LO is 9 months old and all he wants to play with are our phones. Which I take to mean DH and I are on them way too much. How do you make yourself put down the phone? I like to have it nearby because I take most pictures with it and we don't have a house phone so that's how people get in touch with me. But I find myself getting bored at playtime and reaching to check email, social media, etc. What works for you?
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We have a landline, but it's really just for our security system, I don't even know the number, so kind of similar situation.
I keep my phone in another room, it's typically always in the same location otherwise I forget where I have left it.
I am notorious for not answering my phone, so if people want to speak with me, they call my husband's cell. My son is older, though, and he will tell me to get off my phone if we're doing something together, which is kind of good and bad, you know? It's a habit that I am really careful about because I want to be present with the small amount of time we have together.If I want to take photos, I use a regular camera.
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I don't. I use it to play podcasts when we're playing so I don't get bored. I also read a lot on it, and I tell them that mommy is reading while they play if they're content to play but want me nearby.
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mrs. garland wrote something about parenting "hands-free":
http://www.hellobee.com/2016/01/13/book-review-hands-free-mama/
i don't happen to have many social media accounts (i know, i'm out of it) so i guess that makes it easier for me to not get distracted by the phone. for pictures, i use a regular camera (not as convenient for sharing, i know).
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We have a phone basket, it's in the living room on top of a shelf, we can hear it if it rings, but phones go in the basket until the kids go to bed. We were on them way too much. If I want a photo, I go grab our camera. I want to be in the moment with our kids, that's important to me.
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I have a hard time with this. Since my job is all freelance work, I have to look at every message to see if it's work related. I've missed opportunities because I haven't been on top of my messages.
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DH has a harder time than me since it's just hard for him to engage at playtime. I would say it's much eaiser for me b/c I'm at work all day and had plenty of time to browse whatever I want to, so I am able to just put the phone aside to focus on DD.
On the weekend, what makes it easier is that I always need to charge my phone so I can't get to it anyway, haha!
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I usually put my phone in another room and engage with my kids instead.
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It's so hard. Sometimes LO is so content in his own little world that I feel like it is okay to zone out on my phone, but I need to be better about it.
I try to just leave it in the other room!
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I have a really hard time with this and know I am on my phone way too much around my son. I plan to make a concerted effort to have a "phone spot" where it goes until he is down. To help with this, like others said, I have pulled out my husband's fancy slr camera. I am hoping the benefit will be two fold; less time on the phone and better quality photos (and maybe ones that will even get printed!).
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I don't, and I never understand the hysteria about it. I feel literally zero responsibility for paying all of my attention to my kids, all of the time. I am happy to tell my four year old that some times we play, and some times we hang out together and she does things that interest her, and I do things that interest me. My job is not to entertain my kids, my job is to provide them with the means to entertain themselves. So I'm often reading on my phone.
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Basically what @sarac said. My LO is 9mo and LOVES to play alone, so I read a lot (kindle app) on my phone while she plays. I try to keep her in line of sight so that if she looks at me I notice and look back. She's also pretty good at letting me know when she wants more direct interaction. One thing I do when she wants me and I'm struggling is that I have a game that I play a lot (Star Wars Galaxy of Heroes) that can run battles on auto. So I start a battle and let it run while I watch/play with LO. It takes a minute or two per battle. So I check back in and start new ones, but in between I'm with LO. Breaking it up into small increments makes it not boring.
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@LuLu Mom: This is a good idea!
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@Jennibenni: Commenting to follow. Totally agree with you. It's a pet peeve of mine when e.g., 6 month olds know how to swipe at iphones.
We try, but we need better habits of leaving our phones in another room when we spend family time together!!
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@sarac: It's not so much that I feel responsible for entertaining him 25/7, it's that I don't want him to grow up thinking my phone entertains me 24/7. Which I'm finding harder than it sounds haha.
@Torchwood: I think it would be easier for me if he had that attitude. But he is not content to play alone at this point. -
@Jennibenni: Yeah, I'm really happy she's so content to play alone. She actually cried if we don't set her down often enough, and has for months at least? Maybe from the beginning. She loves cuddles and won't sleep unless she's touching someone, but play time she prefers to do her own thing.
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@Torchwood: It sounds like maybe we have the opposite kids!
So funny how they have such different temperaments even at a young age!
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@Jennibenni: Right? I love watching her personality, but I didn't expect to see so much so young!
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It's a balance for me. I want to encourage independent play and like having something to do on my own, too. But I do find that I'm sometimes irritated when she interrupts and since I don't want her staring at a screen all the time, I feel a need to lead by example. So I try to do short check ins on the phone and if I feel it's been too much, I use will power not to check it for a bit. No exact science to it for me.
I try to just leave it in the other room!
We try, but we need better habits of leaving our phones in another room when we spend family time together!!
So funny how they have such different temperaments even at a young age!
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