Pedemy · For parents
Screen time and family media — notes
Note the pattern below and bring your questions and current medicines to the visit. This record does not diagnose or choose treatment.
Use these notes with your child’s clinician. This tool does not diagnose illness, prescribe treatment or confirm that home care is safe.
Emergency help now
Call local emergency services for severe breathing difficulty, blue/gray lips, collapse, a seizure with failure to recover, or a child who is very difficult to wake. Do not delay to complete this tool.
Contact a healthcare professional
Seek help when media use repeatedly disrupts sleep, school or relationships, or when bullying, frightening content or unsafe contact occurs. Respond calmly so the child can tell you what happened; threats of immediate harm require urgent assistance. A baby younger than 3 months with a temperature of 38°C (100.4°F) or higher needs urgent medical assessment, even if they look well. Do not delay assessment to try medicine or complete a diary.
Your entries stay in this open page and disappear when it is reloaded or closed. Print a copy if needed. Avoid names and identifying details.
Care reminders
- A useful media plan considers the child, content, calming, activities crowded out and communication: the AAP’s five Cs. Minutes alone cannot describe quality or impact. Protect sleep, movement, learning and face-to-face connection.
- Choose suitable content together, turn off autoplay and notifications, and agree screen-free meals and bedtime routines. Adults should follow the plan too. Review privacy, purchases and contacts. Revisit the plan as the child develops; avoid using a timer as the only measure of success.
- Seek help when media use repeatedly disrupts sleep, school or relationships, or when bullying, frightening content or unsafe contact occurs. Respond calmly so the child can tell you what happened; threats of immediate harm require urgent assistance.