Nicolette and Geno Sidders were relieved when they found what seemed like a magic solution for pacifying their then-6-month-old Scarlett: a phone.
"It was great. She just sat and watched, and she was quiet," Nicolette Sidders told CBS News, recalling the first time they gave Scarlett a phone.
She said they would give Scarlett a phone all the time to make their lives easier.
"The car. The restaurants. Like, even if we were just at the mall and she would start to cry, we would be like, 'Here's your phone,'" she said.
But that quick fix soon felt off to the parents.
"When I would watch Nicolette say, 'Hey, Scarlett, come over here,' and she was just zoned in [on the phone] ... I hated it," Geno Sidders said.
So, three months ago, the Sidders decided no more phones for Scarlett, even if it made their lives harder. They started the new plan during a trip to Disney World, where they said everywhere they looked, they saw other kids on phones.
"I get it, 'cause if you look around the lines and you see a lot of the parents and they're happy having conversations, and then me and Nicolette are just surviving," Geno said.
"Sweating," Nicolette jokingly added.
But without screens, Nicolette and Geno have found that they include Scarlett, now 16 months old, in more activities around the house.
"Instead of bringing her to the TV, I bring her in the kitchen and she watches me cook," Nicolette said. "And I think that's so much better than shoving her off to the TV."
But as screens become more prevalent for young children, some experts are sounding alarms about how they impact development.
"It delays not just their social-emotional development, but expressive and verbal skills, too," said Jane Suyunov, a licensed school psychologist who says she has observed a rise in developmental delays in children over the last five years.
Suyunov, who owns Elite Day Care in Bloomfield, New Jersey, said children under the age of 4 shouldn't have more than 15 minutes of screen time per day, adding: "It has to be something that is more educational that they should be learning. Maybe singing ABCs."
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends "very limited" screen media for children under 18 months.
Since taking away Scarlett's screens, the Sidders say they've noticed a change.
"I think she's happier, to be honest. I think now she talks more and she's just more vocal," Nicolette said.
And both Geno and Nicolette say they feel happier, too.
Why parents cut screen time for young daughter
Why parents cut screen time for their young daughter
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