Sleep Tip Day 10

Let's talk screen time and sleep! I dare you to look at the amount of time you spend on your mobile device yesterday or your weekly average! Were you shocked, saddened or maybe that sounds just about what you expected?
We spend a lot of time on our devices and infront of screens.
So how does this effect our sleep? Take a moment and think about the last time you were on your device right before bedtime or maybe you woke up in the middle of the night and reached for your device? How was that nights sleep?

The biological clock in healthy adults follows a 24-hour sleep-wake cycle. When the sun rises in the morning, your body produces cortisol, a hormone that makes you feel awake and alert. As daylight fades, the body releases another hormone, melatonin, that produces feelings of sleepiness.

Electronic back-lit devices like cell phones, tablets, readers, and computers emit short-wavelength enriched light, also known as blue light. Fluorescent and LED lights also emit blue light, which has been shown to reduce or delay the natural production of melatonin in the evening and decrease feelings of sleepiness. Blue light can also reduce the amount of time you spend in slow-wave and rapid-eye movement (REM) sleep, two stages of the sleep cycle that are vital for cognitive functioning.

Children are particularly vulnerable to sleep problems stemming from electronic devices that emit blue light. Numerous studies have established a link between using devices with screens before bed and increases in sleep latency, or the amount of time it takes someone to fall asleep. Additionally, children who use these devices at night often do not receive enough high-quality sleep and are more likely to feel tired the next day.

We invite you to put down the devices before bed! Here are a few tips to decrease the screen time for optimal sleep. Which one will you be trying tonight?!

1. Decrease Your Daytime and Nighttime Electronics Use: Using electronic devices for long periods during the day can negatively impact sleep too, especially among adolescents. Common effects include shorter sleep duration, longer sleep onset, and more sleep deficiency.

2. Establish a Relaxing Bedtime Routine: A regular bedtime that ensures an adequate amount of rest is essential for healthy sleep. The hour before bed should consist of relaxing activities that don’t involve devices with screens.

3. Make Your Bedroom a Screen-Free Zone: While a lot of people prefer to keep a television in their bedroom, watching TV before bed is generally discouraged due to the negative effect it can have on your sleep. Try removing all of your electronic devices from your bedroom – and encourage your kids to do the same.

4. Use Nighttime Mode: Many cell phones, tablets, and other portable electronic devices are equipped with a “nighttime mode” that is easier on the eyes before bed. As one study noted, the most effective nighttime modes reduce blue light emissions and decrease the display’s brightness setting. You should manually dim the display if your device does not automatically adjust the brightness in nighttime mode.

5. You might even consider invest in Some “Blue Blocker” Glasses: You can purchase orange-tinted eyeglasses specifically designed to shield your eyes from blue light emissions. This may not be ideal, especially if you don’t like wearing glasses, but some studies have found them to be very effective.

www.sleepfoundation.org

Youth screen media habits and sleep: sleep-friendly screen-behavior recommendations for clinicians, educators, and parents: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5839336/

Oh my, this is all so important and unbelievably difficult to abide by. I have set night time mode on all of my iPads and phone. I understand how bad blue light from tv and our devices is on our sleep. Does anyone know if Night Time mode on phone and iPads truly blocks the blue light? Other than blue light glasses, is there a setting on these devices that is even better?

This is what I have set on my ipad. Is this the best option?

I did get screens for both computer and phone screens. I noticed significantly less eye strain and fatigue when spending hours for work.

very interesting I didn't know LED light had the blue rays in them. Ihave ordered a pair of the blue light blocking glassed as well as red light too

I actually know all of this. My phone goes on night mode by 9:30 and only approved calls come through. My glasses also have blue light blocker since I work on computers all day then come home to more screens it’s needed.

Wow you all are such great teachers. You each have some great ideas! Thanks

I would like to try the blue light blocker’s glasses. I would love to continue to work on my morning and night routines.

My regular glasses have a coating on the lenses for blue light because my job is a desk job working on computers all day. I tell my husband this about screens all the time! He is the worst about pulling his phone out if he can’t sleep.

I have had the coating on my glasses for year. It really does help. I also set my stuff for quite time. I only let a select number of call come thur, the rest go to voice or email and I take care in the am. I fall asleep with the tv on but only the voice part not the picture or light. It helps me fall asleep like white noise.

I just purchased some orange-tinted reading glasses. I can't wait to try them. I'm using Blue-Screen readers for my daily job, but still can feel the pull on my eyes as the day goes on.

Since starting your sleep time challenge I have been putting my phone done at night and not watching a move interested I am reading book and that has help me a lot.

Good reminders of screen time and sleep. My cell phone is not even charged in the bedroom, no tv in the bedroom either. I like to have a book to read from in the bedroom and read for 20-30 minutes before turning out the light - it seems to help me fall asleep quicker.

I love to use sleep mode on my iPhone. Only prioritized notifications come in. It turns on and off every day at a scheduled time

Screen time at night is a very bad habit for me.. my mind feels it can't stop.. I'm a multiply Tasker so getting ready for bed & settling down is so hard for me!

But I have noticed a lot less awaking & when I do I fall back to sleep pretty fast

So something is working

I can tell when I’m most tired I skip the phone. My husband loved the tv to fall asleep. Drives me crazy

Make the bedroom a screen free zone. I don’t have a tv in the room but I am bad about grabbing my phone when I cannot sleep. I have found that I will fall asleep faster if I keep the phone put away in the night.

@nancy-gordon the night mode on devices like your i-phone and i-pad can be so helpful in blocking the sleep disrupting light. It looks like you found the right place to adjust that setting on your device. We still recommend that devices are away before getting ready for bed if at all possible for optimal sleep.

I have started to get off my phone by 9. I also purchased glasses to reduce the blue light. Haven't tried them yet, but they are by my bedside. Lol