Screen time in bed
One more episode is always tempting, and the light from the tablet lifts alertness at exactly the hour the body should be sinking. The steps below give evening screen time a fixed ending, decided before the screen is even switched on.
♀Girl using a tablet in bed
A girl lies against her pillow in bed holding a tablet that shows a play button.
♀Girl watching a tablet in bed
A smiling girl in polka dot pyjamas lies in a bed with a red duvet watching a tablet showing a play symbol, beside a lit bedside lamp.
About this visual support
The screen in bed and sleep pull in opposite directions. The light keeps alertness up, and every episode ends in a way that points straight at the next one, so the decision to stop lands on the child again and again, at the hour of the day when self-control is at its lowest.
Pictures move that decision out of the moment. Agree in advance how many episodes or how many minutes apply, show it in an image, and add a picture for where the tablet goes once the time is up. When the ending is settled before the screen comes on, the discussion stays short, because it has already happened.
Make the last picture something physical: the toothbrush, the story, the dark. Going from screen to sleep works better with a step in between than in one jump, and the body needs that wind-down more than the head admits. In Routined evening screen time can sit inside the bedtime routine with a timer and check-off, and the app can be tried for 14 days at no cost.
Use this image in a schedule
Build your own visual schedule with this image and download it as a print-ready PDF. Completely free.
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Take the visual supports with you
In Routined you build schedules from these pictures, add timers and voice instructions, and your child follows the day on their own.
* 14-day free trial included for new users.