To tell you about the Panorama doc on children's sleep

[blubberball]

Posted in the telly addicts bit, but posting here for traffic as I think that it's quite important for parents to know about. Did any one else see the documentary? It's on iPlayer. Is any one else going to make any changes as a result?

I'm going to try. We have as a family, slipped into some bad habits with screens before bed time. I'm going to try on school nights, to switch off all screens one hour before bed time, a bath or shower 30 minutes before bed, and sleepy snacks of porridge or banana.

The children in the study's performance at school vastly improved after promoting the good sleep routines. Memory and problem solving improved by 50 - 60%.

It won't do us any harm to try this.

[thefraggleontherock]

I came across this the other night but I could only watch half and I can't find it in iplayer! What I saw was very interesting.

My 4yo DS has always been a terrible sleeper and we recently stopped screen time an hour before bed on the advice of our health visitor (she was visiting baby but it came up in conversation). His sleep has improved although not dramatically but he's certainly getting better slowly.

[blubberball]

That sounds very positive. :)

[SchnitzelVonCrumb]

Tell me more!

[LaPharisienne]

Very interested!!

[DaffodilDarling]

I'd add as well that light colour from screens can have a big negative impact on sleep, hence Apple adding the "Nightshift" feature which I'd recommend everyone uses!

[mmgirish]

I watched that programme and wish I could email it to some of the parents in my class. Some good tips in there.

[apotheke]

I'm interested to watch this. I love the night shift feature on my phone set to maximum warmth. I have it set from early eve and sometimes even enable it early. Try it when you are in the dark then switch back, it really hits home how harsh the blue light is.

[ScarlettDarling]

Interesting. How do you activate the 'night shift' feature?

[Trollspoopglitter]

Haven't seen the show but what is the difference between a tablet screen and a tv screen?

I grew up in a country where an entire generation watched the evening cartoon on tv at bedtime. It was the signal for bed for all school kids. And this is the kind of tv they had in the 70s, mind, which really was bad for you if you sat too close to the screen (unlike today). Wondered what makes tablets so much worse? Or it is the amount of time watching a screen?

[WelshMoth]

How about we all try heeding the advice to STOP screen time instead of a hoard of parents looking for the 'nightshift' feature?

[Tottyandmarchpane1]

I think people mean using the night screen feature for themselves rather than for their kids
WelshMoth

[smilingsarahb]

I watched this with my children (youngest is 6) they found it really interesting and anything mummy doesn't tell them is listened too more

[apotheke]

welshmoth you misunderstand, the nightshift feature isn't for my DC it's for me mumsnetting

[Trollspoopglitter]

How about we question studies and think logically? There are always new studies. Many contradict one another. The one study on sleep came out two years ago and I wonder how many other independent studies have been conducted since then that have successfully replicated its results to confirm its findings.

[civilfawlty]

Thank his WelshMoth is here to pull everyone back in line.

[Spikeyball]

No screens before bedtime here and ds is still awake half the night or mega early in the morning.

[contractor6]

Not seen the programme, however we've stopped all screen time after lunch for 18 mo, the reason being iggle piggle didn't send her to sleep, quite the opposite....

[Gileswithachainsaw]

Ooh I'm going to go and look for this.

We ban screens on school days however dd1 can be very restless at night sometimes all be it on purpose so I'm going to check it out for ideas

[megletthesecond]

From what I saw it was dept of state the bleeding obvious. No screens here and I've still had to work through six years of a sleep problem.

[Doyouwantabrew]

I don't know. In my experience some kids/people just need more sleep than others in life and some are more effected by external factors than others.

I can sleep anywhere to be honest. Dd 17 cannot ever sleep in total dark, ds1 couldn't sleep without a story tape playing and ds2 needed absolute silence to go off.

I think it's not one size fits all with kids just as adults and you need to look at a specific routine to suit your child/family.

[Kennington]

This isn't new. Too much screen time isn't good for anyone. And getting children into the habit for reaching for an iPad is a recipie for trouble.
Kids who do well in school aren't sat on iPads during the day or night.
They need to be outside playing or doing something else.

[PlayOnWurtz]

Since screens came into our lives we've had a strict "no screens 45mins before bed" rule in this house. It seems to work.

[triskele]

I thought it was interesting but the switching off the screens thing is something we have always done anyway. Child sleeps well.

Still, child is young yet and may well become more difficult to remove screen from as he gets older

[RedBugMug]

I don't mind my dc having screen time.
but - we as parents limit it. the dc are allowed to watch one hour after school. (atm, dc are still primary age)

dc1 takes ages to fall asleep anyway but dc2 usually falks asleep very quickly.

[RedBugMug]

and screen time doesn't need to mean dc don't get other activities. we go outside every day for at least an hour. rain or shine. I believe that is very important to our wellbeing.