Parents should limit screen time, caffeine to ensure children get enough sleep: Study

Getting children to bed at night may sometimes feel like a daunting experience for some parents. A new study offers some key advice on how to make the experience more pleasant: limit screen time and caffeine for children at bedtime if you want them to get quality sleep.

Orfeu Buxton, now an associate professor or biobehavioral health at Penn State, led a team conducting the 2014 National Sleep Foundation Sleep in America Poll, "Sleep in the Modern Family," whose overall objective was to obtain a current picture of sleep in families with at least one school-aged child. The results are published today (Jan. 26) in Sleep Health.

The researchers reported that well-established rules for getting good sleep, such as limited caffeine and a regular bedtime, led to sufficient sleep quantity and adequate sleep quality. However, when parents and children had electronic devices on in the bedroom after bedtime, sleep deficiency was more likely.

"We were interested in parental perception of the importance of sleep duration and sleep quality, habits, and routines of the families and children, and obstacles preventing adequate sleep," Buxton said.

According to the report, the researchers offer a guideline for how much sleep children need. A child between the ages of six and 11 should sleep nine hours per night and those between the ages of 12 and 17 should get in at least eight hours of sleep per night.

"Good quality and sufficient sleep are vital for children. Just like a healthy diet and exercise, sleep is critical for children to stay healthy, grow, learn, do well in school, and function at their best," said Orfeu Buxton, associate professor at Pennsylvania State University.

"We have previously demonstrated the negative effect that use of light-emitting technology before bedtime can have on sleep, and now in this study we see how parental rules and routines regarding technology can influence the quantity and quality of their children's sleep," said Anne-Marie Chang, assistant professor of biobehavioral health at Penn State and co-author of the study. Chang and colleagues recently showed that reading on an iPad before bedtime, compared to reading a print book, can impair sleep, delay circadian timing, and degrade alertness the following morning.

"An important consequence of our modern-day, 24/7 society is that it is difficult for families - children and caregivers both - to get adequate sleep," Buxton said. "Sleep in the family context frames sleep as involving interactions between all members of a household and interactions with the environment of the home as well as exogenous factors like work or school affecting any member."