The AAP’s guidance
When it comes to screens and sleep, the AAP’s advice comes down to three points:
- End screen use at least an hour before bedtime.
- Keep screens and phones out of your child’s bedroom overnight.
- Pick calm content. Something intense or an action-packed game, the AAP points out, can leave children more alert and push their heart rate up, making it harder to fall asleep. Instead, it suggests relaxing or funny programs you watch together.
The AAP further explains that the kind of light screens emit can interfere with the body’s production of melatonin, the hormone that helps us fall asleep.
Why evening light hits young children hard
In a 2018 study, 10 healthy children roughly 3 to 5 years old were exposed to bright light for an hour before bed. Their melatonin dropped by about 88% and remained suppressed for at least 50 minutes once the light was off. A tablet held close to a child’s face isn’t identical to a brightly lit room, but the findings show just how responsive young children’s body clocks are to nighttime light.
Frequently, screens are only one part of a tougher bedtime. Actually Sleeping works with babies and toddlers from newborn on and fixes the entire evening, not only its final hour.
How it shows up at home
Parents commonly spot one of these patterns:
- The bedtime battle kicks off as soon as the show is over.
- Right when they should be winding down, your toddler seems wired instead of sleepy.
- Nights with a show mean a longer time falling asleep than nights without one.
- A show has turned into part of how your child falls asleep, and they ask for it again during the night.
That final pattern matters most. Once a screen becomes part of falling asleep, it behaves like any other sleep association: your child depends on it to fall asleep, and asks for it — or for you — when they wake.
Why simply removing screens often isn’t enough
Lots of families cut out evening screens only to find bedtime gets louder, not easier, at first. The show had been filling time, managing a tired toddler and giving parents a breather. With nothing in its place and no clear limit that both parents uphold, the protest just shifts to the routine. Babies feel this too: a TV playing in the background where a baby is falling asleep adds both light and noise.
Parents’ own screens matter as well — particularly a glowing phone during night feeds or while sitting next to the crib.
Our approach to screens and bedtime
Actually Sleeping works with babies and toddlers from newborn on. For a toddler, Dr. Sam writes a plan covering the entire evening — when screens end, how the routine runs and how bedtime requests are handled — tailored to your child and your family’s schedule. You get bootcamp-style coaching before the first night and daily 1:1 check-ins as the new evening routine settles in. Parents of toddlers describe their experience in reviews from families of children 12 months and older. You may also want to read what a bedtime routine should include.
What about mornings and daytime?
The sleep guidance from the AAP focuses on the evening. How much screen time to allow during the day is a separate decision for you and your pediatrician. Where sleep is concerned, the bedroom and the hour before bed are what count most.
If every evening ends in a battle the moment the screen goes off, book a free consultation with Actually Sleeping.
Ready for help with your own baby’s sleep?
With Actually Sleeping you get 1:1 coaching built around your child: Dr. Sam writes a sleep plan for your baby, we run bootcamp-style coaching before Night 1, and we check in every day until it is working. We have coached 700+ families, collected 129 video reviews, and put our promise in writing: 8–12 hours through the night within 14 days, or a full refund.
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Questions parents ask
How early before bed should a toddler’s screens be turned off?
At least an hour before bedtime, according to the AAP. It also recommends keeping phones, tablets and TVs out of your child’s bedroom overnight, and picking calm content when screens are used in the evening.
Do night mode or blue-light filters make bedtime screens okay?
The AAP’s guidance is straightforward: no screens during the hour before bed. Even with a filter on, an absorbing show or game can keep a toddler alert. For sleep, a book or quiet play is the safer choice.
Before bed, is a calm show better than a game?
The AAP favors relaxing or funny programs watched together over action-packed games and movies, which can push heart rate up. Still, try to wrap up all screens at least an hour before bedtime.