Smartphones Are Mom’s New Babysitter

emarketer reporting:
Mobile devices are increasingly used as a mother’s helper when her kids are bored. Research shows that moms, anxious to keep their offspring quiet and occupied, share their smartphones with children as young as age 1.
A Mom Central Consulting survey from January 2012, for example, found that 39% of US mothers who use the internet, have a mobile phone that they pass on to their children to keep them engaged during a car trip. Only the Nintendo DS and the car DVD player or video were used more often to keep kids engaged during car travel (at 40% and 47%, respectively). And just over one-quarter of the moms surveyed shared their iPads with their kids.

Stacy DeBroff, CEO and founder of Mom Central, pointed out in an interview with eMarketer that mothers of young kids are “raising digital natives.” Even at age 2, they know how to slide open an iPhone, and they know what game they want to play, she said.
http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?R=1009031&ecid=a6506033675d47f881651943c21c5ed4