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Home › Situations › Bedtime and wind-down

🌙 Situation guide

Bedtime and wind-down

The best-supported rule on this whole site: no devices in bedrooms. Replace them with something better, like a read-aloud, a story audio card, or shadow puppets.

Build a plan for my kids' ages

The sequence

Wind-down

Bath, dim lights, quiet play.

Story

Read-aloud, then an audio story.

Tricks that help

  • Charge every device outside the bedroom, including yours if you can.

Why this works

Strong · meta-analysis

Kids who simply had access to a portable device at bedtime slept worse, even if they didn't use it.

Carter B, et al. "Association Between Portable Screen-Based Media Device Access or Use and Sleep Outcomes." JAMA Pediatrics, 2016. Source

Free ideas

Read-aloud ritual

Free / DIYAges birth to 13 yrs
Free

Shared reading is one of the best-supported habits in child development research (see The case).

How to do it

Worth owning

Yoto Player (4th Gen)

Ages 3–12 yrs
$149.99 on us.yotoplay.com, checked Oct 20, 2026

Kids pop in a card to play an audiobook, music or podcast. It's no screen, no feed and no algorithm, and the child is in charge. It's the single best "screen replacement" in the catalog, especially for quiet time.

What real parents say: A Wirecutter writer calls it her daughters' favorite gift ever: three years in, it runs bedtime and fills playdates. Sources

Honest drawback: Cards add up (make-your-own cards help). The parent app needs Wi-Fi for setup, and it's still media, so we use it with limits at bedtime.

See it at YotoDetails & age info

Toniebox 2 Starter Set

Ages 1–8 yrs
$149.99 on us.tonies.com, checked Oct 20, 2026

A squishy cube and figurines: set a character on top and it plays. It's the easiest player for little hands (ages 1+ per the maker), and the figures double as toys.

What real parents say: In WIRED's testing it was the easiest player for a toddler to figure out: put a figure on top and it plays. Sources

Honest drawback: Figures are pricey, and they're collectibles. Set a limit early.

See it at toniesDetails & age info

Oeuf Le Small Mushroom Lamp

SplurgeAges 3+
$110 on oeufnyc.com, checked Oct 20, 2026

A warm little mushroom of a lamp for bedtime stories. It's the "fall in love" piece in a big-kid room.

Honest drawback: Splurge for a small lamp. Keep the cord out of a crib or bed's reach.

⚠️ Cords out of reach of cribs and beds.
See it at OeufDetails & age info

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