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Screens as a tool (meals, cars, restaurants, meltdowns)

Whether you use screens to get through hard moments, such as meals out, car trips or meltdowns. The AAP's "Calm" question asks whether a screen is becoming the main way a child settles.

Is it okay to use screens at meals, in the car or to calm a meltdown?

In short: Parents choose between 4 main approaches: Never; Travel and exceptional situations; Restaurants and long drives, not home meals; Whenever it helps. Evidence: your call. No outcome evidence picks a winner. Preference, culture, money and logistics decide. Best settled: toddler.

Evidence
Your call
Best settled
Toddler
Part of
Learning & the wider world

Screens as a tool: what are the options?

Parents usually land on one of these 4 approaches.

  1. 1. Never

    You never hand over a screen to keep the child quiet.

  2. 2. Travel and exceptional situations

    You use a screen on flights and in unusual situations.

  3. 3. Restaurants and long drives, not home meals

    You use a screen when eating out or on long car trips, but not at meals at home.

  4. 4. Whenever it helps

    You use a screen any time it makes things easier.

Screens as a tool: what does the evidence say?

Your call. No outcome evidence picks a winner. Preference, culture, money and logistics decide.

The "Calm" C flags media as the main soothing strategy

Sources

What else is worth knowing?

A screen reliably quiets a child, which makes it tempting in restaurants, cars and tantrums. Pediatric advice is to avoid using screens as the main way to calm a child. Most families allow some exceptions and differ on which.

Questions to ask each other

  • When would we hand over a screen without guilt?
  • What do we want our child to do instead when upset?
  • What are the places where screens are never allowed?

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First published 2026-10-03. Last updated 2026-10-05. General information, not medical advice.