How much screen time should kids have by age?

Kids under 2 should avoid screens apart from video calls; children aged 2 to 4 should have no more than about an hour a day of high-quality content, ideally watched together; and for school-age children there is no single agreed number. That is the short answer from the major health bodies. The guidance is more specific than parents expect for the youngest children, and deliberately less specific as children get older. Understanding why is more useful than any single number, so this piece gives you both: the actual figures, and the principle underneath them.

A note first: this is a plain summary of published guidance, not medical advice. Children differ, families differ, and your GP or health visitor knows your situation. Treat the numbers as a starting frame, not a rule.

How much screen time should a child under 2 have?

0 hours, apart from video calls with family. Both the World Health Organization and the American Academy of Pediatrics draw the firmest line here. The WHO’s 2019 guidance for under-fives states that for children under 1, screen time is not recommended at all, and for 1 year olds, sedentary screen time is also not recommended.^[1] The AAP similarly advises avoiding digital media for children younger than about 18 to 24 months, with one explicit exception: video-chatting with family, which is interactive and social rather than passive.^[2]

The reasoning is developmental. In the first two years, children learn overwhelmingly through real interaction, handling objects, and responding to faces. Screens, however well made, do not deliver that in the same way for this age group.

Is screen time bad for babies?

Yes, in the sense that every major guideline says babies are better off without it. The WHO does not recommend any screen time for babies under 1, and encourages reading and storytelling with a caregiver instead.^[6] The UK government’s 2026 advice for under-2s is to avoid screen time other than shared activities that encourage bonding, interaction and conversation;^[4] a video call with a grandparent is the obvious example. That is guidance about what helps most, not a verdict that a few minutes of television harms a baby. This is not medical advice, and your health visitor can help with your own situation.

Is any screen time OK for babies and toddlers?

Yes, a little, of the right kind. The UK government’s guidance for under-5s, published on 27 March 2026, draws two lines.^[4] Under 2: avoid screen time other than shared activities that encourage bonding, interaction and conversation, so a video call with a grandparent is fine. Ages 2 to 5: aim for no more than 1 hour a day, and keep screens out of mealtimes and the hour before bed.^[4] The same guidance encourages watching together, talking and asking questions about what is on screen.^[4] The WHO is stricter for babies, recommending no screen time under 1.^[1] The caveat: these are guidelines about what helps most, not a warning that an occasional programme will harm your child. This is not medical advice; your health visitor can help with specifics.

Are there any benefits of screen time for toddlers?

Yes, a few, mostly when an adult is watching too. The UK government’s 2026 guidance says co-viewing, watching together, talking and asking questions about what is on screen, is linked to better cognitive development than children watching alone, and that slow-paced, age-appropriate programmes support early development better than fast-paced, social media-style videos.^[4] For toddlers under 2, the clearest benefit is the social kind, such as video calls with family.^[2] The caveat is displacement: any benefit disappears if screens crowd out play, sleep and conversation.

How much screen time should a 2 to 5 year old have?

1 hour a day at most, ideally watched together, and less is better. For this band the two bodies broadly agree. The WHO advises no more than one hour of sedentary screen time per day for ages 2 to 4, and adds that less is better.^[1] The AAP suggests that from age 2 parents may introduce up to around one hour a day of high-quality programming, and stresses watching it with your child so you can help them make sense of what they are seeing.^[2]

Two words do a lot of work in both: quality and together. An hour of a slow, well-made programme watched alongside a parent who talks about it is a different thing from an hour of fast, solitary, autoplaying clips.

How much screen time is appropriate for a 5 year old?

1 hour a day at most is where most guidance lands at this age, though 5 sits on a boundary. The UK government’s advice for 2 to 5 year olds is no more than one hour of screen time a day, with screens kept out of mealtimes and the hour before bed.^[4] The WHO’s one-hour limit covers ages 2 to 4,^[1] and from school age most bodies stop giving a number and look instead at what screens displace. Treat the hour as a ceiling, not a target, and remember that a calm programme watched together counts for more than the minutes suggest.

How much screen time should school-age children have?

No single number, and this is the important part. The AAP stopped recommending a fixed hourly cap for older children and instead points families towards consistent, individual limits and a family media plan: making sure media does not displace adequate sleep, physical activity, and other healthy behaviours.^[2]

Do UK guidelines set a screen time limit?

Yes for under-5s, since March 2026, and no for older children. The UK government’s first guidance for parents of under-5s advises avoiding screens for under-2s other than shared activities that encourage bonding, interaction and conversation, and no more than one hour a day for 2 to 5 year olds, with screens kept out of mealtimes and the hour before bed.^[4] For school-age children there is still no number: guidance for 5 to 16 year olds was announced in June 2026, with the stated aim of avoiding blanket rules.^[5]

Before that, the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health went further than the AAP: after reviewing the evidence in 2019, it concluded there was not enough strong evidence to set a specific safe threshold of screen hours.^[3] The RCPCH has since archived that guidance as superseded, but its questions for families are still useful ones to ask: Is screen time controlled? Does it interfere with sleep and physical activity? Does it interfere with family life and face-to-face time? Is the child able to stop? Is screen use accompanied by snacking?

Is screen time bad for kids?

Not simply by the hour. Across all three bodies, the consistent message is that what screens displace matters more than the count of minutes. Sleep, unstructured play, movement, and conversation are the things a childhood needs, and the risk of screens is mostly that they quietly crowd those out. A useful test is not “how many hours” but “what did this hour replace.” If you have concerns, speak to your GP or health visitor.

That is also why having good non-screen defaults ready makes the limits easier to hold. When boredom strikes and there is nothing else obvious to do, the screen wins by default. Stocking a few simple, open-ended things to reach for instead is half the battle, which is the thinking behind the Children’s Collection.