If your house is anything like mine, the iPad is a constant battleground.

Easy to use for even the smallest fingers, the devices are like catnip for toddlers, who after getting ahold of them even a few times, frequently melt down when denied screen time. Well, that's what my 2-year-old daughter does.

Should I give in and let her watch yet another YouTube video to keep the peace? Is the gadget scrambling her

precious little brain?

There's plenty of reason to be concerned. Pediatricians have long cautioned that kids under 2 should spend no time in front of screens, while research shows that among older kids, lots of screen time is linked to poor school performance. Too much time spent with devices is bad for kids' sleep and crowds out essential activities, like physical exercise and social play.

But there's also a fear that children will be left behind or won't have a competitive advantage if they aren't exposed to technology early in life.

Here in the real world, keeping kids away from gadgets feels like a pipe dream. Parents are, as usual, left feeling guilty and confused by what's recommended and what feels possible.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recently aimed to help by updating its guidelines. You may have already heard the basics: no screen time until 18 months rather than two years, and one (supervised) hour daily rather than two from ages 2 to 5.

That's good to know but still pretty hard to put into practice. What exactly counts as screen time? What kind of content should fill up my kid's allotted hour? And why is too much screen time so worrying?

Thankfully, pediatrician Jenny Radesky, who was the lead author of the academy's new policy statement, recently wrote on the Fast Company site about the new guidelines, offering more concrete advice for families. This new policy statement represents the best medical research and academic scholarship about electronic media and health and the development of children from birth through age 5, she writes.

Here are the basic principles she offers:

1. Video chatting is always OK

Should you feel guilty holding your 6-month-old up to the screen so her grandparents can see her on Skype? No. Using video chatting apps is always OK, clarifies Radesky.

2. Let your kids be digital creators

You also shouldn't feel guilty if your kids are using digital tools to be creative. In fact, this sort of activity doesn't even count as “screen time” as the pediatricians mean it. “Creating and learning together — letting the child take photos and record videos or songs, as well as looking up craft ideas” — is a great use of your household gadgets, Radesky said.

3. Choose apps and media wisely

When it comes to more passive entertainment, though, you need to be more discerning. Parents, not kids, should choose what media young people consume. “We recommend trusted content producers such as Sesame Workshop and PBS Kids, who design apps with the child's and parent's needs in mind,” Radesky writes.

“We ask parents to test apps and watch videos with their children to determine if they are good fits for their child's temperament,” she adds.

4. Watch with your kids

Your work isn't done once you've screened the content your child gets to see. Rather than using screens as digital babysitters, parents should watch along with their little ones if they want their kids to get any educational benefit out of what they're viewing.

Otherwise, screen time is the developmental equivalent of empty calories — it fills up time but offers little to feed the brain.

5. Maintain device-free zones

While some types of digital engagement are healthy for your child, boundaries are still important. That includes fencing off device-free spaces and times for your family. In fact, Radesky points out, such spaces are important for the mental health of adults as well as kids.

“We recommend having unplugged spaces and times of day so that both parent and child can play, be bored or talk without distraction or feeling a need to multitask,” she says.

Parents have always been interpreters of the world for young children. If kids are to grow up with a healthy concept of what digital tools are and how to use them effectively, creatively and kindly, we need to teach them, Radesky says.