Screen time by age
How much screen time is OK at every age — the AAP and WHO guidance in one table, stated honestly, including where no fixed limit exists.
| Age | Recommended limit | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Under 18 months | Avoid (video chat is fine) | Avoid screen media, with one exception: live video chat with people they love. |
| 18–24 months | High-quality only, with you | If you introduce screens, choose high-quality programmes and watch together. |
| 2–5 years | Up to 1 hour a day | Limit screens to about an hour a day of high-quality content, co-viewed when you can. |
| 6–12 years | No fixed cap — set consistent limits | There’s no official hour cap — set consistent limits that protect sleep, movement, and school. |
| 13–18 years | Balance over minutes | Focus on balance and sleep rather than counting minutes. |
Band by band
Under 18 months: Babies learn from faces, voices, and hands-on play — screens teach them very little yet. A video call with grandparents is interactive and fine; background TV is the thing to switch off.
18–24 months: At this age children only get value from a screen when an adult watches along, names what’s happening, and connects it to the real world. Solo screen time isn’t recommended yet.
2–5 years: The AAP and WHO both land on roughly one hour for this age. Slow-paced, story-driven programmes beat frantic ones — and pausing to talk about what you’re watching doubles the value.
6–12 years: Since 2016 the AAP has recommended a family media plan rather than a number: agree screen-free times (meals, the hour before bed) and screen-free places, and hold the line consistently.
13–18 years: Watch for screens displacing sleep, exercise, homework, or friendships — and keep phones out of the bedroom overnight. Teens follow rules best when they helped write them.
Quality beats quantity
An hour of slow, story-driven viewing with a parent chatting along is a different thing from an hour of autoplay. Before counting minutes, look at what’s playing, whether anyone is watching together, and what the screen is replacing.
Screens and sleep
The clearest harm from too much screen time is lost sleep. Screens in the hour before bed push bedtime later and make falling asleep harder — a screen-free wind-down protects the night. Work out the bedtime your child needs with the bedtime calculator, and build the wind-down with the bedtime routine chart.
Signs it’s tipping too far
Screens crowding out sleep, outdoor play, or friends; meltdowns at every switch-off; sneaking devices; and losing interest in things they used to love. Any of these is a cue to tighten the routine — not a catastrophe, just a course-correction.
Frequently asked questions
How much screen time should a 2-year-old have?
Around an hour a day at most, of high-quality content, ideally watched together — that’s where both the AAP and WHO land for ages 2–5.
Is any screen time OK for babies?
Under 18 months, the guidance is to avoid screens apart from live video chat. Babies learn from people and play; even “educational” videos teach very little before this age.
Does video chatting count as screen time?
Not in the way that matters. A video call is a live, back-and-forth interaction with a real person — it’s the one screen use that’s fine even for babies.
How do I cut down without meltdowns?
Warn before the end (“one more episode”), end at a natural break, and have the next thing ready to go. Consistent screen-free times — meals, the hour before bed — cause far fewer battles than day-by-day negotiation.
Is educational screen time different?
Quality genuinely matters — slow-paced, story-driven content with real vocabulary beats frantic clips. But it still counts towards the day, and under 2, an adult watching along matters more than the label “educational”.
Based on guidance from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the World Health Organization. General guidance, not medical advice — talk to your paediatrician about your child’s individual needs. See also sleep needs by age.