Children Are Losing Sleep By Taking Their Phones To Bed. Here’s How To Help Them

When you discuss unsupervised phone use with parents, they express a number of concerns: what their children might stumble upon online, what they are searching for or playing, and also, perhaps most importantly, whether their phone might be disturbing their sleep. And with reason: a recent study by the University of Sheffield and Silentnight found that children with phones, tablets or computers in their rooms got a whole hour’s less sleep, on average, than those without.

So how can we prize our kids’ phones away from them, when they’re so used to having it stuck in their hands? It’s important that parents stress the effect that constant communication can have on sleep, advises psychologist Dr Linda Papadopolous from Internet Matters. That’s particularly the case with older children. “This will help them make more informed choices about physically disconnecting by switching off at night,” she tells HuffPost UK. 

[Read More: We quizzed our parents about our phone use and this is what we learned]

“Sleep is crucial to a child’s emotional development, and therefore if you spot signs that your child’s wellbeing is affected by their device, have a conversation with them about why you are concerned and consider introducing parameters such as ‘no tech once the lights go out’,” he says. For younger kids, it’s best to start the habit of “no phones in the bedroom” early. 

Sleep expert Dr Nerina Ramlakhan from Silentnight, explains that parents need to make it clear to kids that phones do not belong in their bedrooms. “Children and teenager’s brains are still developing, and therefore they need the right amount of sleep, and deep sleep, to ensure that they are energised and are able to concentrate,” she argues. 

“As parents, we need to be the change, and act as role models. This means we also need to not be on our phones late at night.”