Devices before bed and sleep problems

If sleep has become hard in your house, the last hour before bed is almost always where the fix lives. And in 2026, the last hour before bed is almost always where the device is.

What devices do to sleep

Three things happen when a child uses a phone or tablet in the last hour before sleep, and they stack on top of each other:

1. 1Light exposure — particularly the blue end of the spectrum — suppresses melatonin, the hormone that initiates sleep. The effect is measurable even at moderate brightness.
2. 2Content engagement — anything interactive, surprising, or emotionally charged (games, social content, videos) activates the sympathetic nervous system. Sleep is a parasympathetic process. The two are working against each other.
3. 3Delayed bedtime — once a device is in hand, time disappears. A planned 20 minutes becomes 90. Sleep onset is pushed later.

Any one of those three is a problem for sleep. Children on devices in the pre-bed hour get all three at once.

The AU clinical picture

Most paediatric sleep clinics in Australia — across public and private — have converged on a single family rule as the single most useful change they recommend: no screens in the last hour before sleep, and no screens in the bedroom overnight.

It is boring. It is also the most reliably effective intervention in paediatric sleep hygiene. Families who make this change, and nothing else, typically see a measurable improvement in sleep latency (how long it takes to fall asleep) and total sleep time within one to two weeks.

Why this is harder than it sounds

Two reasons this rule is hard to hold:

The first is that the device is often where the day ends for your child — they use it to wind down, to message friends, to watch something comforting. Removing it without a replacement wind-down ritual leaves a vacuum. You need to fill the vacuum, not just empty it.

The second is that, for many families, the child's device is their alarm clock. It also plays their white noise, or the audiobook they fall asleep to. All of those functions have to be replaced by something non-phone — a dedicated alarm clock, a standalone speaker, an e-reader without a connection. None of these are expensive. Most are under $50.

What to replace the pre-bed hour with

For primary-age kids, a dim-light reading window works well. A book, low light, in a calm space. The nervous system reads the dimming light as a signal that sleep is coming.

For teens, a more social replacement often works — a chat with a parent, a shared activity like drawing or a card game, a short walk if weather allows, a bath. The content of the activity matters less than the fact that it is low-stimulation and consistent.

For sensory-seeking kids, a physical wind-down — a weighted blanket, a warm bath, a heavy hug — can be more effective than a reading routine. Your OT can help if you want a proper protocol.

If your child is already struggling with sleep

Pull devices out of the pre-sleep hour, and out of the bedroom, first. Do not change six things at once. If the sleep has not improved after two weeks, other things are also going on — talk to your GP about paediatric sleep review, particularly if you have any concerns about anxiety, sensory differences, or underlying neurodevelopmental patterns.

Teens will push back

They will. The strongest move a parent can make is to treat this as a family rule, not a personal restriction. All phones in the kitchen at 9pm, including yours. The teen is not being punished; the household is being protected. That framing holds up much better than a child-targeted rule.

Sleep is the single biggest predictor of how the next day will feel. Devices in the pre-sleep hour are the single biggest controllable variable. It is a small change with outsized effect. Most families wish they had made it sooner.