From birth, babies appear both ready and motivated (albeit in rudimentary form) to communicate and share meaning with others. By 2 months of age, infants engage in complex, highly responsive interactions with their parents.
So essentially after 2 months, they demand continuous interactions. Can we imagine their utter shock when their parents ignore the demand and continue focus on smartphones and other gadgets?
Neglect hampers emotional development. Infant may not register the shock due to lack of language but surely there is negative imprints.
While your kid is awake, be with him/her. Let there be at least one family member taking care of communication needs.
The “Refrigerator Mother” Hypothesis of Autism
The difference between the plight of prisoners in a concentration camp and the conditions which lead to autism and schizophrenia in children is, of course, that the child has never had a previous chance to develop much of a personality.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refrigerator_mother_theory
We didn’t evolve with easy distractions such as TV, shopping malls, iPhones, etc. and so we didn’t evolve countermeasures to being extremely neglected during the crucial first few months / years of life. Even in the case of maternal death the tribe would look after an infant. It’s only now in the modern, western, suburban world that a woman can put an infant in a crib and ignore it as she focuses on herself.
The “refrigerator mother” hypothesis which gained popularity in the 1940s only fell out of vogue in the 60s-70s due to pressure from feminism and its assertion that women are perfect and may never be criticized. The actual evidence against it, as well as evidence for a genetic cause of autism, is scarce. Science has been shamed into losing its objectivity here, as is so often the case. For example cannabis is only now escaping stigma and prohibition based on a few flawed studies, and the studies which have recently shed light on the substance were restricted for decades, if allowed at all.
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