AGES 5 TO 7
She is six. The autoplay decides when she stops.
At this age the question isn't how much, it's what, with whom, and when. One well-chosen hour beats two half-attended ones. The screen accompanies, never replaces.
WHAT THE EVIDENCE SAYS
The recommendations, with no wrapping paper.
Between 5 and 7 the clinical evidence converges on three points. Not arbitrary. They come from cohorts followed for years and systematic reviews of groups with different screen exposure. Below, with no commercial filter.
One hour a day, ceiling
The American Academy of Pediatrics caps quality content at one hour a day at this age, ideally co-viewed with an adult who comments on what is being watched.
Sleep and movement first
The World Health Organization stresses 9 to 11 hours of sleep and at least one hour of moderate physical activity daily. The screen never competes with those two.
No screens before bed
The Spanish Pediatrics Association recommends turning screens off at least an hour before sleep and keeping them out of the bedroom. Blue light delays melatonin and the content keeps running in the child's head.
THE FIGHTS AT THIS AGE
What the handbook leaves out.
At six, the problem isn't TikTok or Instagram. It's YouTube Kids on autoplay, "educational" apps gamified to addiction, and cartoons that loop on Disney+ without asking. The interface decides for you, the bright rewards latch on, and when you try to stop her the meltdown is at 19:08, right before dinner.
So-called educational apps are the same shape. Daily streaks, coins, unlockables, notifications that pull her back into "one more". Learning becomes the by-product of a reward loop. Not bad apps, just designed so the kid doesn't walk away.
The trick isn't willpower. It's removing the decision from the moment. Let the screen stop, not the child. Keep the phone in the living room, never in her bedroom. That one configuration, set once, prevents dozens of small fights a week.
A TEMPLATE TO COPY
A configuration you can copy.
This is the configuration we recommend for ages 5 to 7. It takes about five minutes in the app and resolves 80% of daily conflicts. You can adjust it later without losing what is already active.
30 minutes a day
A global daily limit of 30 minutes with a 5 minute warning so the child can anticipate the ending. A visible countdown reduces the sense of arbitrary cutoff.
Allowlist of 2 or 3 apps
YouTube Kids, Duolingo Kids and a drawing app. The rest of the launcher stays empty: if it is not there, it is not searched for. The child explores within the frame, not outside it.
Block 19:00 to 07:00
Hard nightly schedule. The screen will not turn on until morning, even with the child's own passcode. Dinner, bath and bedtime story get their space back.
HOW TO APPLY IT
The order matters.
Quiles pairs with the parent's phone via QR, no cloud account needed. Once paired, you configure the allowlist from your phone, pick the night window, set the daily quota. The kid's launcher shows only the agreed apps, no store suggestions, no algorithmic anything.
When the 30 minutes are up, the launcher shows a neutral note: "Today's time is over. There's more tomorrow." No negotiation in the first phase, no behaviour bonus, no extra five minutes. Consistency teaches the six-year-old that the limit is real.
One last thing. Don't present Quiles as punishment. It's how the phone is set up for her, the way you set up her bike helmet. Not a wall against fun. The way the device works in this house.
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