Parents ask us for a magic number, so here’s the honest one. Major guidelines suggest avoiding solo screens before about 18–24 months (video calls with grandma don’t count), and keeping it to roughly an hour a day of high-quality, co-viewed content from ages 2–5. That’s the headline. But the number is the least interesting part.
What the research keeps finding is that who is in the room, and what the screen replaces, matters more than the minutes. An hour co-watched with you, talking about what you see, is a different thing from three hours alone that pushed out sleep, play, and meals. The risk signals worth watching aren’t “too many minutes” — they’re screens crowding out language and movement, meltdowns every time it goes off, or a screen becoming the only way your child can calm down.
So instead of policing a stopwatch, we help families shift the shape of screen time — co-viewing, clear stops, and protecting the sleep and play around it. Which looks completely different for a 15-month-old than a nearly-4-year-old, which is exactly why we ask about your child before we advise.