Tablets before bed may not disrupt toddlers’ sleep under strict conditions
A new German study challenges concerns about tablets disrupting young children's sleep. Researchers found that, under specific conditions, short tablet use before bedtime did not affect toddlers' rest. The experiment involved 32 families with children aged 15 to 24 months. The study was led by Sabine Seehagen, Neele Hermesch, and Carolin Konrad from Ruhr University Bochum. Parents and their toddlers took part in two evening sessions: one with a printed Peppa Pig picture book and another with the same story shown on a tablet. Each session lasted 15 minutes and took place in the child's bedroom under dim lighting. The findings suggest that limited, supervised tablet use before bed may not harm young children's sleep as much as previously thought. However, the study only examined one night, leaving longer-term effects untested. The team emphasised that strict conditions—like dim lighting and brief screen time—were key to the results.
