The story of how my 2-year-old son, addicted to YouTube, was able to graduate from it

Thank you for visiting. I am a science-major mom raising my 2-year-8-month-old son, who only speaks a little, and my 5-month-old daughter.

I confess. I was doing childcare that relied entirely on YouTube.
Both parent and child were addicted to YouTube.
Let me tell you the story of how we were able to graduate from it last week.

How we became addicted to YouTube

I think it started when my son began to stand and walk.

When I had trouble with him moving around during diaper changes, I discovered that if I showed him YouTube, he would stay still💡

From then on, I showed him YouTube on my smartphone every time I changed his diaper.

It gradually escalated.

Eventually, it reached a point where whenever we wanted him to listen to us, we would lure him with YouTube...

During his twice-daily inhalations (my son has asthma), brushing his teeth, nursing my daughter, when I wanted him to be quiet while out, when I was feeling unwell, and it even developed into a situation where "he wouldn't eat unless he was watching YouTube."

Once it gets to this point, it becomes a situation where he is watching YouTube all day long.

Let's quit YouTube!

Even at 2 years and 8 months old, my son barely speaks. That is precisely why I suspect he might have ASD, and I am currently in the process of making arrangements to receive developmental support, but...

Wait, hold on?

Could the time spent watching YouTube at home berobbing him of opportunities to converse and learn language?

So, starting last Monday, I decided to try banning smartphones during "meals," "inhalations," and "brushing teeth."

Putting it into practice

I hadn't told my son in advance, so when I first said, "No smartphone, let's stop," he cried and pointed at where the smartphone was while saying "Nnn!" to insist that he "wanted to watch."

However, both my husband and I firmly said,"Let's stop the smartphone. It's a no-no,"and perhaps he gave up, because he started eating dinner even without the videos!

We parents were more surprised by this!! Until now, we had been convinced that"he wouldn't eat his meals without videos."

Since then, he brought a picture book himself, so we were able to finish dinner while reading to him.

My son, who had "No smartphones" installed

Since then, even if he wants to look at a smartphone, if I say "No-no," he switches gears immediately and no longer throws a tantrum.

It seems that in his own way, he has come to understand that "smartphones are a no-no."

And now, a week later, he almost never asks to look at a smartphone on his own!! (I'm surprised, considering how much he used to want to watch it!)

Maybe the parents are the ones addicted to smartphones

At the same time, we parents have also stopped using our smartphones unnecessarily in front of our son. However, when we touch them occasionally for errands... we get scolded by our son with a "Noooo!" 😅

It has really hit home just how much we parents rely on our smartphones in our daily lives.

However, as a result of working hard to break free from smartphone dependency, there have been many unexpected positive changes! I will write about that next time.

Best regards.

We are looking for members

We are looking for members for the "Jointly Operated Magazine for the Convex and Concave"!

The "Jointly Operated Magazine for the Convex and Concave" is a jointly operated magazine specializing in developmental disabilities that anyone involved with developmental disabilities (individuals, parents, support staff) can join.

We operate this with the hope of creating horizontal connections for developmental disabilities, and helping with:
☑︎ Empathy, like "Ah, I totally get that!"
☑︎ Solving worries, like "What should I do about this?"
If you would like to join, please let us know in the comments! We look forward to having you.