Navigating Parenting in the Digital Age: Children’s YouTube Use and Parental Perceptions

This qualitative study explored how UK-based parents of children aged 1–5 manage their children’s YouTube use, focusing on how digital media aligns or conflicts with caregiving values. Using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), five parents participated in semi-structured online interviews. Thematic analysis illuminated how parents emotionally and cognitively navigate digital routines, particularly concerning content trustworthiness, algorithmic unpredictability, and value-based decision-making. Three interrelated themes emerged: Navigating Convenience vs. Values captured parents’ internal tensions when using YouTube as a tool for convenience that conflicted with their developmental ideals; Trust, Mistrust, and Content Mediation illustrated parents’ ambivalence toward the platform’s commercial design and their adoption of diverse moderation strategies, including previewing, restricting, and reframing; and Co-Viewing and Bonding through Media revealed how shared digital experiences were used to foster connection, facilitate reflection, and support language and emotional development. Across all themes, parents demonstrated emotional labour, psychological adaptability, and ongoing negotiation between short-term practicality and long-term goals. Findings contribute to cognitive dissonance theory by showing how parents reduce internal conflict through behavioural change and reframing. They extend parental mediation theory by positioning digital decision-making as fluid and emotionally responsive rather than static. Rather than passive gatekeepers, participants emerged as reflective digital caregivers, continuously aligning technology use with relational and ethical intentions. These insights hold implications for platform design, content curation, and media literacy support, underscoring the need for emotionally sustainable and developmentally aligned digital environments for families.