Buhata
Login Start for Free

Home › Life Terms

Parenting and child development

Screen-free time

Set times or places in a family's day, like meals, bedrooms or the hour before bed, when phones, TVs, tablets and games stay off.

What It Means

Screen-free time is time a family sets aside with no phones, TVs, tablets or video games, usually at fixed times or in fixed places. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) builds it into its Family Media PlanFamily media planA written set of family rules about screens and media, such as screen-free times and places, that each household makes to fit its own routines and values. See more as screen-free zones, such as the dinner table and bedrooms, and a screen-free hour before bed. It applies to the adults as well as the kids, since the point is time together and better sleep.

Try It: Find When Screens Go Off Before Bed

Pick your child's bedtime to see when screens go off, using the AAP Family Media Plan's screen-free hour before bed. Then tick the zones your family already keeps.

Screens off at

7:00 pm

Zones you keep0
Out of4

Start with one zone and add the next once it feels normal.

How Parents Say It

  • "No phones at the table."
  • "Screens off at seven, it's wind-down time."
  • "The tablet sleeps in the kitchen, not your room."

The Breakdown

Screen guidance by age

AgeGuidanceSource
Under 18 monthsNo screen media except video chatAAP, "Media and Young Minds" (2016)
18 to 24 monthsIf you add any, pick quality programming and watch togetherAAP, "Media and Young Minds" (2016)
2 to 5 yearsNo more than 1 hour a day of quality programmingCDC Positive Parenting TipsPositive parentingRaising children through warmth, attention, praise for good behavior and teaching, with discipline that avoids harsh punishment. The CDC publishes age-by-age tips. See more
Every ageScreen-free dinner table and bedrooms, no screens the hour before bedAAP Family Media Plan

In February 2026 the AAP replaced its 2016 media statements with a new policy, "Digital Ecosystems, Children, and Adolescents," which puts more weight on the quality of what children use, the setting, and the conversations families have about it than on minutes alone.

How to start

  1. Pick one zone, like dinner, and make it screen-free for everyone, adults included.
  2. Choose a place outside the bedrooms where devices charge overnight.
  3. Set a daily screens-off time an hour before bedtime.
  4. Have something ready for the gap: a book, a card game, a puzzle.

When to talk to the doctor. If screens are getting in the way of your child's sleep, school, play or moods, bring it up with your pediatrician, who can help you shape a family media plan.

Good to Know

The AAP's Family Media Plan is an online tool at HealthyChildren.org that lets each family choose its own screen-free times and places; it's meant to be personalized rather than one rule for everyone. Its stated reasons for these zones are face-to-face family connection, learning and better sleep.

FAQ

How long before bed should kids stop using screens?

The AAP's Family Media Plan suggests no screens in the hour before bed, with devices charged overnight outside the bedroom.

What are screen-free zones?

Places or times where nobody uses devices. The AAP's Family Media Plan suggests the dinner table, bedrooms and homework time as common ones.

What can kids do during screen-free time?

Anything that doesn't involve a screen: reading, drawing, building, playing outside, a board game or helping cook. Having a few options ready makes the switch easier.

Do It in Buhata

Reminders

Set a daily Reminder in Buhata for one hour before your child's bedtime that says "Screens off," so your phone nudges you at the same time every evening.

Open Buhata

Related Terms and Categories

  • Screen time

    The time a child spends using screens such as TVs, tablets, phones, computers and game consoles, counted across a day or a week.

  • Co-viewing

    Watching TV, videos or apps together with your child and talking about what you see, rather than handing over a screen to watch alone.

  • Digital detox

    A set period when you stop using, or deliberately cut back on, smartphones, computers and other digital devices, usually to rest and lower stress.

  • Wind-down routine

    A set of calm, screen-free activities in the last part of the evening that helps you shift from being awake to falling asleep.

  • Quality time with kids

    Time a parent spends giving a child full, undistracted attention, like a few minutes of one-on-one play where the child leads.

Parenting and child development

Sources

HealthyChildren.org (AAP), "How to Make a Family Media Plan"; American Academy of Pediatrics, "The Family Media Plan" (Pediatrics, 2024); American Academy of Pediatrics, "Digital Ecosystems, Children, and Adolescents: Policy Statement" (Pediatrics, February 2026); HealthyChildren.org (AAP), "A Child-Friendly Digital World: AAP Releases New Media Recommendations"; CDC, "Positive Parenting Tips: Toddlers (2 to 3 years old)"; American Academy of Pediatrics, "Media and Young Minds" (Pediatrics, 2016)

Last updated .