Studies: Screen time benefits young children

New guidelines said that it is okay for kids under two to spend time on smartphones and tablets, and young children actually benefit from some screen time.

Many parents are conscious of trying to balance screen time for their toddler.

The American Academy of Pediatrics generally discouraged the use of electronic media for children under the age of 2 years old, but now they say some screen time for children as young as 18 months can actually benefit them as long as they're watching high quality educational programming on tablets with parental supervision.

"The idea is to give parents a guideline of what’s good and what’s not good. As a physician and as a mom, I’m not giving anyone strict rules. Every home is different,” said Dr. Minu George, Chief of General Pediatrics at Cohen Children’s Medical Center.

Dr. George said using electronic media constructively for less than 1 hour at a time is ok for a 1.5 year old child, but there is a right way and a wrong way for parents to handle it.

"The good way to do it ideally is to have your child sitting on the parent’s lap so they can explain things to their child- words that are good for them to know that they're learning," said Dr. George.

"The wrong way to do it would be to leave the tablet along with your child for several hours without adult supervision."

Parents have mixed reviews. Mother, Christine said, "I still think it's too early. They don’t really know what’s on the screen. They’re just attracted to pictures or the blinking sounds.”

The Khans also say that it may be better to wait until the child is a bit older.

Whatever the parents decide it can be agreed to never leave the phone as the babysitter.