Babies are using phones and tablets before 18 months

A twenty five per cent of children are first using a phone or tablet at 18months or younger, according to findings by VTech.

The electronic children’s games company, commissioned the Kid Connect report, which looked into how children and their safety is affected by their use of technology.

The study found that 44 per cent of children under 11 years of age, are using an electronic device more than four times a week.

These children are sending around 116 texts and 85 emails from the devices, some without their parents’ knowledge.

Sadly, 34 per cent of parents use tablet technology to stop their children getting bored and 26 per cent to keep them quiet.

But what exactly are these children doing whilst they are using them? 42 per cent of parents say its to help with school work, 15 per cent as a replacement for books and 3 per cent to call their friends.