Mothers glued to their smartphones are harming their children's language development.
A baby's speech development is at risk if their mother is glued to a smartphone
Researchers have discovered that mums speak to their offspring up to 26 per cent less when they are using their phones.
The team from the University of Texas at Austin recruited 16 pairs of mothers and their infants and recorded more than 16,000 minutes of synchronised phone usage and audio data over a week.
It showed that short bursts of phone use were connected to a 26 per cent decrease in a mother's word output compared to when they were on the device for an extended period of time.
The experts have urged parents to "be attuned" to the needs of their child while messaging, calling and scrolling on social media.
Study author Kaya de Barbaro told MailOnline: "What we see is that the effect of phone use on mom's speech is strongest for short periods of phone use.
"When moms pick up their phones for 1-3 minutes it is associated with greater decreases in speech relative to occasions moms are using their phones for longer periods of time.
"This might be because when people are using their phones for longer periods of time they may be more likely to be using the phone for a phone call or video where speech is high while the phone is being used."