The study finds one in three preschoolers now have their own smart devices.
Melbourne mother of two Alice Pryor says, like most children, her son Charlie and daughter Annabell are easily lost in a world of Minecraft and make-believe on the screen.
The main problem, she says, is getting the devices turned off.
As a representative of Parents' Voice, an online network of parents, Ms Pryor says it is fairly common for children to show their darker sides when computer time ends.
"There are a lot of parents we talk to who talk about the difference in the behaviour of their child. They have what they think is quite a placid child who's suddenly screaming at them because Minecraft's been turned off."
It is a struggle new research shows two-thirds of parents battle on a daily basis.
A study by Melbourne's Royal Children's Hospital shows the vast majority of children far exceed the national guidelines calling for no more than two hours of screen time a day.
But Ms Pryor says that does not mean parents should feel guilty.
"Turn some music on, and have a bit of a dance while you're getting stuff done around the house. If you can do those things, they're preferable. But you've got to do what you need to do to get through your life and your parenting."
Three-quarters of parents admitted in the study they do not limit screen time.
The author of the research, Royal Children's Hospital paediatrician Anthea Rhodes, says it is a new era of what she calls "iParenting."
"Really, what we learnt is perhaps a bit surprising, just how much screens have become part of life for Australian kids, including very young children, with even a third of preschoolers owning their own smartphone or tablet device."
The research found, while almost all Australian teenagers have a phone or tablet, two in three primary-school students and more than one in three preschoolers had mobile devices.
The average screen time was up to 32 hours per week.
Dr Rhodes says the consequences of excessive screen time are showing.
"Every hour a child spends on a device is an hour they're not doing something else. So there is an opportunity cost where, if children spend an excessive amount of time on screens, they're not getting enough physically active play or face-to-face social interaction with other individuals."
The psychological effects of replacing human interaction with digital interaction has doctors concerned about the mental development of the next generation.
Dr Rhodes says real human interaction is essential for brain development.
And she says she sees worrying signs.
"In young children, things like difficulty regulating their emotions or problems developing their language, and, in older children, problems with mood and issues around things like bullying."
But with parents averaging 40 hours a week themselves, the older generation is setting the example.
The research shows almost two-thirds of parents have experienced a family conflict over the use of screen-based devices.
And with technology showing no signs of turning back, Alice Pryor says the only way forward is to learn to live with the devices.
"We're definitely the iGeneration, the iParents, and we're the first generation of parents who have this availability of screens with our kids. And we're going to be the frontier of how we manage that."
