How much screen time should a child have? A guide by age

Last reviewed: September 2026

Ask three parents how much screen time is right for a child and you will hear three different numbers. Ask the major health bodies and you get something more useful: fairly firm guidance for babies and preschoolers, and, from about age six, a deliberate move away from a single number towards questions of content, context and routine.

This guide sets out what the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), the Canadian Paediatric Society (CPS) and the World Health Organization (WHO) actually say, age by age, as of September 2026. Where a body does not give a number, we say so rather than inventing one. After the table, you will find practical ways to apply the guidance at home, and one option some families use: letting screen time be earned through learning.

This is a summary of published guidance, not medical advice. If you have concerns about your own child's sleep, development, mood or screen use, your paediatrician or family doctor is the right person to talk to.

The short answer

• Under 18 months to 2 years: all three bodies advise little to no screen time, apart from video-chatting with family.
• Ages 2 to 5: CPS and WHO both put the limit at about one hour a day of sedentary screen time, with less being better. The AAP's age-based guidance for this group has also described about one hour of quality programming, watched with a parent.
• Ages 6 to 12: none of the three bodies sets a daily hour limit. The AAP and CPS both recommend a family media plan with limits you set yourselves, and protecting sleep, activity and time together.
• Teens: again, no single number. The focus is on sleep, what teens are doing online, and how it affects them.

What changed in 2026: the AAP moves beyond hour limits

For years, many parents knew the AAP's advice as a set of hour caps. In January 2026 the AAP published a new policy statement and technical report, Digital Ecosystems, Children, and Adolescents, in the journal Pediatrics. It reframes the question. Rather than treating screen use as a matter of minutes alone, it looks at how apps and platforms are designed, the family and school context around a child, and what screens are replacing.

The AAP's own parent explainer, published on HealthyChildren.org in June 2026, describes the new guidance as moving beyond simple screen-time limits towards "quality, context and conversation". It still gives age-specific concerns: that infants under 18 months "learn best from real-world interactions", that heavy screen use in the first five years can affect language, thinking, social and motor development and sleep, and that for school-aged children misuse is linked with poorer sleep, attention and physical activity.

The practical centrepiece is the AAP's free Family Media Plan tool, which helps a family agree its own boundaries around media to fit its routines and values.

Screen time by age: what each body says

A few notes on reading the table. WHO's age bands (under 1, 1–2, 3–4) do not line up exactly with the AAP's 18-month marker, so we have mapped them as closely as the wording allows. The CPS statement for under-5s dates from 2022; its statement for school-aged children and teens was reaffirmed in 2025. The WHO guideline dates from 2019 and remains current.

Babies and toddlers (0–24 months)

This is where the three bodies agree most. Babies and young toddlers learn language and social skills from people: faces, voices, back-and-forth play. Screens are not recommended for under-2s by CPS, and WHO says the same for children under 2. The AAP asks parents to limit screen use and, where screens are used from 18 months, to choose good content and watch together.

Video calls with grandparents or a parent who is away are the exception every body makes. They are interactive and social in a way that a cartoon is not.

Preschoolers (2–5 years)

Here the familiar "about an hour a day" comes from CPS and WHO, both of which put it plainly and both of which add that less is better. The CPS statement also recommends being present when screens are used, keeping screen-free times such as family meals and book-sharing, and avoiding screens for at least an hour before bed.

School-aged children (6–12 years)

This is where many parents look for a number and do not find one. That is not an oversight. CPS says directly that content, context and individual traits matter alongside time, and recommends a Family Media Plan with limits you set for your own child. The AAP's 2026 guidance takes the same line.

So how much screen time should a 9-year-old have? Neither the AAP, CPS nor WHO gives a figure for this age. What they offer instead is a set of priorities: sleep, physical activity, homework and face-to-face time come first, and recreational screen time fits around them. For most families, that means deciding on a daily or weekly amount together, writing it into a plan, and reviewing it as your child grows. A 9-year-old in grade 4 (Year 5) with a full day of school, a sport and a reasonable bedtime simply has less free time for screens, and the plan reflects that.

Teens (13–18 years)

For teenagers, the conversation shifts to what they are doing online, how platforms are designed to hold attention, and whether screen use is crowding out sleep or affecting mood. CPS notes that recreational screen use in bedrooms should be discouraged and that screens should be avoided for at least an hour before bed.

What matters as much as the number

Across all three bodies, the same themes come up again and again. None of them requires a stopwatch.

Content: what are they watching or doing?

An hour of a slow, story-driven programme is not the same as an hour of autoplay clips, and an hour building something is different again. CPS encourages educational, active or social content over passive consumption. The AAP's parent guidance suggests looking for stories that model social and emotional skills and leave room for free play.

Context: when, where and instead of what?

Screen time that replaces sleep, outdoor play or dinner together costs more than screen time that fills a rainy half hour. Both CPS and the AAP ask parents to look at what screens are displacing. CPS also discourages media multitasking, particularly during homework.

Sleep: the clearest line

If you set only one rule, many families find this is the one. CPS recommends avoiding screens for at least an hour before bed, and the AAP suggests making bedrooms screen-free, especially in the hour before bed. Charging devices outside the bedroom overnight is a simple way to make that stick.

Co-viewing and conversation

For younger children, watching together is part of the guidance itself. For older children, it becomes asking what they are playing, who they are talking to, and what they have seen. The AAP's 2026 guidance leans heavily on this kind of conversation rather than on monitoring alone.

Device-free zones and times

Mealtimes and bedrooms are the two places both the AAP and CPS suggest starting. These work best when they apply to adults too. Children notice when a parent's phone sits beside the dinner plate.

Make a family media plan

The AAP's free Family Media Plan tool on HealthyChildren.org walks you through setting your own boundaries. CPS recommends the same idea: write it down, include time and content limits suited to your child, and revisit it regularly.

One option: letting screen time be earned

Some families prefer to tie recreational screen time to something else first, such as reading, chores or a short piece of learning. This "earn" model is not something the AAP, CPS or WHO recommends or discourages; it is simply one way to structure the limits you have chosen.

It also has limits worth being honest about. It can frame screens as a prize, which some parents would rather avoid. And it does not, on its own, address content or sleep. It works best alongside a family media plan, not instead of one.

We compare apps that take this approach in a separate guide: apps that let kids earn screen time.

How Dad's Academy fits

Dad's Academy is an adaptive learning app for children from kindergarten to grade 9. Each day, your child (a "cadet") works through a short review in Math, English/Reading, Science and Life Skills, one question at a time, with difficulty adapting per subject.

On the paid plan, an optional Windows companion app can lock your child's Windows PC to learning until screen time is earned, or until you grant it yourself. It is Windows only; it does not run on Mac, Chromebook, iPad or phones. Earned screen time is not part of the free plan.

As a parent, you see accuracy, trends and weak spots for each subject in the Command Center, and you decide how much time is earned and when. We do not claim it changes health or learning outcomes. It is a way to put "learning first" into practice on a family computer, if that suits your plan. There is more on how it works on our screen time page.

A note on your own child

Published guidance describes children in general. Your child's needs may be different because of their sleep, their health, how they learn, or what is going on at school. If screen use seems to be affecting your child's sleep, mood, behaviour or development, or if you are unsure what is right for them, speak to your paediatrician or family doctor.