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Worried about screen time? Video calls with grandparents may actually benefit your baby, researchers find

Worried about screen time? Video calls with grandparents may actually benefit your baby, researchers find

New research suggests FaceTime with grandparents can be just as playful and engaging as in-person time.

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Published: February 25, 2026 at 11:38 AM

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Babies and screens can feel like a parenting minefield. From strict screen time guidance to the guilt that creeps in when you hand over your phone for a video call, many mums worry about how digital devices might affect their little one’s development.

But new research suggests that when it comes to video calls with grandparents, the story may be far more reassuring.

A study published in the journal Infancy found that babies playing with grandparents over video chat were just as engaged as when they were together in person .

What did the study look at?

Researchers followed 47 infant–parent–grandparent families in the US and Canada, observing natural video chat sessions as well as in-person visits.

Families recorded up to three Zoom calls over several months, plus a face-to-face meeting. Researchers then analysed:

How often playful “bouts” happened
The variety of different play activities
How long babies spent engaged in play
Whether babies showed positive engagement, such as smiling, vocalising or imitating

They compared the first five minutes of video calls with the first five minutes of in-person play.

Are video calls as good as face-to-face play?

Perhaps surprisingly for many parents, the answer was yes.

Researchers found no significant differences between video chat and in-person sessions when it came to how often babies played, how long they played, or how positively engaged they were.

In fact, babies sometimes experienced a greater variety of play activities during video calls than in person.

That means peekaboo, singing, dancing, waving, show-and-tell and even silly noises were all happening across the screen.

Do babies really engage over a screen?

Yes, and in many cases enthusiastically.

The study found that babies were positively engaged in most play bouts on video chat. Positive engagement included smiling, laughing, vocalising and responding to their grandparent’s actions.

Older babies were more likely to initiate play themselves, such as picking up a toy and showing it to Grandma. Age was the strongest predictor of how much babies engaged and initiated during calls.

In other words, as babies grow, they become more confident participants in across-screen play.

Why video calls may feel different from “normal” screen time

Not all screen use is the same.

Unlike passive screen time, such as watching cartoons, video chat involves real-time interaction. Babies can see facial expressions, hear tone of voice and respond immediately, creating back-and-forth “serve and return” communication that’s crucial for development.

That interactive element may be why video calls can support connection rather than simply replace it.

What this means for parents

If you live far from grandparents, juggle busy schedules or rely on video calls to keep family bonds strong, this research offers welcome reassurance.

Even younger babies took part in playful exchanges across the screen. While families may adapt their games slightly for video chat, the emotional connection remained strikingly similar.

The researchers concluded that video chat may serve as a high-quality supplemental activity for separated families.

So if your baby lights up when they see Grandma’s face on your phone, you can take comfort in knowing that this kind of screen time may be doing far more good than harm.