The amount of time that children spend using various screen devices and the factors predicting it have long been the subject of empirical inquiry because of the negative outcomes associated with extensive media exposure. Most research has focused on factors such as parents’ sociodemographic characteristics and their attitudes regarding media, with little attention to parents’ child-rearing needs and their screen-assisted practices. This oversight is indeed critical, as children’s media use takes place within the context of the parent–child relational dynamic. Furthermore, no substantive attempts have been made to distinguish between factors associated with children’s screen time on weekdays and those determining weekend media exposure. This differentiation is especially relevant because parents may face different challenges during each of these respective parts of the week. The present study aims at filling these gaps by explaining screen viewing time of toddlers aged 1.5 to 3 years, with special emphasis on screen use as a parenting tool.

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Music communications and interactions are important to child development. Yet modern day technology may have caused social modifications of musical engagement for parents and their children. Today, music-based electronic devices seem too often to be used in place of human musical interactions. The current investigation developed an alternative music based on pre-language sounds (for devices and playthings) that we assume can engage babies, and presented these to parents for their judgment. In Study 1, parents of babies in waiting rooms of child development centers completed a survey after listening to three different music genres (classical music themes, well-known folk tunes, and paralanguage songs). Study 2 replicated Study 1 but within home settings. Study 3 engaged mothers and babies in a music-movement group. The results indicate that not only are parents open to alternatives, but they can envision purchasing devices and playthings which employ new more adaptive music genres that might be more age appropriate and developmentally sound.