Screen time is consistently linked with children sleeping later and for less time. Evening use is the part to tackle, and the simplest fix is an hour without screens before bed and a bedroom without gadgets. I know that sounds easier than it feels when you're the one asking for the phone to be put down.
Screens and children's sleep in brief
A review of 67 studies linked screen time with shorter, later sleep in 9 out of 10 studies, though it can't prove screens are the cause. The Sleep Charity says to turn off all screens an hour before bed and keep TVs, consoles, tablets and phones out of the bedroom if you can. The NHS says children need 9 to 13 hours of sleep on average. Agree the rules together so your child has a say.
Screens are linked with later, shorter sleep, though the cause isn't proven
Hale and Guan reviewed 67 studies of school-age children and teenagers published from 1999 to early 2014. They found screen time linked with worse sleep, mainly shorter sleep and later bedtimes, in 90% of the studies.1 Results varied with the type of screen, your child's age and gender, and the day of the week. The authors are clear that a causal link isn't confirmed, and that both screen time and sleep were measured imperfectly.
The Sleep Charity explains that screen activities can be mentally stimulating, and screens may inhibit melatonin, the hormone that helps your child feel drowsy.2 The light isn't the whole story: blue light is real, but so is the group chat your child doesn't want to leave.
In Hale and Guan's review of 67 studies, how many linked screen time with worse sleep in children and teenagers?
- About a third
- About half
- Nine out of ten
90% of the studies found screen time linked with shorter or later sleep. The link is consistent, but the review can't prove screens are the cause.
Turn screens off an hour before bed and dim the lights
I'd plan what your child will do once the screens are off, so bedtime doesn't start with an argument about being bored.
- Agree it together. Set the switch-off time as a family rather than springing it on your child when they're halfway through something.
- Screens off an hour before bed. The Sleep Charity says to turn off all screens, from the television to the phone.
- Dim the lights. Keep them low for that last hour before bed.
- Swap in something quiet. Try crafts, jigsaws, colouring or model making, or choose a book with help from our guide to reading in bed.
- Talk earlier, not at lights out. Set aside time earlier in the day for any worries.
The adults should go first, and I say that as someone who scrolls Vinted until I drop off with the phone in my hand.
Plan something quiet for the screen-free hour, and put the grown-ups' phones in the basket too.
Keep TVs, consoles, tablets and phones out of the bedroom if you can
The Sleep Charity's bedroom advice is to make the room a gadget-free zone where possible: using screens before bed may suppress melatonin and make it harder to nod off.3 It also suggests a room temperature of around 18 degrees. Use these checks to sort out the practical details.
- phones and tablets charge outside the bedroom overnight
- there's no TV in the bedroom
- the games console lives in a shared room
- an alarm clock takes the place of a phone alarm
- the room is dark and around 18 degrees
A growing back deserves a proper mattress too, in my view, so take a look at our mattresses for children.
Teenagers' body clocks run late, so fight the phone, not the biology
Your teenager's body clock really does run later than yours, so insisting on lights out at 9pm for a 15-year-old is a fight you'll lose. Focus on the phone: that's the part you can do something about. The NHS says children need 9 to 13 hours of sleep on average, and if your teenager is constantly tired in the day, they probably aren't getting enough.4 Our guide to teenagers and sleep explains more about that later sleep pattern.
Questions people ask about screens and children's sleep
How long before bed should children stop using screens?
The Sleep Charity recommends stopping screens an hour before bed, and that includes the television. Use that hour for something quiet your child enjoys, rather than treating it as a countdown to lights out. Dim the lights too. If evenings are busy, choose an activity that takes little setting up, so you've got one less job to do.
Does night mode or a blue light filter make screens OK at bedtime?
Night mode or a blue light filter may help with the light, but the hour off screens does more. Use those settings by all means, but don't treat them as permission to carry on until bedtime. Screen activities can be mentally stimulating too. A different screen colour doesn't change what your child is watching or playing.
Do screens cause sleep problems in children?
Screens are consistently linked with later, shorter sleep, but Hale and Guan's review doesn't prove they cause it. Evening screen use is still the easiest thing to change when you're trying to make bedtime better. Treat the change as something to try together, rather than proof that your child's phone explains every difficult night.
