Building a bedtime routine

What the evidence says about routines

In a large global survey, Mindell and colleagues found that how consistently a routine was followed appeared to matter. The more regularly it was kept, and the younger the child was when it began, the better the reported sleep outcomes. The authors describe this as a dose-dependent pattern. Outcomes included earlier bedtimes, shorter time to fall asleep, fewer night wakings and longer sleep. The data came from mothers of 10,085 children aged up to five, so the findings are associations and not proof that routines cause better sleep.^[1]

Official UK guidance takes a similar line for babies. The NHS page on helping a baby to sleep says that a simple, soothing bedtime routine may help a baby settle, and it lists a bath, a bedtime story and a lullaby among possible steps. Mindell and Williamson likewise list feeding, bathing, reading or singing, and physical closeness as common elements. Both sources leave the choice of steps to families, and the emphasis is on doing it regularly.^[2][3]

Timing and regularity

The American Academy of Pediatrics, through its HealthyChildren.org site, advises starting a bedtime routine early and keeping to a regular daily routine, including the same wake-up time on weekdays and weekends. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) lists going to bed and getting up at the same time every day among its healthy sleep habits. The CDC page is written for people of all ages, so it is a supporting source here and not a child-specific one.^[4][5]

WHO guidelines for children under five, published in 2019, recommend good-quality sleep with regular sleep and wake-up times for children aged one to four. The recommended totals are 11 to 14 hours for ages one to two and 10 to 13 hours for ages three to four, and naps may count towards these totals. The material reviewed here does not give a clock time for bedtime, which depends on a child's age, nap pattern and wake-up time.^[6]

Regularity has some support from long-term data. In the UK Millennium Cohort Study of 10,230 children, those without regular bedtimes at ages three, five and seven had more behavioural difficulties at seven, and children whose bedtimes became regular showed improvement. The authors conclude that regular bedtimes in early childhood are an important influence on behaviour. As with other observational work, other family circumstances may play a part.^[7]

Lighting in the evening

The NHS suggests dimming the lights in the room as one way to create a calm atmosphere in a baby's bedtime routine. The page does not specify a brightness level or lamp type, and the guidance is aimed at babies, so it should not be read as a precise standard for older children. It does show that lower light is one suggested part of a calm routine.^[2]

Laboratory work gives a reason to think evening light may matter. Chang and colleagues, in a 2015 study, compared reading a light-emitting e-book with reading a printed book before bed. Those using the light-emitting device took longer to fall asleep, felt less sleepy in the evening, produced less melatonin, had a later body clock and were less alert the next morning. The participants were adults and not children, so the results cannot be applied directly to young children, and the study did not test dim room lighting as such.^[8]

Screens before bed

WHO guidance for under-fives says screen time is not recommended for babies, and that sedentary screen time such as watching television or videos is not recommended for one-year-olds. For children aged two to four it says sedentary screen time should be no more than one hour, and that less is better. The same guidance encourages reading and storytelling with a caregiver as a preferred way to spend sedentary time. These limits relate to the whole day, not only the evening.^[6]

Advice on the gap before bed varies. HealthyChildren.org advises turning off all screens at least 60 minutes before bedtime and keeping screens out of children's bedrooms, especially at night. The CDC page mentions switching off electronic devices at least 30 minutes before bed. Gulf News reports that the UAE Ministry of Education's Healthy Back-to-School Guide 2026-2027, prepared by Emirates Health Services, advises reducing screen use in the 30 to 60 minutes before bedtime. The guide itself was not available to check, only this report of it.^[4][5][9]

The research evidence is consistent but not conclusive. Hale and Guan reviewed 67 studies published between 1999 and early 2014 on school-aged children and adolescents, and found that greater screen use was linked with poorer sleep in about 90 per cent of them, mainly through shorter sleep and later sleep timing. The authors note that these studies cannot show cause and effect, and that few examined content or the use of several screens at once. The review did not cover children under school age.^[10]