'Digital soothing' for kids can cause more harm than we realise, says paediatrician

Using screen time as a soother might seem like a helpful quick fix, but a paediatrician has said that it could be more harmful than we think.

There seems to be nothing more controversial among parents than how they choose to use screens in their homes. While some research outlines the benefits of screen time, more is always around the corner to provide equal evidence that negative effects of screen time outweigh any that are good, resulting in a guilt-induced need to find out how to reduce screen time as a result. 

While parents have long had concerns about screen time (did your parents ever warn you you’d get square eyes from watching the Saturday morning cartoons?) they’ve become bigger in recent years with the rise of smartphones and tablets, giving kids screen time almost on demand. 

And though it can be tempting to cave in and let your kids soothe themselves with some screen time, it might be more harmful than we realise. Dr Mona Amin, a paediatrician, has explains why on her Instagram page.

Dr Mona discusses the concept of ‘digital soothing’ – that is, using devices, particularly smartphones and tablets, during periods of emotional dysregulation for children. “One of the biggest issues I see is not only the overuse of screens for kids,” she says, “But using screens during periods of dysregulation to soothe a child.”

She outlines two key issues with doing so:

1. You’re not teaching emotional regulation skills.

2. You’re teaching them that crying will get them what they want. 

“If screens are part of your family’s routine, give it only during periods of regulation,” she recommends. “If your child is screaming or crying for whatever reason, co-regulate or allow space for regulation first, and once they’re regulated for at least ten minutes, and you want them to have the screen, they can have it.”

Holding off on screen time in this way will help your child’s emotional development, and Dr Mona cites a study which indicates a correlation between early childhood tablet use and anger outbursts. The study found that increased tablet use when a child is three and a half years old is linked to higher levels of anger and frustration at four and a half years old. This emotional dysregulation then leads to increased tablet use again by five and half years old, turning into a vicious cycle. 

There’s nothing inherently wrong with screen time, and it’s fine to let your children use devices like smartphones and tablets safely and in moderation. But screen time shouldn’t take away from important things children need like physical activity, sleep, and learning language, communication, and emotional regulation skills. 

Many parents will let their kids soothe with screens on occasion, and this is unlikely to be a problem, but it shouldn’t be the rule. And Dr Mona does add that, for neurodiverse children, screens can be useful to provide feelings of safety and security and help with focus, so it’s all about finding what works for your family. 

In related news, here are the two things that parents can do to curb tweens' screen time, and here’s why EE has warned against giving primary school-aged children phones. One woman shared how she can tell 'within 10 minutes' if a child has had too much screen time, while if you’re worried you have too much screen time yourself, here are nine ways your phone addiction is affecting your children.