We try to keep it limited but honestly some days when I'm cooking dinner or need to take a work call, throwing on Daniel Tiger or Bluey for 30 minutes saves my sanity. Pediatrician says 1 hour max per day but I feel like that's unrealistic. What are you guys actually doing?
We do about 30 minutes a day on weekdays, maybe an hour on weekends. The key thing I found is having it be actual quality content, not just background noise. And yeah, cooking dinner sanity check is real - no judgment here.
The American Academy of Pediatrics says under 2 is basically no screen time and 2 and up should be limited, but real life happens. A little TV while you work or cook isn't going to ruin anything.
Pediatrician told us under 2 hours is fine for that age. We do educational stuff mostly - those letter and number shows actually help. Not saying I feel zero guilt, but my kid learned her ABCs faster because of it.
The guilt is the worst part honestly. But you know what, if it means you can make a healthy dinner instead of ordering pizza for the third time, that's still a win. I've stopped beating myself up about it.
Screen time guilt is real but you know what? Sometimes you need 30 minutes of peace to cook dinner without a meltdown happening. Kids are resilient. As long as it's not all day every day you're fine.
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Honestly there's no magic number. Some days my 3 year old gets an hour, some days when I'm cooking or handling stuff it's more. The guilt is real but you're being intentional about it which is what matters.