The guidance for children under five is the strictest of any age group, and also the most misunderstood. Parents often hear "no screens before two" and feel they have already failed. The actual recommendations are more nuanced, and they focus less on the clock and more on what screens replace in a very young child's day.
For under-2s, the main concern is not that screens are toxic. It is that every hour on a screen is an hour not spent hearing language, moving, playing with objects and interacting with a caring adult, which is how young brains build themselves.
Two major bodies publish screen guidance for this age group: the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the World Health Organization (WHO). They broadly agree, with small differences in wording.
| Age | AAP (2016) | WHO (2019) |
|---|---|---|
| Under 18 months | Avoid screen media other than video chatting | Under 1: no screen time. Age 1: sedentary screen time not recommended |
| 18 to 24 months | If introducing media, choose high-quality programs and watch together | Not recommended (age 1); age 2: no more than 1 hour, less is better |
| 2 to 5 years | Limit to 1 hour a day of high-quality programming, co-viewed where possible | No more than 1 hour of sedentary screen time; less is better |
Neither organization claims that a few minutes of a cartoon will harm a toddler. The guidance describes a healthy default, not a pass/fail test.
Both the AAP and most researchers treat video calls with grandparents or a parent who is traveling differently from watching shows. The reason is interaction. A video call is a live conversation: the adult responds to what the baby does, names things, waits for a reaction, and repeats. That back-and-forth, often called "serve and return," is exactly what supports early language. A pre-recorded show cannot respond to the child, however educational it claims to be.
Studies of toddlers show they learn new words more readily from responsive video chat than from pre-recorded video, although live in-person interaction still works best.
Researchers have repeatedly found that children under about two and a half learn less from a demonstration on video than from the same demonstration performed in person. This is known as the video deficit. A toddler who watches an adult on screen put a toy in a box is less likely to copy the action than one who sees it live. The effect shrinks as children get older and better at connecting what is on a screen to the real world, which is part of why the guidance relaxes after age two.
This is also why "baby genius" style videos marketed for infants have not lived up to their claims. Infants watching them do not show the vocabulary gains the marketing suggests.
Many families do not sit a toddler in front of a screen, but have the television on in the background most of the day. Research suggests this still matters. Studies have found that when a TV is on in the room, parents speak fewer words to their children and young children's play becomes shorter and less focused, even when nobody is actively watching. Turning the TV off when nobody is watching it is one of the simplest changes a family can make.
Once children are two, the AAP suggests up to an hour a day of high-quality programming. In practice, quality tends to mean:
Guidelines are written for a typical day. Most parents will occasionally hand a toddler a phone on a long flight, during a vaccination appointment or when a child is unwell and needs to rest. Occasional use like this is not what the guidance is worried about. The concern is when screens become the default way to calm a child or fill time, because toddlers who are always soothed by a device get fewer chances to practice calming themselves.
If you do use a screen to get through a hard moment, a few things help: pick something slow and familiar, keep it short, and switch to a song, a book or a snack as soon as the moment has passed.
No single exposure causes lasting harm. The guidance is about patterns over months. If screens have become a big part of the day, gradually replacing some of that time with play, reading and talking is what matters.
Yes. The AAP guidance applies to all screen media. Some apps are better designed than others, but under 18 months the recommendation is still to avoid them apart from video chat.
Yes. Regular video calls with family are treated differently from other screen use because they are interactive. Keeping an adult nearby to help the child engage makes them even more valuable.
See our full citation list on the Sources & Research page. This article was written and reviewed following our editorial standards. It is general information, not medical advice for your child.
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Kids Screen Time