Most of us who are adults today did not have contact with mobile phones until almost adolescence. However, it is rare niño of today who has not had a device in his hands. And the question that many parents ask themselves is when they should start allowing it, and what time limit they should put on them depending on their age.
There is no magic formula, since it is something that depends a lot on the needs of each family. But the Spanish Association of Pediatrics does give some small guidelines about the mobile use among the little ones in the house.
Guidelines for mobile use in children
From 0 to 2 years
Putting cartoons on our baby so that he stays calm for a while can be very tempting. However, most pediatricians will agree that this is not a very good idea. And it is that the recommendations are that between 0 and 2 years of age children do not have no exposure to screens in no time.
This not only involves mobiles but also television. Place cartoon too small a baby is, in general, an idea that does not seem very successful.
From 2 to 4 years
Between 2 and 4 years we can begin to allow the little ones in the house to be exposed to screens, although not for a long time.
The recommendations of the pediatricians is that the screens, whether they are television or mobile, do not occupy more than 1 hour a day in the leisure of our children. In other words, there is no problem with them watching a cartoon episode or even playing a game adapted to their age. But it is important that we control the time so that it does not end up becoming your main source of leisure.
From 5 to 17 years
Probably the age at which it is most difficult to control the use of mobile phones is in adolescents and slightly older children. But although from 5 to 17 years old they can already expand a little more, the ideal is that the use of screens does not exceed the 2 daily hours.
These 2 hours would include the hours in front of the cell phone, television and video games. And the reality is that most kids spend a lot more time in front of screens. Although it is difficult to avoid it, because after all it is "their world", it is important that we try to ensure that the bulk of our young people's leisure is based on having a screen in front of them.
How long do you allow your children to be in front of the mobile phone? What tools do you use to control it? We invite you to go through the comments section that you will find at the bottom of the page and tell us about your experiences.