In a world full of screens, it is easy to get used to smartphones, tablets, or televisions simply being part of everyday life. A video “just for a moment,” a screen in the car, a short clip while cooking. For many families, this has become completely normal.
And yet more and more parents are asking themselves an important question: What influence do screens have on their child’s development?
Studies show that too much screen time in early childhood may be associated with difficulties in areas that are especially important for young children: attention, language development, sleep, and self-regulation – especially when screens replace conversations, movement, closeness, and free play (Madigan et al., 2019; World Health Organization [WHO], 2019).
The first years of life are the time when children discover the world above all through contact with other people. They hear their parents’ voices, observe faces, respond to gestures, learn to read emotions, and experience security in recurring moments.
It is precisely in these everyday situations that the foundations for concentration, language, and emotional development are formed. A screen can show images and play sounds, but it does not respond like a human being. It cannot replace shared laughter, closeness, or the small pause in a conversation when a child realizes: I am seen, I am heard, I am not alone.
The American Academy of Pediatrics emphasizes that young children learn best through relationships and direct contact with adults – not through passive media consumption (American Academy of Pediatrics, 2016).
Young children’s attention develops gradually. Children learn to engage with one thing, to look at it for longer, to return to play, and to deal with distractions. For this, they need calm.
However, many screen-based offers work in exactly the opposite way: they change quickly, flash, immediately attract attention, and reward instantly. For a young brain, this is a very intense stimulus environment. Studies suggest that higher screen use in early childhood may be associated with difficulties in developing calm, longer-lasting concentration and with less favorable attention patterns (Gillioz et al., 2025; Mallawaarachchi et al., 2024).
This matters because this calm concentration is exactly what a child will later need when listening, looking at books, building, drawing, and playing in ways that allow imagination to grow.
When it comes to screen time, we often look at the number of minutes first. But at least as important is the question: What is not happening during that time?
Because a screen does not just take time away. Sometimes it takes away a conversation. Sometimes shared reading. Sometimes a walk, playing on the floor, listening, observing, inventing stories.
Yet these simple moments are exactly what childhood is made of. And this is precisely where language develops.
A very interesting study showed that more screen time in children between 12 and 36 months was associated with fewer words heard from adults, fewer child vocalizations, and fewer conversational turns between child and caregiver (Brushe et al., 2024).
Simply put: the more screen time, the less real language. And for young children, this genuine linguistic exchange is one of the most important drivers of development.
Many parents know this situation: the child is tired, whiny, or overstimulated – and the tablet or phone helps immediately. For a moment, things become calmer. That is understandable and human.
It becomes more difficult when the screen is used too often as the main tool for regulating emotions. Because then the child has fewer opportunities to endure frustration with the support of an adult and gradually develop their own strategies.
A study published in 2024 showed that more frequent tablet use at the age of 3.5 years was associated with more anger and frustration one year later. At the same time, stronger frustration was in turn associated with more frequent tablet use – suggesting a possible cycle (Fitzpatrick et al., 2024).
A screen can provide short-term relief. But it does not automatically promote the skills that children truly need in the long term.
Sleep is extremely important for the development of a child’s brain. During sleep, impressions are processed, memories are consolidated, and emotions are regulated. That is why it is also worth looking at the connection between screens and sleep.
Studies show that higher screen use in children is often associated with poorer sleep quality, shorter sleep, or more difficulty falling asleep (Gomes et al., 2024). There is also experimental evidence that reducing screen time before bedtime can have positive effects (Pickard et al., 2024).
This is a very practical insight for families: evenings in particular deserve to be protected. A book, a calm conversation, cuddling, or listening to a story is often better for children than fast-moving images shortly before bedtime.
That is why evening rituals with sound work especially well in many families: a calm story, a lullaby, soft music, or the recorded voice of a familiar person. This form of listening does not additionally burden children with visual stimuli and can help create a gentle transition from an active day into rest.
For this reason, many parents look for simple screen-free audio solutions that allow children to listen independently – but in a calmer way. Devices such as hörbert fit well into these rituals, especially when parents value music, stories, and closeness without additional visual overstimulation.
Not every form of screen use is the same. A short video call with grandma is something different from watching fast-moving content alone for hours. Watching together with an adult also differs significantly from passive consumption.
For this reason, more and more scientific reviews emphasize that it is not only screen time itself that matters, but also the type of content, the situation, and the guidance provided by adults (Mallawaarachchi et al., 2024).
So this is not about fear of technology. It is about making sure that screens do not take up the space that young children need for real experiences.
The World Health Organization recommends that children under 1 year of age should have no passive screen time. For children between 2 and 4 years old, this time should be limited to no more than one hour per day – and the less, the better (WHO, 2019).
The American Academy of Pediatrics also reminds us that in early childhood, what matters most are relationships, play, sleep, movement, and shared experiences with adults (American Academy of Pediatrics, 2016).
Young children do not need more stimuli. They need more of the real world.
They need conversations, closeness, stories, songs, predictability, boredom from which play can emerge, and time for their own imagination. They need calm experiences that do not flood them with images, but leave room for experience and concentration.
That is exactly why moments in which a child can listen, play, and build their own inner world are so valuable. Sound works differently from a screen: it does not deliver everything ready-made, does not prescribe images, and does not accelerate experience in the same way. It leaves room for children’s own ideas, feelings, and imagination.
That is why many parents today are looking for alternatives to screens that allow children to listen to music and stories without additional visual stimulation. Screen-free audio solutions – such as hörbert – can help create calmer everyday rituals and give children access to content that parents consciously choose, instead of leaving them to random videos and ever-new stimuli.
This is not about rejecting technology in general. Rather, it is about choosing tools that support childhood instead of overshadowing it. When a child can listen to favorite songs, audio stories, or the voice of a familiar person without looking at a screen, something valuable emerges: more room for concentration, play, and their own inner experience.
For many families, the greatest challenge is not knowing about screen time, but everyday life itself. Tiredness, time pressure, household tasks, journeys, difficult days. That is why it is often more helpful to find small, manageable steps instead of setting up perfect rules.
It can be helpful to create a few fixed screen-free moments in everyday life – for example during meals, before bedtime, after daycare, or in the morning after waking up. It often also works well to keep simple alternatives within easy reach: books, music, audio stories, small listening rituals, or personal recordings.
Many families notice that reducing screen time becomes easier when children have uncomplicated access to stories and music without screens. Then leaving out the tablet or phone is not just a sacrifice, but becomes a real alternative. This is exactly where solutions like hörbert can be helpful: children can listen independently, while parents retain more influence over what is listened to and how.
It is not about being perfect parents. It is about everyday life in which the screen does not become the permanent background of childhood.
American Academy of Pediatrics. (2016). Media and young minds. Pediatrics, 138(5), e20162591.
Brushe, M. E., et al. (2024). Screen time and parent-child talk when children are aged 12 to 36 months. JAMA Pediatrics.
Fitzpatrick, C., et al. (2024). Early-childhood tablet use and outbursts of anger. JAMA Pediatrics.
Gillioz, E., et al. (2025). The effects of screen habits on attentional skills and prosocial behaviors in toddlers. Scientific Reports, 15, Article 29359.
Gomes, K., et al. (2024). Screen time and sleep in children: A systematic review.
Madigan, S., Browne, D., Racine, N., Mori, C., & Tough, S. (2019). Association between screen time and children’s performance on a developmental screening test. JAMA Pediatrics, 173(3), 244–250.
Mallawaarachchi, S., et al. (2024). Early childhood screen use contexts and cognitive and psychosocial outcomes: A systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA Pediatrics.
Pickard, H., et al. (2024). Toddler screen use before bed and its effect on sleep and attention: A randomized clinical trial.
Takahashi, I., et al. (2023). Screen time at age 1 year and communication and problem-solving developmental delay at ages 2 and 4 years. JAMA Pediatrics.
World Health Organization. (2019). Guidelines on physical activity, sedentary behaviour and sleep for children under 5 years of age. World Health Organization.
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