Screen Time for Little Ones: Rules That Actually Work

Screens are part of modern life. The goal is not zero — it is intentional use that leaves room for what small brains need most: faces, play, movement and sleep.

🔹 Guidelines by age
• Under 18 months: avoid screens, except video calls with family — those are real interaction.
• 18–24 months: if you introduce anything, watch together and keep it short.
• 2–5 years: up to one hour a day of quality content, ideally shared.

🔹 Quality beats quantity
Slow-paced, story-driven programs beat flashy fast-cut videos. A good test: can your child tell you what happened afterwards? Co-viewing turns any show into conversation material.

🔹 Rules that hold
• No screens during meals — the table is for faces.
• No screens in the hour before bed — blue light delays sleep.
• Devices live in shared spaces, not bedrooms.
• Your own phone habits are the loudest lesson in the house.

🔹 The realistic version
A sick day with extra cartoons, a long flight survived with a tablet — that is life, not failure. Judge the month, not the moment.

Screens make wonderful servants and terrible babysitters. You are the algorithm your child needs most.