Is it ever a good idea to allow a child to sleep with the TV on all night, every night?

I wouldn’t have thought that it was a good idea. but I’ve no idea how you’d encourage the girl to sleep

I say Absolutely Not as well, living room should be the only place for tv, you don’t want the child watch unapropriate content on tv that airs late at night, anyways it’s unhealthy for eyes when the tv is on in the dark room and it doesn’t promote your body to tranquility.

Sounds to me like a stopgap solution her parents use because they are tired and want to get their own sleep. It’s not easy to have children and sometimes you have to deal with difficult issues at the expense of your own comfort. They’ll have a hard time with it for the first few months, but they’ll eventually break her TV habit. They just need to be patient and committed.

Perhaps you can offer her a nightlight while at your house, and couple that with reading her a story until she is out. My son insists the same thing, that he cannot sleep unless a TV is on in his room, but since we have never given in and put a TV in his room he has pretty much stopped insisting on it.

Certainly having a TV on and making noise would contribute to poorer sleep. Apparently any TV watching can be a problem. According to one study:

“While the overall amount of TV watched averaged about two hours per day–far less than the national average–sleep disturbances were still significant and included:

* resisting going to bed,
* having trouble falling asleep,
* not sleeping as long,
* anxiety about sleep, and
* daytime sleepiness.”

Certainly having to sleep while there is continuous noise and flickering light probably results in more disturbed sleep. I would suspect that she wakes the household multiple times during the night simply because of the TV being on.

@Darwin, those were my concerns as well. Very interesting. My suspicion is that it hinders restful sleep more than it helps. But then, my son – though he doesn’t sleep much – never had sleep issues and I wasn’t sure of my stance. Thanks for the “study” info.

Maybe she doesn’t want the TV on to watch it, but because it comforts her. I’m nearly 26 and there are some nights I get freaked out and I need some background noise and light on, or else I’m not getting to sleep. Maybe she is afraid of the dark and quiet, and something as simple as a night light and white noise generator would be sufficient to ease her to sleep. Also, why is she waking people up at night? When I was little, I did that because I was scared, and I wanted reassurance that everything was OK.

@seVen – I also suspected that about the bright tv in a dark room. I could have sworn that I’d seen a study on that as well. That the flicker of bright light can also affect different sleep stages.

I read an study about 4 years ago explaining how sleeping with the TV on prevents you from entering the REM cycle of sleep. This is equivalent to going to bed dunk.

So short answer “sleeping with the TV on is bad news bears” and more than that it’s a poor habit to get into. I know because I do it myself and it is hard to break.

@Les – You’re right. She doesn’t want it on to watch it. For that reason, I was wondering if soft music would help. But a white noise generator is probably better.

@drClaw – That’s the study I vaguely remember ! Thanks!

I forgot to mention this…

If your TV has a sleep timer then set it for 30 or 60min and that should mitigate any damage to her sleep.

Or how about a nice aquarium?
It can have some light in it, it moves (well, the fishes do) and she’ll come in contact with animals (if that weren’t the case yet).

@drClaw : I thought I was the only one who said things were “bad news bears”. Sweet…

Children are not necessarily more happy when they are indulged. Sometimes they are more happy when reasonable limits are set in a kind fashion.

I would simply say, “In this house we don’t leave the TV on at night, I’m sorry,” and then change the subject.

@Les bad news bears buddies!

While it is possible that having the TV on started because she was scared, depending on her age it may now just be because she is used to it. Also, while sometimes kids wake people up at night because they are scared, some are like my son. He wakes people up at night because he is awake. He has a hard time seeing things from the viewpoints of other people and when he is up he figures everybody should be up. Most kids lose this attitude by the time they are four or so, but he has managed to stay immature for his age.

Have you asked her why she wants the TV on at night?

I don’t believe that TVs should be in kids bedrooms, ever.

I wonder if the tv thing goes for music..in regards to REM sleep?

Our son uses a nightlight, and music to sleep. We found it drowns out the noises we make and helps him sleep better. I wouldn’t put a tv in my childs room ever, I think it’s too much of a distraction. I personally hate sleeping with the tv on, but my husband insists on it. So we compromised and the timer sets it to sleep at 3am.
If she is spending the night occasionally, you are not obligated to put a tv in the guest room. How will she ever attend a sleep over with friends? Be the kid that has to sleep in a room with the tv? She needs to get over it.

@Rarebear And I disagree. I’ve had a TV in my room since I was 11 and I’m going to Stanford. Ooh…the bad effects of it are just horrifying!~ “Just plop them in front of the TV. That’s how I was raised, and I turned out TV.” -Homer Simpson

I think the issue here is less of a TV issue and more a sleeping issue. I agree that you should find out why she has to have it on. Has she recently tried going to sleep without the TV on? Maybe that should be tried. (Maybe she be compelled to try it). Also, if it must be done just to lull her asleep, TVs have sleep functions and can turn off after an hour or so, that way it wouldn’t wake her up later at night. Not to mention it’s a big waste of energy and it sounds like it’s disturbing other people. I don’t think it should be allowed to continue this way, but simply turning off the TV and saying “go to bed” isn’t going to fix the problem either. Find out what’s going on first. I realize this is more advice to the parents than the grandparents, but you could always hint about it to them.

@casheroo I believe when I read the study about REM sleep (this was 4 years ago so take it with a grain of salt) that it mostly had to do with the light patterns and the quickly changing sounds. Most music wouldn’t cause sleep disruptions like this, well, death metal might.

@Darwin – Yes, she apparently wakes her mother up because she’s up. I’ve had a talk with her about this already because she seemed to think it was funny to wake her mother up so much that mom nearly fell asleep at work and was starting to feel sick.

I realize that she may have some anxiety issues, but she recently admitted to me “I just say I’m afraid of something or something makes me sick if I don’t feel like doing (or eating) it right then. And later, if I feel like doing it, my mom usually has forgotten that I said I was scared.” Makes it hard to suss out exactly what is anxiety-induced and what is pure drama.

Sounds like a lot of drama and not a little manipulation. Based on her comment, I don’t think she has a huge problem with anxiety, but does have her parents pegged. God help them when she is a teenager.

Ah… c’mon, guys. TV is an absolute good. Nothing bad can come from it.

Night light and classical music CD that shuts off after its gone through the play list. Light and sound without being TV.

Problem solved!

I would get a couple of different calming/peaceful/relaxing classical CDs for variety, but this is something that worked for me and my major sleep problems. However, I can’t listen to classical music while driving because I want to pass out. :D

I would wonder about the anxiety thing. If she uses it to get what she wants all the time, its not really anxiety about anything other than “how can I manipulate my parents?”

Part of the reason why she wakes everyone up at night is because something comes on the TV, a commercial or something else loud, and wakes her up. So… Bye bye TV until she’s at least 12 and then the remote gets taken away at night if she can’t be trusted to leave it off.

@avvooooooo – sounds like a plan!

@AstroChuck – Oh, there you are! :-)

My Father In Law insists on the same thing. We bought him a switch-timer because his TV didn’t have that feature, and it automatically switches off the electricity about an hour after he falls asleep. It works great.

I like the idea of getting her an aquarium, a music box or perhaps a restful screen saver on a monitor

if she doesn’t learn at this point how to sleep w/o tv on she might not ever learn it. think about it – this could cause problems when she’s older and married.

@jca My son slept with a light on in his room until he left for the Navy, and it never caused him any problem.

A television is for entertaining and possibly on those rare, rare occasions learning but neither really takes place while you sleep. Oh the subliminal messages this child must receive.

I would question about having a TV in an 8 yo’s bedroom at all but beyond that, most TV’s today vome with sleep timers. If Mom wants to put her to bed, put the timer to 15 min and turn out the light that might work. If the child is still awake when the TV turns off, the TV is interfering with the child’s sleep.

Leaving it on all night is bad because she cannot get the the right kind of sleep to be really rested. I’m sure everyone has fallen asleep in front of the TV and had dreams incorporating the program. That is not restful renewing sleep.

@McBean Woohoo!

no it is not good kids should read instead

I use to do that a lot (sleeping with theT.V. on) when I was a kid. I think you should talk to the kiddo and tell him/her to get on your shoes and understand that other people need their sleep. You should try to put on soft music on before she goes to sleep.

My parents never let me have a tv in my room at night, but they saw nothing wrong with me having a shot of blackberry brandy to help me sleep. That stuff worked wonders.

Absolutely not.

No. It would probably condition her to sleep through things that would be important, such as fire alarm or just getting up to go to school. If she still wakes up that much through the night then it’s not helping, it’s already hurting!

My daughter has to sleep with her TV on, my husband and I have to have a fan going and my son can’t stand any noise or light. I think everyone has a sleep ritual and if that’s what gets you through, then I think it’s ok.

Noooooo take it from someone who did the same thing. The noise isn’t really what I’d worry about, but the light. And sleep hygiene is the correct term! (Take it from a narcoleptic)

I used to have the same problem, and it’s not really all that complicated (for those asking why in the world she would have such a request). I used to be scared of the dark. Couldn’t sleep without a nightlight of some sort. I also had, and still have, a fear of silence. I typically can’t sleep in complete silence. It makes me paranoid. The TV is like killing two birds with one stone. Serves as a nightlight AND makes noise. ‘Course, I’m not scared of the dark anymore, so now I just sleep with the radio on. But yeah, it’s a legitimate problem for some people, and I don’t see it as an odd request.

An added bonus of leaving the TV on while you sleep is having some really interesting dreams.

@DominicX Well, you’re going to Stanford. That’s your problem! Go Bears! :-)

I skipped some of the other answers and skimmed through so I apologize ahead if I repeat anything. Coming from the experience with my son, we were having trouble keeping him in his own bed at night. We (i regret the very thought of it) brought a tv into his room to help him stay in the bed. Well now (not even 4 months after) he refuses to go to bed without it, he stays up to watch the movie til the end, still has problems falling asleep. I most definately think for my son it was the big switch from mom’s bed to his own room, on top of a slight fear of the dark. I would feel so completely guilty leaving him in there that the TV made me feel a little better. Well, I started worrying about the tv bothering his sleep. I spoke with the Developmental Counselour on base and was told a child his age should only have about an hour of screen time a day. For some this is unrealistic, but Im trying my best to keep it to one hour. We are slowly coming away from the TV by telling him he can have his movie if he goes to bed earlier. So instead of an 8 o clock bedtime, its 7 oclock. Then when i go up, he’s asleep and i shut off the tv. I also have invested in a nightlight. It shines a star like pattern on the ceiling and plays music. they have them in the shapes of animals, so it like a little “bedtime buddy” we tell him. It seems to be working wonders for him, and I hope to all together get rid of the boob toob ASAP!