SINGAPORE: Danial Shahrin and his wife were scrolling through Instagram when they stumbled upon some videos of a friend’s child.
They remember being impressed that, at 18 months, the child was able to hold conversations with his mother and identify objects like traffic cones. But it also made them realise their own son, Adam, who was around the same age, could be lagging developmentally.
“I told my wife, maybe he needs more time, and maybe he’s a late bloomer,” Danial said.
But during Adam’s routine checkup at a polyclinic a few weeks later, they learnt their concerns were valid.
At 18 months, Adam should have been able to say at least 50 words, but he was only able to speak about 12 or 15 words. “That was a huge red flag for us,” recalled Danial, 29.
“Where did we go wrong?” he wondered. After all, both he and his wife talked for a living: He’s a former radio presenter while his wife, Athifah, is a teacher.
It made them wonder if it had anything to do with allowing Adam to watch television since he was about eight months old.
According to guidelines by the American Academy of Pediatrics, there should be no screen time, except for video chatting, for children until they are 18 to 24 months old. Children aged two to five years should get an hour or less of screen time a day.
In the sixth episode of the podcast Imperfect by CNA Insider, Danial talks about his journey with screen time, what he’s learnt about using it beneficially and the sacrifices he’s made.