Reducing Toddler Screen Time Before Bed Improves Sleep Quality and Attention: Study

A recent trial in the United Kingdom found that toddler screen time restriction before bedtime is feasible and has modest sleep benefits like improved sleep efficiency and fewer night awakenings compared to the toddlers who were exposed to screen time. The trial results were published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics.

Sleep is necessary for brain maturation and sleep disturbances can impact cognitive development in toddlers. Of late toddlers' exposure to screens has increased due to various reasons. Exposure to screens before bed can have a negative impact on the growing child. Research has linked it to abnormal sleep patterns, concentration issues, attention issues, and development in toddlers. Hence researchers from the United Kingdom have conducted a study to test the feasibility of the 7-week parent-administered screen time intervention (PASTI) in toddlers (aged 16-30 months) who have screen time in the hour before bed and the impact of PASTI on toddlers’ sleep and attention.

An assessor-blinded, single-site, randomized clinical trial was conducted between July 2022 and July 2023 by enrolling families with toddlers aged between 16 and 30 months were included except those with any genetic or neurological condition or premature birth or participating in any other study. Toddlers were given 10 minutes or more of screen time in the hour before bed on 3 or more days a week. Families were randomly divided into 3 groups (1:1:1) where caregivers removed toddler screen time an hour before bed and used activities from a bedtime box instead (eg, reading, puzzles). The second group where matched before-bed activities from the bedtime box were used with no mention of screen time and those without any interventions.