Kids using mobile at a much younger age

Research on children's use of mobile media devices lags behind its adoption.

Almost all USA kids under age 4 have used a mobile device such as a tablet or smartphone, and they are using them at earlier and earlier ages, a new study finds.

For the study, researchers gave a questionnaire to parents of 350 children between 6 months and 4 years of age who visited a Philadelphia pediatric clinic in October and November of 2014. The survey was adapted from Common Sense Media's 2013 nationwide survey.

The results suggest that a high 97% homes owned a TV, 83% had tablets, 77% owned tablets and 77% had smartphones. It was also seen that as the age of these children increased, they owned their own digital devices and access to technology.

And about one in four parents admitted they use a mobile device to put their children to sleep.

"More than ever, we have to continue as parents and as a community to be thoughtful about how we curate our kids' use of devices, not so much finger-wagging", Dr. Wendy Sue Swanson, executive director of Digital Health at Seattle Children's Hospital, told CBS News.

The study found that half of children had their own television by the age of 4, while three quarters had their own mobile devices. Ninety-seven percent had used a smartphone or tablet. Content delivery applications such as YouTube and Netflix were popular.

About 70% of parents said their children used devices unsupervised, including while parents did chores.

The Pediatrics study consisted of a 20-question survey of 289 parents and 350 students in low-income and minority communities. The patterns of use suggest early adoption, frequent and independent use, and media multitasking. In fact, the parents' education and the child's gender and ethnicity did not play a role in whether a child owned a mobile device. She added that parents often use mobile devices to entertain their children in the waiting room. In addition, more than half the households had video game consoles, computers and Internet access.

"We were not surprised to see infants and toddlers using the mobile devices; we saw that in the clinic every day", Irigoyen said.