My two and a half year old son constantly interrupts me when I am on the phone. He may be happy doing his own thing, but the minute I take time to make an important call, he comes to ask me something or he gets into a noisy row with his sister so I have to interrupt my call. It makes me really infuriated and I end up in a row with him. Why does he constantly interrupt and what can I do?
Being interrupted on the phone by young children is a common problem and can be irritating for parents. While children aren’t necessarily aware of why they do it, mainly it is do with getting their parent’s attention – they don’t want to share their parents with anyone and/ or they are curious when the phone rings and want to be involved in the call. There are a number of things you can do to help.
Before you make a telephone call, take time to prepare your child: Explain to him that you are going to be on the phone and set him up with something he can do to amuse himself. Giving a choice of activities can help - ‘While Mummy is on the phone would you like to do some drawing at the table or to take out you jigsaw puzzle?’. Sometimes it can help to have a special box of toys that your son is really interested in and which are only taken out when you need a few minutes on the phone or doing something else.
Sometimes it works to briefly involve a child in a call (especially if a close friend or family member calls) and teach him a little about using the phone e.g. (‘Alice, here is Sam who wants to say hello’). Once they have said hello many children simply move onto another activity by themselves.
If your child continues to interrupt you on the phone, the important thing is to respond calmly and not to give too much attention to his behaviour. For example you might give him a simple concise reminder ‘Mummy’s on the phone now, please play with your toys’. If he continues to try and get your attention, you might repeat your request and then pull back and ignore his behaviour and/or walk to another part of the room (or to another room) to continue the call.