Introduction: In an increasingly digitalized society, parents of toddlers frequently engage in smartphone use, even in the presence of their children. Moreover, parental smartphone use constitutes a significant factor influencing early childhood media socialization.
Purpose: The aim of this study was to explore how parents of toddlers aged 30-36 months incorporate smartphone use into everyday life, examines their attitudes toward parental media education, and seeks to identify distinct typologies based on their media practices and educational orientations.
Method: We conducted 44 semi-structured, guideline-based interviews with parents of children aged 30 to 36 months. A mixed-methods design was applied, combining Ideal-Type Analysis with quantitative evaluation of sociodemographic and usage-related data, including measures of smartphone distraction.
Results: Six distinct ideal types were identified along the dimensions of parental smartphone use (functional vs. multifunctional) and child-related use (restrictive, situational, open). These types systematically differed in their smartphone practices and parenting attitudes regarding their toddlers' media exposure. At the same time, overarching patterns emerged, such as the consensual use of smartphones for family communication.
Conclusion: The findings suggest that it is not merely the quantity of smartphone use that matters, but rather the quality, reflexivity, and contextualization of media practices within everyday family life. The integration of empirical results with media education models and developmental psychology theories highlights the importance of a balanced and consciously regulated media education in early childhood. The results offer practice-relevant implications for parent education, prevention, and research. They demonstrate how intrafamilial smartphone use can be typologically differentiated and what dynamics this entails for the media socialization of young children.