MONDAY, Feb. 25 (HealthDay News) -- It may seem like a good
idea: Use a bit of TV viewing to help your young child get to
sleep.
But a growing body of research is finding that infants and
children under the age of 3 who watch TV -- even too much TV during
the day -- struggle with interrupted sleep and irregular bed and
naptime schedules.
"We know that many, many parents rely on TV and video as part of
their child's sleep routine," said Dr. Dimitri Christakis, a
pediatrician at the University of Washington and co-author of "The
Elephant in the Living Room: Make TV Work for Your Kids".
"Watching television before bed makes it more difficult for
children to fall asleep," he added. "Scientific data support
that."
As proof, Christakis pointed to a recent study he led with
University of Washington colleague Dr. Darcy Thompson that found
that children under age 3 who watch television are at higher risk
of disturbed sleep. Other studies have looked at the effects of TV
viewing on older children and teens, and also found a link between
TV, poor sleep and later bedtimes.
Christakis and Thompson examined data from a national health
survey of children aged 4 months to 35 months, and evaluated parent
interviews for more than 2,000 children. The result: 27 percent of
the youngsters had irregular bedtime schedules, and almost 34
percent had irregular nap schedules.
But here's the kicker -- the number of hours of television
viewed was associated with a greater likelihood of an irregular
sleep schedule, although no cause-and-effect relationship could be
definitively established. On average, the babies younger than 12
months watched 0.9 hours of television; those 12 months to 23
months watched 1.6 hours daily; and those 24 months to 35 months
watched 2.3 hours a day.
Thompson explained that a regular sleep schedule is important,
because it influences the quality and quantity of sleep that
children get. And, healthy sleep habits can prevent problems such
as bedtime resistance or nighttime awakenings, she said.
Thompson said one possible explanation is that television
viewing causes irregular sleep schedules. Another is that irregular
sleep leads to more TV viewing, a kind of vicious cycle.
Another uncertainty is whether the timing of television viewing,
say, before bedtime, has an impact on sleep. In theory, Thompson
reasoned, children who watch a lot of shows with content that is
violent or inappropriate for their age could have sleep
disturbances no matter when they watched those shows. Others would
argue that viewing disturbing content before bedtime impedes
sleep.
The bottom line, according to Christakis: "If your kid is having
a sleep problem, look at TV [habits] and see if it is playing a
role. There is no need to modify TV if your kid is not having sleep
problems."
Dr. Nancy Maynard, a pediatrician at the Great Falls Clinic in
Great Falls, Mont., agreed.
"I do tell parents it is good to limit the amount of TV during
the day to less than two hours of screen time, including TV,
computer, video games," she said.
"And don't use TV as a go-to-sleep aid," Maynard advised. That
holds true even for high schoolers, she added.
Maynard said she understood why the parents of younger children
might be tempted to park their kids in front of the TV right before
bedtime. "It gets them to stay in one place. But it's not [helping
them in] making changes the brain needs to make to the transition
to sleep. And it may make it worse. The visual stimulation amps
them up."
"I think of it as going to the state fair," Maynard tells
parents when advising them not to let their children watch TV
before bed. "You are on the midway, with all the lights and the
noise. Walking away from that, I don't know how many people are
relaxed."
Are you struggling with a young child who's troubled by troubled
sleep? The National Institutes of Health offers these
suggestions:
- Set a regular time for bed each night and stick to it.
- Establish a relaxing bedtime routine, such as giving your child
a warm bath or reading him or her a story.
- Make after-dinner playtime a relaxing time. Too much activity
close to bedtime can keep children awake.
- Avoid feeding children big meals close to bedtime.
- Avoid giving children anything with caffeine less than six
hours before bedtime.
- Set the bedroom temperature so that it's comfortable -- not too
warm and not too cold.
- Make sure the bedroom is dark. If necessary, use a small
nightlight.
- Keep the noise level low.
More information
To learn more about sleep and children, visit the
National Sleep Foundation.
