(Provided photo)

With the holiday shopping season here, parents have been logging on via their smartphones and tablets to ask me lots of questions.

They want to know whether electronic books and other apps should be purchased for their infants and toddlers to help their young children get smarter.

Well, let me swipe away some of your concerns and provide some information on this topic.

To begin with, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends minimizing screen time before two years of age. After that, they recommend limiting all screen time for young children to no more than one to two hours a day.

Following those guidelines, however, is easier said than done. A recent study revealed that by age two, three-quarters of all older infants and toddlers were or are using smart devices to play games or watch videos!

In fact, parents say they give their young children these devices to bide time while they get their own work done or to keep their children calm in public places or to help them go to sleep.

Despite the high usage, the studies that say these devices or certain apps improve a young child’s development are few and far between.

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So, what do you do?

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¯ If you cannot keep your young child away from these smart devices like phones and tablets — which is what I recommend, as does the American Academy of Pediatrics — please set limits on their use.

¯ Don’t use these devices as time-occupying pacifiers.

¯ Never substitute the use of these devices for human interactive playtime. Pushing and swiping things on a screen and/or downloading electronic books with bells and whistles and lots of other noises are not a substitute for good face-to-face communication.

¯ Only let your toddler use an app if you are going to play with them as you both use it to promote social interactions, communication and language skills, bonding and learning.

¯ Video visits with grandparents or other relatives are a great use of a smart device.

Hopefully parents will app-ly these tips and keep them in mind so that we all do a better job of helping young children’s minds develop with, or better yet, without a smart device.

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Lewis First, MD, is Chief of Pediatrics at the Golisano Children’s Hospital at UVM Health and Chair of the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Vermont’s Larner College of Medicine. You can also catch “First with Kids” weekly on WOKO 98.9FM and MyNBC 5.