Mothers Views about Babies’ Usage of Technological Tools

This study aims to examine the perceptions and views of mothers having babies between 0-36- month-olds about the use of technological tools. A phenomenological research pattern was used to determine whether babies use technological tools in their daily lives and for what purpose mothers use these tools. In the study, semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight mothers with babies between 0-36 months. The content analysis technique was used for analyzing the data. As a result of the study, five main themes emerged: (1)Purposes (2) Benefits (3) Harms (4) Reactions and (5) Contradictions regarding the use of technology in 0-36 month-olds. The results revealed that mothers used technological tools for child care routines such as feeding, calming the baby. Furthermore, although participant mothers find technological tools useful, they were aware of the risks involved in early usage before two years. Participant mothers emphasized that providing opportunities such as live chatting are among the benefits of technological tools. They also stated that babies had an interest in using technological tools, and they displayed adverse reactions when they were asked to give up these tools. Moreover, the mothers recognized the inevitable to keep babies away from technological tools in this digital age, so the mothers carried contradictory perceptions while giving these tools to their babies.