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Article Mum’s Confession: ‘I Made A Mistake, I Wish I’d Never Introduced TV To My Baby’

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A heartbroken mum has admitted that she made a mistake introducing excessive screen time to her baby, and is now dealing with the consequences of reducing his exposure.

Vivienne Hassan shared a heart-wrenching video of her 17-month-old son Zayne, who has rufous albinism, having an epic meltdown. She added the caption: Day 1 of cutting down my 17m old toddler’s screen time. Vivienne explained how she got to this point in the caption.

“I made a mistake, I wish I could turn back the hands of time, I never would have introduced TV to my baby,” she wrote.

“I hope first time mums can learn from this. Excessive screen time causes developmental delays , regression and Autism like behaviours (virtual Autism).”

In her candid confession, Vivienne says that Zayne has been exposed to screen time out of necessity.

“Zayne has been exposed to excessive screen time because it helped me have time for myself or when I would get busy with school work and other things , screen time was my go to, to keep him calm while I got things done.

“This is an action I’m regretting so much. I’m retracting my steps by cutting down Zayne’s screen time and engaging more activities with him and this has been tough and heartbreaking, he’s been throwing meltdown and tantrums because he’s not getting what he wants.

“I have tried everything to calm him down, he’s just super upset. I had to let him cry it out. I expected this reaction from him. I cant wait for us to pass this stage.”

She also asked her 16,000 Instagram followers if they could offer any advice on making the process easier.

“As a parent educator I absolutely salute you for speaking up about this!” one person commented. “I bet this was not easy to share and I thank you for doing so and being this brave! I understand why you went for the TV option, I get it and I am so proud of you for taking now the even harder path of retracting those steps and helping him learn how to be without the screen. So much love to you.”

17 month old screen addiction

While some followers were helpful, others criticised the mum for allowing her toddler to get addicted to screen time.

“No way he should have screen time. So sad this baby isn’t getting parent’s attention.”

“Screen time at 17 months is wild.”

“Instead of filming him, hug him. You’re still giving him “screen time,” except this time you’re just putting him on the screen.”

What are your thoughts and helpful advice? Let us know in the comments below. 

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Comments

  • At his age, it shouldn’t be too hard to reduce his screen time. Dropping just a minute a day wouldn’t be noticed by bub

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  • Yes let’s just film our kids crying and having a meltdown and then post it on the internet…

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  • Wow hard to comprehend. Wishing her all the best.

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  • Keep going with reducing screen time. He will get used to it.

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  • Hope all works out for them.
    Can be hard to juggle motherhood and we all make mistakes.
    We rarely got screen time, compared to the generations these days with phones, iPads, tv and computers etc.

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  • I wish this mum all the best in helping her son ween off too much screen time. Finding other fun outdoor activities is my best suggestion.

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  • Screen time is so hard to control especially when your a busy mum with work and more than 1 child. Do whats best for you and your baby.

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  • Good on you mumma for taking steps to reverse screen time. It’s hard, most of us have been there. It’s convenient to pop the telly on for a bit and get stuff done.

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  • Wow. Let’s just offer support and understanding. She’s trying her best.

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  • At least she’s trying to fix this while he’s still young.

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  • So many perfect Mums out there…..amazed I have never met one in person.
    We all make mistakes and thats ok. Good for her seeing that there was an issue and trying to fix it.

    • Exactly; parenting is a learning journey and mistakes can be fixed.

      • Yes so true, we all make mistakes. I would like to say to this mum don’t be too hard on your self

    Reply

  • A while before having kids I had heard in the news that they did a case study, the results being that kids under the age of 5 should not be exposed to screen time. I saw first hand what it did with my brother’s children’s behaviour. Things like using a movie to put the kids to bed, so that they got to the point where they would stay awake through one whole movie and then come and ask for another.
    Having time to yourself when your child is that young can be achieved by having a good sleep routine. My kids had afternoon naps of 1-2 hours right up until they went to school. There is nothing wrong with this and it’s much healthier and more beneficial to them than excessive screen time.

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  • We all make mistakes, none of us is perfect

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  • The poor mum, time will fix it and tantrums are human nature. Hopefully it will be all over soon.

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  • It is never to late to change a pattern.
    Devices and screen time do need to be limited.

    • Yes, for our kids and for ourselves ;)

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  • I’m sure this mum is ot alone. Good on her for sharing and trying to turn it around.

    • I would offer a lot of distractions; go for a walk, feed the ducks, visit a playground or an indoor play centre catch up with friends who have toddlers, make music, dance, be creative

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  • It’s hard to admit a mistake but the mum is doing the right thing now

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  • I wish people would parent their kids instead of dumping them in front of a device. I only allowed my baby TV time for 1 hour on saturdays and 1 hour on wednesday nights whilst I was doing housework and couldn’t supervise her properly. Step up Mums and be Mums!

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  • My 15-month-old watches Mrs. Rachel while I’m doing stuff (maybe 1-2 hours a day) but I can turn it off and he’s fine. He goes straight to playing with his toys. This baby must have been watching TV the entire day every day to be having a meltdown like that.

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  • Me too! I used to be so proud with my first born about how he had never watched tv or had a tablet! Then one birthday he was given a tablet and it’s all downhill from there haha oh well! My kids eventually weaned themselves off the screen addiction and now it’s just a sometimes thing instead of an all the time thing!

    Reply
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