A U.S. research suggested that it's not a good idea to use a bit of TV viewing to help your young child get to sleep, according to media reports Tuesday.
Dimitri Christakis, a pediatrician at the University of Washington, and his colleague Darcy Thompson collected the research data from more than 2,000 interviews of parents whose children aged 4 months to 35 months.
The results showed that 27 percent of the youngsters had irregular bedtime schedules, and almost 34 percent had irregular nap schedules.
"We know that many, many parents rely on TV and video as part of their child's sleep routine," said Christakis, "Watching television before bed makes it more difficult for children to fall asleep."
Thompson explained that a regular sleep schedule is important, because it influences the quality and quantity of sleep that children get. And, healthy sleep habits can prevent problems such as bedtime resistance or nighttime awakenings.
Other studies have looked at the effects of TV viewing on older children and teens, and also found a link between TV, poor sleep and later bedtimes.
But no cause-and-effect relationship could be definitively established in these studies.
Dr. Nancy Maynard, a pediatrician at the Great Falls Clinic in Great Falls, Mont., said she understood why the parents of younger children might be tempted to park their kids in front of the TV right before bedtime.
"It gets them to stay in one place. But it's not making changes the brain needs to make to the transition to sleep. And it may make it worse. The visual stimulation amps them up."
"I think of it as going to the state fair," Maynard said, "You are on the midway, with all the lights and the noise. Walking away from that, I don't know how many people are relaxed."
(Agencies via Xinhua News Agency February 23, 2008)