optician can also do things like play a game of matching cards.

The good news is that if your toddler needs glasses they might not need them for life. Oh and toddler glasses are really cute.

Peachandpearl · 03/02/2022 09:52

Sounds exactly like my DS. He had delayed speech (not that he didn't speak at all but what he said was very unclear, sounded like babbling), stood very close to the TV (usually so it had handprints on it!) and would watch the same things on repeat. Eg. The same Disney film over and over again (I now know this was because it was hard work to hear all the words so watching something where he already knew the words made it less hard work and more relaxing), he also got frustrated easily and could break things, tantrum or throw food out of frustration at not being able to explain his needs (because cognitively 2 year olds have a lot going on and a lot to say, but if their speech is delayed they can't communicate all that).
The red herring for me was his incredibly strong reactions to loud noises. I have since learned that this is because his hearing loss meant he could not differentiate properly between a loud noise that was far away and close by, so somebody slamming a car door in the street outside would have the same reaction as somebody slamming a door next to him. Also he didn't hear the full range of pitches, so things in a low pitch he didn't really hear at all, including my 'gentle' parent voice. This was why when I said his name generally he ignored me, but if I got frustrated he did hear it. Because the pitch in my voice rises when I'm frustrated or anxious (eg. If we were doing to be late and he would answer me on the 4th try at calling him!) I struggled to believe he had a hearing issue, as well, because he loved music and dancing so much. This is because it was at the higher pitch which he could hear. And was familiar and repetitive, as well. Once I knew what the problem was I used the pitch thing to talk to him differently, I have to do everything in a loud sing song voice now. Im sure people think i am performance parenting, but otherwise he wouldn't hear me.
His has improved over time but it's still jot perfect and he still needs speech and language input. Start the process as soon as you can, because it can take a while to get the help you need. Good luck

Peachandpearl · 03/02/2022 09:55

To add, he also had a full eye screening as a partially deaf speech delayed toddler as I also thought it was a vision issue initially, so they absolutely can do eye screening.

Oliveandshea · 03/02/2022 10:06

Crikey, bit shocked at all of this tbh. Think you need to go right back to basics - stick your phone in a drawer whilst he's awake 🤔

HairyScaryMonster · 03/02/2022 22:31

My youngest had to go for an eye test when she was about 1. They did shape matching, they point to a duck on the chart, DD points to the duck on the page in front of her.