Tip to have a successful phone call with young children around

If you are a parent of toddlers or young children then you will most likely know how hard it can be to take or make a phone call and actually be able to hear what is being said when your young ones are around.

My children are practically grown up now but when they were young they both had the most annoying habit of becoming the nosiest children ever whenever I picked up my phone to take or make a phone call.

They would start running around, making mess everywhere, screaming, calling my name, tapping my arm, asking for things, laughing at the top of their voices, crying, play fighting and real fighting too.

They could be happily playing quietly before but as soon as I picked up that phone, well, then the devil in them emerged.

I am not sure if that is because they felt like they would be able to get away with playing up because I was on the phone or whether they were purposely being noisy just so I could not hear anything, I'm not sure which but either way it became a big issue.

So after a lot of thinking and trial and error I finally came up with some tips that worked on my two, hopefully if you have the same problem I did then they will work for you too.

TIP 1

If you know that you have to make a phone call in advance, then give your child their favourite snack to eat, or make your call during one of their meal times, this may keep them quiet long enough for you to complete your phone call. Preferably something high and fibre or chewy so that they take longer to eat it.

TIP 2

Put on your child's absolutely favourite cartoon or programme before you make your phone call, you know the ones I mean, the programmes that your child could watch for hours without taking their eyes off of the screen.

TIP 3

If your phone rings, or you need to make a call, try putting your phone on loudspeaker, sometimes being able to hear the conversation intrigues them, and they won't play up as they will be busy listening, or even better if they can speak to the other person on the end of the phone too.

TIP 4

This is the tip that worked the best for both of my children. I made up a toy box full of new toys that my kids had not seen or played with before, and I would only get it out and let them play with when I was on the phone, they would be busy and distracted with exploring and playing with their new toys, and so they would leave me in peace to attend to my phone call.

Try to replace the toys every 2 weeks or so otherwise they may get bored with them and revert to some unwanted behavior, it's best to keep the element of surprise, plus what child does not like to receive new toys? They do not have to be expensive toys either and you could pick them up from charity shops or search free ads as a lot of people give toys away free to collector. Look at local parent groups and forums as some of them may also have a toy swap or a toy library that you could use.

I hope some of these tips were useful to you, if not and all the above failed then I guess you could just wait until your child is having a nap, at nursery or at bedtime to have a chat on the phone.