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Cell Phones and Screens Are Keeping Your Kid Awake

  • November 07, 2016

Children today are immersed in technology. Skills that would have been necessary a generation ago, navigating with a map or using a card catalogue are no longer deemed necessary. The wide availability and instant access to information has been revolutionary but modern technology does have consequences.

Smart phones, tablets and computers may be necessary to make it through the day but at night they can have a detrimental impact on your sleep. A CNN study suggests that they are particularly damaging to the sleep patterns of children. They found a strong link between “bedtime media device use and inadequate sleep quantity, poor sleep quality and excessive daytime sleepiness.”

There are ways to improve the sleep quality for you and your children. Chronic exposure to dim light while sleeping can cause signs of depression after just a few weeks. Therefore, it is imperative to create as dark a sleeping environment as possible. This means removing outside sources of the light and EMFs from your immediate sleeping vicinity.

Another important step is avoiding blue light after sunset. This includes artificial light, and light emitted by electronics such as your TV, computer and other electronic screens. This is not always easy due to work, entertainment interests and social pressure.

The easiest solution, which I recently started using myself, is to don special amber colored glasses that block blue light. Studies have confirmed that when using blue-blocking glasses, people produce as much melatonin as they do in dim light, even if they're in a lit room or using light emitting technology.