Parents today are always monitoring something. From what your child eats to how much sleep they get, every activity can feel like it determines their future success. But nothing quite compares to how heated the conversation can get around screen time. Everyone has a different opinion on whether it’s good, bad, fine in doses, or simply inevitable. Scientific evidence, meanwhile, suggests it’s probably not the best option for your toddler.
So, when a professional nanny went viral describing two toddlers as “the most impressive kids she’s cared for in six years on the job,” people wanted to know why. In a TikTok video, she states that she believes there’s one clear reason: neither has ever touched a screen.
What she noticed when the screens disappeared
Austin-based childcare professional Zoe Young has worked as both a daycare teacher and a nanny. She’s also been studying early childhood development for years. Recently, she started caring for a 2-year-old and a 4-year-old whose parents have kept screens completely out of their lives. No movies, no tablets, not even a television in the house. Instead, Young says, the kids spend their time reading and playing, and the results genuinely surprised her. The 2-year-old already speaks in full sentences, and the 4-year-old organizes his animal toys by climate and time period, building elaborate biomes on his own. Young believes this results from the constant conversation that fills the household. There’s discussion and play with no screens competing for attention.
Young contrasted that with what she typically sees in kids who get regular screen time. She describes them as more prone to frustration and less able to self-entertain when a device isn’t available. She theorizes that the instant gratification of tablets and streaming can complicate ordinary moments of boredom or hearing “No.”
What the actual research says
Young’s observations are anecdotal, but they fit within a much larger, ongoing scientific conversation. A 2023 study published in JAMA Pediatrics that followed more than 7,000 children found that higher screen time in infancy was associated with a greater likelihood of communication and problem-solving delays by ages 2 and 4. The risk climbed as screen time increased. Researchers have been careful to note that this kind of observational study can’t prove screens directly cause those delays. Further study is needed to show why the two tend to occur together.
Other researchers have zeroed in on why screens end up in kids’ hands in the first place. A recent study in Computers in Human Behavior found that parents often use digital media as a kind of “digital pacifier.” The report notes that parents dealing with higher anxiety or fewer resources experience this more often. In other words, the screen time conversation isn’t just about kids. It’s also about the real pressures parents are juggling.
Professor Yolanda Carlos, Lecturer and Researcher in Early Childhood Education at Pacific Oaks College, shared her perspective on screen time with Upworthy. “A balance between screen time and ‘Green Time’ (time spent outdoors) supports healthy neural connections, social skills, and resets our brain to connect relationally.” Carlos emphasized that “children should have at least 30 – 60 minutes of ‘Green Time’ daily.” Screen time should be limited to “no more than 30 to 60 minutes per day” for 2-5-year-olds and “no more than 1-2 hours a day for kids 6 and up.”
None of this means every family needs to banish screens entirely to raise a curious, articulate kid. But it does suggest that swapping in more conversation, books, and open-ended play pays off in easy-to-measure ways. Sometimes, interacting with the physical world in front of you boosts development more than passively scrolling on a screen.
