BABY’S SECOND POISON: THE SMARTPHONE
- Madhukar Dama
- Jun 7
- 7 min read
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INTRODUCTION
The first major harm many babies face is sugar. The second one is even more damaging: the smartphone.
Smartphones are being used widely in Indian homes to keep babies quiet, distracted, or fed. Most parents believe they are helping the child or saving time. But giving smartphones to babies and toddlers can cause serious and long-lasting harm to brain development, sleep, emotions, learning, and health.
This essay explains how early smartphone exposure affects babies and what parents can do to avoid or reverse the damage.
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1. EARLY SCREEN EXPOSURE DAMAGES BRAIN DEVELOPMENT
Babies need to see faces, listen to real voices, and touch real things to build brain connections.
When they watch phones:
The brain becomes passive
The child does not learn to talk on time
Eye contact reduces
They struggle to understand people’s emotions
The brain develops based on what it experiences. If the experience is mostly screens, then the brain learns only that.
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2. ATTENTION SPAN BECOMES VERY WEAK
Phones show fast, colourful, moving images. This makes the child expect constant excitement. When there is no phone:
The child gets bored easily
Cannot sit quietly
Cannot enjoy slow or natural things
This becomes a major problem when they go to school or try to read or study.
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3. SLOW SPEECH AND LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT
Babies learn language by listening to people and watching their faces. Smartphones do not talk back or wait for the child’s response.
This leads to:
Late talking
Repeating phrases from videos (echolalia)
Poor vocabulary
Difficulty expressing feelings
Speech therapy cases are rising rapidly in India, mostly due to early screen exposure.
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4. POOR SLEEP AND HORMONAL DISTURBANCE
Smartphone light affects melatonin, the hormone needed for good sleep. Watching screens before bed causes:
Trouble falling asleep
Waking up often
Poor quality sleep
Crankiness and fatigue
Long-term poor sleep affects height, immunity, and memory.
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5. EYE STRAIN AND EARLY GLASSES
Children watching phones for long hours face:
Eye dryness
Blinking problems
Early myopia (short-sightedness)
Headaches and watery eyes
They also get used to watching things from very close, which weakens natural eyesight.
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6. OBESITY, CONSTIPATION, AND POOR DIGESTION
Phone is often used to make a child eat. But this makes the child eat without attention. It leads to:
Overeating or undereating
Poor chewing
Gas, bloating
Lazy bowel movement
Also, when children sit for long hours with the phone, they move less and burn less energy.
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7. TANTRUMS, ANGER, AND SCREEN DEPENDENCY
If a child is regularly given a phone, the brain gets used to quick pleasure. When the phone is taken away:
They get angry
Cry a lot
Refuse to eat or sleep
This is not just behavior. This is withdrawal. Like a mild addiction.
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8. LOSS OF NATURAL PLAY AND CREATIVITY
Children who grow up with phones:
Don’t play with real toys
Don’t enjoy outdoor games
Have poor imagination
They want ready-made entertainment. They cannot make their own fun.
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9. REDUCED FAMILY CONNECTION
Babies bond with parents through face, voice, touch, and shared moments. If the baby is always watching a screen:
Eye contact with parents reduces
Emotional bonding becomes weak
Child starts preferring the phone over people
This causes loneliness and emotional problems later.
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10. SLOW LEARNING AND SCHOOL TROUBLES
Children raised on screens struggle in preschool and school:
Cannot sit in one place
Don’t understand simple instructions
Get distracted easily
Have poor handwriting and reading skills
Many children today are being labelled as hyperactive, when the real problem is too much early screen exposure.
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11. POSTURE AND BODY WEAKNESS
Children who use phones too much:
Develop weak neck and back muscles
Have rounded shoulders
Become tired easily
Miss physical development milestones
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12. EARLY SIGNS OF ANXIETY AND STRESS
Without phones, children become restless. They may:
Chew nails
Avoid talking
Cry when asked to sit alone
Show signs of fear and insecurity
Phones cover the symptoms but make the root problem worse.
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13. CULTURAL DISCONNECTION
Children who grow up watching cartoons and English songs:
Forget local language rhymes
Don’t connect with festivals and rituals
Cannot relate to nature or family roles
This creates a generation that is disconnected from its roots.
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14. PARENTAL PHONE USAGE AFFECTS THE CHILD
Even if you don’t give the phone to your baby, using it in front of them often causes:
Emotional neglect
Reduced interaction
Copying behaviour
Children learn not from what you say, but from what you do.
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WHAT PARENTS CAN DO
Avoid giving any phone before age 2 (ideally till age 4)
Never use phone while feeding or putting to sleep
Use toys, stories, and nature for engagement
Let child get bored sometimes (this builds creativity)
Create phone-free spaces: meals, sleep, bathroom
Spend more face-to-face time
Reduce your own phone usage in front of child
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IF DAMAGE IS ALREADY DONE
It is never too late. Start by:
Slowly reducing phone time
Replacing screen with stories, play, chores
Spending focused time daily with the child
Encouraging outdoor play and simple tasks
Getting professional help if speech or sleep is affected
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EPILOGUE
Smartphones may look harmless. But to a baby, they act like a drug. They affect brain growth, speech, sleep, emotions, learning, and even family bonding.
Many parents are unaware of this impact. But now that you know, you can protect your child by choosing better habits. The earlier you start, the easier it is.
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REFERENCES
1. World Health Organization (2019). Guidelines on Physical Activity, Sedentary Behaviour and Sleep for Children Under 5 Years of Age
2. Indian Academy of Pediatrics (2021). Digital Wellness Guidelines for Children and Adolescents
3. American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). (2016). Media and Young Minds
4. Canadian Paediatric Society (2017). Screen Time and Young Children
5. Twenge, J. M. et al. (2018). Associations between screen time and lower psychological well-being among children and adolescents. Preventive Medicine Reports.
6. Chonchaiya, W., & Pruksananonda, C. (2008). Screen media exposure in children and speech delay. Pediatrics International.
7. Heffler KF, et al. (2020). Excessive Screen Time and Emotional Behavior in Toddlers. Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics.
8. Nathanson AI. (2015). Parental mediation and child outcomes. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media.
9. Zimmerman FJ, et al. (2007). Association between early television viewing and subsequent attentional problems in children. Pediatrics.
10. Christakis DA. (2004). Early television exposure and subsequent attentional problems. Pediatrics.
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“JUST GIVE HIM THE PHONE”
he was six months old
when someone said,
“just show him the phone for a minute.”
and it worked.
the crying stopped.
the spoon went in.
the rice got swallowed.
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they said,
“look how smart he is!
he already knows how to swipe.”
they didn’t say,
he just stopped learning how to blink,
how to look at faces,
how to wait,
how to feel.
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the phone entered the house quietly.
it sat between the baby and the mother.
between the child and the grandfather.
between dinner and digestion.
between love and attention.
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they said,
“at least he’s eating.”
but the food went in without chewing,
without focus,
without joy.
the gut stayed confused.
the gas stayed permanent.
the appetite stayed broken.
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he sat on the floor,
watching reels before he could say his name.
talking became delayed.
not because he had a problem.
but because nobody talked to him anymore.
only videos did.
they talked too fast.
and never waited for an answer.
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the phone put him to sleep,
but the sleep wasn’t deep.
he woke up tired.
dark circles under eyes
before he had schoolbags.
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he didn’t run.
he didn’t climb.
he didn’t roll in mud.
he sat cross-legged like a monk,
addicted to cartoons made by strangers
selling sugar-coated colors
and loud noises
to toddlers in India
with tired parents.
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they thought the screen was safe.
but it was eating him.
slowly.
while everyone clapped.
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he stopped looking at faces.
he didn’t care when people entered the room.
he only smiled when the phone came close.
no one noticed the red eyes.
the forward neck.
the slouched back.
the shallow breath.
the early glasses.
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they said,
“he’s always angry these days.”
but no one saw
that dopamine was crashing
every time the phone went away.
they thought he had an attitude.
he was having withdrawal.
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at bedtime,
they put him to sleep with rhymes.
not lullabies.
not stories.
just rhymes blasted into his tiny ears
through a cracked phone screen
while his mother scrolled silently
beside him.
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in the morning,
he didn’t look rested.
he looked like a 40-year-old
who missed a deadline.
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he went to school
with a brain that wanted speed,
and a teacher who spoke slowly.
so he got bored.
and they said he had a disorder.
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he didn’t want toys.
he wanted screens.
he didn’t want parks.
he wanted noise.
he didn’t want to wait.
he wanted now.
they called it attention deficit.
but no one saw
that attention was never built in the first place.
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the phone replaced
stories from the grandfather,
songs from the grandmother,
talks with the father,
touch from the mother.
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he grew up next to everyone
but connected to nothing.
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and when the phone was taken away,
he didn’t know what to do.
he didn’t know how to play.
how to imagine.
how to rest.
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some called it modern parenting.
some called it convenience.
but what it really was—
was the first slow death of real childhood.
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now he’s five.
he can use a tablet
but not climb stairs properly.
he can say YouTube
but not ask how you feel.
he can memorize videos
but not describe a mango.
he can skip ads
but not wait for his turn.
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one rectangle of light
took everything
his eyes should’ve seen,
his hands should’ve touched,
his ears should’ve heard,
his heart should’ve felt.
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all because
someone said,
“just give him the phone
for a few minutes.”
and no one ever stopped.
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