A Parent's Guide to Early Childhood Digital Device Use
As digital devices play an increasing role in our daily lives, their use in children's lives is also appearing at an increasingly younger age. Nine out of ten preschoolers already use digital devices regularly, but 80 percent of three-year-olds also spend time in front of screens, and every tenth preschooler already owns their own device. In contrast, according to the recommendations of the professional charter issued by Bethesda Children's Hospital (opens in a new window), screen time is not recommended at all under the age of three, and even in preschool, the recommended screen time is a maximum of half an hour.
In many cases, the screen serves as a tool for soothing or entertainment; however, uncontrolled and inappropriate use can have numerous negative impacts on children's development, affecting their future lives. In busy and chore-filled weekdays, paying proper attention to the correct and moderate use of digital devices proves to be a difficult task. Furthermore, the online space presents an endless amount of information on this topic, which is not easy to navigate, and in many cases, we may even encounter conflicting information of questionable credibility.
NMHH, together with the specialists of Bethesda Children's Hospital, prepared the publication titled Big Screens in Small Hands – A Parent's Guide to Early Childhood Digital Device Use to support parents in a scientifically grounded way and to provide help with the most important questions regarding screen use for the 0–6 age group.
The publication was created with the aim of supporting the reduction of children's screen time and contributing to the prevention of premature and excessive screen use, thereby promoting the healthy development of children.
The publication aims to provide authentic reference points and guidance to the reader on how, instead of screens, we can ensure the childhood necessary for our children's proper development.
The specialists of NMHH and Bethesda Children's Hospital have summarized all the important information regarding early childhood screen use based on the profession's most important guidelines and recommendations, including the recommended screen time for each age group, the potential health impacts of problematic screen use, alternative activities to replace screen time, and the options available for setting boundaries on the use of digital devices.
The publication is not only for parents, but can also provide useful help for professionals working with children under school age – including health visitors, early childhood educators, and preschool teachers – in their work.
The publication is available as a downloadable PDF (opens in a new window or application), can be read broken down into chapters on HTML web pages (see table of contents), and is also accessible in the flipbook version below.