2

Electronic Devices

Having a cell phone in the bedroom can interfere with kids' sleep. Emma Kim/Getty Images

TV, cell phones, video games—there's no shortage of screens calling for your child's attention, and statistics show that even young children are connected to devices. Not only are these attention vampires addictive and increase the odds that people will ignore each other to stare at their screens (a phenomenon called "phubbing"), but studies have shown that they can interfere with falling asleep and staying asleep.﻿﻿ (This can be particularly problematic for kids since they need to get enough sleep to be alert and focused in school.)

Don't let kids watch TV or play video games at least an hour before bedtime, and do something quiet and soothing instead, like taking a bath or reading a book with you. And keep TVs, computers, and other screens out of your child's bedroom. Even small screens, such as smartphones, have been shown to cause sleep problems for kids when they're allowed in kids' bedrooms. A January 2015 study of more than 2,000 kids in 4th to 7th grade published in Pediatrics found that children who sleep near a smartphone or another small-screen device get less sleep than kids who are not allowed to have these types of devices in their bedrooms.