Two years ago, no parent searched for “AI chatbot safety.” Today it’s one of the fastest-growing fears in parenting — and for good reason. AI chat features have quietly become normal inside apps your kids already use, often arriving through a routine update, not a decision you made. Most parents don’t even know these features exist, let alone whether their child has formed an attachment to one.

This 16-page guide gives you a real system instead of another list of scary headlines: The Lockdown Loop — Audit, Lock Down, Talk, Check In.

Inside, you’ll get a step-by-step audit to find every AI chat feature already on your child’s devices, age-by-age guidelines for what’s reasonable at 6, at 12, and at 16, a red-flags checklist for spotting unhealthy attachment early, word-for-word conversation scripts (including exactly how to answer “but it feels like it cares about me”), a 30-day action plan that turns this into a habit instead of a one-time panic, plus printable worksheets, a glossary, and an FAQ.

This isn’t about banning AI or living in fear — it’s about making sure your child is using the tool, instead of the tool quietly becoming the relationship.

Guide 1 of the Digital Parent Playbook series, from Parenting in AI-Era.