It is time to sleep. We are tired (surely more than our children) and we think it is a good idea to have some fun before bedtime or in bed with your mobile phone, TV or tablet. Let them play a little, relax. Error. It is proven that the screens are enemies of good children's sleepSo, if we want them to sleep well, it is best to keep them away from them in that period.
And, if it is good to create certain habits at the time of sleep, play video games or see drawings is not among those good customs that help children to sleep well. Nor for the little ones, those under three years old, as has been shown recently.
The study prepared by researchers at the University of London and published in the journal "Nature", can not be clearer from its title: "Daily use of touch screens in infants and young children is associated with a reduction in sleep and a delay in the onset of sleep".
The research was carried out analyzing data from 715 families in the United Kingdom with children between six months and three years. The data conclude that for every daily hour that the children spent with the tablet, they reduced their nighttime sleep by 26 minutes (although they slightly increased the daytime sleep of the nap, probably because the body tries to compensate for what is not sleeping for the night throughout the day).
As children's use of these technologies increases, children take longer to catch their sleep. As a curious fact, the use of television only reduced the time of daytime naps and did not affect nighttime sleep (although as we will see below, there are studies that relate this use to poor sleep quality, including a disorder such as sleepwalking ).
Similar results were already known for older children, but it is the first time that the effects of the screens have been analyzed in such young children, under three years of age. And such a study was needed, because they are a regular "public" to these mobile devices.
According to the FAROS report (Observatory of Health of Children and Adolescents) of the Hospital Sant Joan de Déu de Esplugues, almost half of children under two years use tablets and mobiles and presumably, many of them will also before sleep.
Pediatrician recommendations
Because of this extensive use of mobile devices by children, it is not surprising that pediatricians make their official recommendations to parents, as recently the American Academy of Pediatrics regarding the use of tablets, mobiles and television and that are summarized in the following:
No screens before 18 months.
Select high quality content between 18 and 24 months.
Select high quality content no more than one hour between two and five years.
From the age of six, I use the devices with balance and common sense, so that they do not affect sleep, physical activity and their way of communicating with other children and adults.
It is convenient to establish schedules totally free of media content, especially a while before going to sleep.
How small children affect screens
As we see, Pediatricians recommend very clear limits on the use of mobile devices by minors. But it is not only because they can harm the amount of sleep and child rest. Also its quality. The use of the computer before sleep could be related to sleep disorders: a relationship has been found with the increase in cases of child sleepwalking.
In addition, we know that the screens damage the sight of the little ones. In recent years there has been an increase in myopia cases among young children, between two and four years. Ophthalmologists attribute it to the greater use of new technologies by families. But it's not just a matter of sight damage.
On the other hand, it is also believed that mobile phones and tablets could be negatively affecting the social and emotional development of our children, since the more hours they spend absorbed in the screens ("disconnected"), the less time they spend interacting with other people of its surroundings.
As sleep is vital for the biological, psychological and social development of children, an inadequate amount of sleep and its quality becomes an important health problem.
And it is increasingly clear that mobile and multimedia portable devices can affect the duration and quality of sleep of children under three years old especially. Also to older children and everyone. Surely you have also noticed the harmful effects of being glued to the screens before sleep and if not, try to take them off a couple of hours before sleep and you will notice the difference.
