Daughter Gets up at Night and Watches Movie on Her iPod

She is only 5. You are the adult and the parent and it's time to set up some rules.

Rule No. 1. - No using electronic devices without permission from mom or dad and absolutely no using them after bedtime.

Take the iPod and iPad and put them away when you go to bed.

sounds like you need to take away her electronics...what a FIVE YEAR old is doing with those expensive items, I don't know.

You are NOT teaching her anything by allowing it to continue...other than she can do it. That is NOT self-soothing in my book. That is wrong and breaking the rules. SHE NEEDS HER SLEEP.

YOU ARE THE PARENT. Start parenting. No means no. She NEEDS HER SLEEP!!!

Tell her the rules. Explain to her that her electronics will NOT be available to her from bedtime to waking time. And STICK TO IT. This is NOT acceptable behavior. If it means that you need to lock them up - then lock them up. But NO MEANS NO.

I would take her to the pediatrician and ask for a sleep study to find out WHY she can't sleep through the night. Is she lacking melatonin? WHY can't she sleep the night through?

Bright lights (even from an Ipod/Ipad) will disrupt the brain and melatonin production and mess up her sleep cycle.

STOP it NOW before it gets worse. BE the parent. NOT the friend.

I would tell her no and put it in my room. I don't see what the problem is. You're the adult and you know this is not a good habit.

Take them away. Period. She's not self-soothing. Infants self-soothe, not school aged children. When she wakes up in the middle of the night, she needs to figure out a way to go back to sleep without stimulating her brain. This is a terrible habit and one that will be ridiculously hard for you/her to break if you allow it to continue. If you read the research about watching television to fall asleep/stay asleep you may be surprised by what you find. Most sleep researchers strongly discourage individuals from having a t.v. in their bedrooms because of the poor sleep quality, need for constant noise and inability to fully cycle through the sleep cycle. At her age, she needs 10(ish) hours of continuous sleep at night. If she's waking up and watching t.v., she's essentially "starting her sleep over" each night. Not a good thing!

Put the iPod and iPad in your room at night. If she wakes up, have her go back to her room and lay down quietly. Teach her some breathing techniques or other ways to fall asleep without the electronics.

Take it away. She shouldn't be doing this. She is not getting quality sleep, and there is simply no reason for her to need this. Using electronics is NOT self-soothing. It's not even close. Self soothing is falling back asleep by your SELF, not yourself and an electronic.

You need to hide them, and not accept this behavior any longer. Common sense mom, this is a BAD habit and idea.

ETA: I wanted to add, I would NEVER allow my child to have free access to these electronics. They have the internet. Do you know how easy it is, to find inappropriate things on the internet? I was on my tablet, trying to check mamapedia. I wasn't paying attention and typed the url wrong, and guess what popped up? Serious pornography. Not only that, predators are all over the place. What about in 5 years, when she is doing the same thing? Do you REALLY want a preteen/teen, to be on the internet in the middle of the night? There is too much temptation, and bad people waiting to take advantage of young girls. YOU need to be the parent and set up some serious boundaries with your child. If nothing else, to simply protect her.

Um, really???? You dont "hide" them, you tell her "no". Put the electronics in your room at bedtime.

What? You let her do it more than once? B., she's not a teenager. This is teenager stuff. This is a 5 year old. She's not self-soothing. She's watching movies.

Of course it's necessary to take away the ipod or ipad. Just like if she snuck downstairs and watched TV you would prevent THAT from happening.

I have never heard of anyone allowing a child this young to do this, and I'm really astonished. You need to pull the ipad and ipod completely because she is addicted to them. How many hours per day do you allow her to spend watching movies and playing on electronics? Little kids need to be doing everything else, including sleeping, that is NOT electronic-based.

Pull the plug, for heaven's sake.

Dawn

This is interfering with her sleep. You are the mom and you need to ensure that she's getting enough sleep. I would totally have her put the handheld devices in your hands each and every evening and lock it up until morning.

It's not self-soothing if she's waking to watch movies. If she's got sleep issues (insomnia), those need to be addressed directly, not accommodated.

http://articles.cnn.com/2010-05-13/tech/sleep.gadgets.ipa...

http://healthland.time.com/2011/06/27/tv-video-games-at-n...

There articles are both from very credible, conservative resources.

Nurtureshock also has an interesting study in it where the lack of sleep (even fifteen minutes at a time) adversely effects learning at school rather profoundly. Here are two breakdowns of that chapter:

http://room19pv.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/nurture-shock...

http://figur8.net/baby/2009/10/26/nurture-shock-chapter-2...

No matter how you slice it, time to take charge now, or expect bigger battles in the tweens and teens over this issue.

Self-soothing is not the same thing as self-satisfying.

That's like saying that a kid who sneaks out of bed for a candy bar in the middle of the night is just self-soothing.

IF she needs 'soothing' at night, give her a sound machine that she can turn on... NOT movies that will keep her up all night!

Did you know that the time before your body falls asleep is when your mind is at it's most creative? Also, it's when you are sleeping that your brain starts to transfer that day's short-term memories into long-term storage. So for her to be watching movies of all things during that time will stifle her creativity... plus the things she is learning from the movies will stick with her far longer than they would during the day, since that is what she is experiencing/dwelling on when her mind is storing that day's memories.

Tell her NO, and take the iPod away from her, for a week the next time you catch her watching movies at night. IF she just isn't sleepy, give her a book to read (or just look at) or let her color quietly in bed. NO movies.

Are you the parent or is your 5 year old who is getting up to watch movies on her ipod that you don't like?Take control and take it away from her .Easy fix.

B., as a person who suffers from sleep issues, I can attest that the LED lighting from the Ipad/Ipods really interferes with sleep. I have read several studies that advise not to watch tv, play on the compute or play on the phone at least one hour before bed. I have put this to the test, too. The nights that I am sleepless and get on my phone to surf the web, I rarely make it back to deep sleep and am really grumpy the next day.
I would definitely suggest telling her no and hiding the electronics in your room an hour or so before bedtime. Help her find other ways to self- soothe: a cozy blanket, stuffed animal, night light or a story before bed might all be acceptable substitutes.

"even though some of you were very mean about it." You've been on here for a while so not sure what you expected for answers by asking this question 0_0
Have her turn the ipod in to you every night before she goes to bed, make it part of the getting ready for bed routine. Explain to her why it's not o.k to have this at bedtime, since you have allowed it in the past she needs to understand the change in habits. Good luck.

I know you think people were being mean to you and I'm sorry you feel that way. But just think how sorry you're going to feel in time to come when you have no place in her life because the iPod is mother, queen and mentor to her. But then when you can't be bothered why should she.

What in the world is a 5 year old doing with an iPod? Really?

That happened once in our house. I shut down the internet. That is not teaching a child to self sooth. That is setting them up for sleep issues. It's natural to wake at night but it is best if she learns how to fall back to sleep without being entertained. We don't allow any electronics in bedrooms at night. We also don't allow our children to have games and TVs in their bedrooms ever.

I think this has less to do with an Ipad and much to do with how you're raising your child.

You had better get a handle on her soon or you'll be in big trouble in a few years. A five year old should not repeatedly go against her parents rules. You should not need to lock anything up but simply tell her not to do something and create consequences if she continues.

Tighten up now or in a few years she'll be sneaking out of her room in the middle of the night instead of just watching a movie.

I can only say what I would do with my own... she would not have electronics of her own let alone in the bedroom. I did have a child who often had trouble staying asleep. At 5, she played with her dolls, stuffed animals, and read books.

In retrospect, I wish I had been able to consult with a pediatric sleep specialist because good sleep is critical to the health and development of body, brain and for immune function. I had no idea the severity of negative impact: http://itsnotmental.blogspot.com/2008/07/sleep-critical-y...

Yes, it's necessary. Hide the iPod. It's not good for her to get up and watch it at night.

Watching movies is not "self-soothing." It's a really bad habit to have. If anything, if she wakes up, she should read a book or listen to music to go back to sleep, not watch movies.

Do you want her to do well in school? She needs to learn to escape from the electronics sometimes.

My son would read a book.
He actually LIKES using a flashlight and reading under the covers.
We've never let him just turn tv/computer on anytime he wants to and he's ok with it.
He'd much rather read than do anything else.

How does she function the next day?

I feel like a 5 year old needs her sleep. They are still growing and their brains need the rest. We used to play books on CD to help our daughter fall asleep, but they shut off after about 30 minutes.

Maybe start taking the ipod away right before bed and instead have her just listen to music or to a CD..

Besides taking these away from her, have you checked to see what she is watching?

Haven't read any other responses yet, but I would just lock up the iPod at bedtime/nighttime so she can't get access to it. Yes, she's not bothering you guys or waking anyone up, but she's not getting all the sleep she should be getting either. Which is going to be huge when she has to be up in the morning and in school all day (assuming she is starting kindergarten soon if she hasn't already). And "screen time" makes it harder for them to fall back asleep. Kids that don't get enough sleep perform poorly in school, have more behavioral issues, and are not as healthy over all. Plus, IMO, no kid should be able to use something like that without getting permission from the parent first, so in the middle of the night she's using it without permission - another big no-no in my book. If you have to hide it and lock it up, so be it! If she wakes up in the middle of the night and has a hard time falling back asleep, she can read or look at books instead - that way she is still staying put in bed and not disturbing anyone else. But it will be more conducive to helping her get a better night's sleep than watching a movie.

Definitely use a pass code. You don't want her doing this during the school year and she's starting kindergarten, but is too tired to stay awake during important activities.

I would let her know right after you do it so that she doesn't bother trying to get up during the night and then discovers it on her own. Don't make it something easy for her to figure out either. My SIL used my MIL's birthday and her eldest daughter figured it out pretty quickly. Then she used someone else's birthday and my niece figured THAT out. The girl is 9 years old. She has everyone's birthdays memorized. :-) My SIL can't even use the names of other peoples' pets or anniversaries.

I would definitely teach her other methods of self-soothing. Introduce her to reading her own books at bed time. Shut off the TV an hour before bed time, all other electronics, and get her body in the mode to begin getting itself ready. The light from electronics mimics sunlight and the body can't tell the difference. That's why it needs an hour of the TV and other electronics light being off before bed. But a book with a lamp... that's perfect.

Depends on whether she's going back to sleep and getting plenty of sleep.

Some people just need music or a book to get back to sleep. Others like to watch something.

I wouldn't worry about it if she's getting plenty of sleep. My daughter is allowed to read if she needs to get back to sleep. The only reason we don't allow TV or movies is she watches the movie instead of letting herself get back to sleep and therefore stays awake longer.

If you're worried about it, put a passcode on the ipod or ipad in the evenings. You can still play music through it, you just can't change anything after its set.

It is a bad habit, but is it effecting her in any way? Does she wake up well rested? Is her mood good? I think if she is doing good in those area's that I wouldn't stress to much about it, but that is me.

If it were me I would put a password on the electronics. If that doesn't work, I would hide them so that she can start soothing herself to sleep without it. Once she broke her habit of this then bring the electronics back out.

Good Luck!!

I take laptops, Ipad, Ipod, and cell phone all upstairs to our bedroom when it is time for the kids to go to sleep. They simply are not allowed in the kids rooms overnight. My girls do watch a lot of on-demand internet shows, Disney, movies, tv shows, etc. They love Netflix and Hulu. Although bedtime is later in the summer, they still don't get free reign on electronics all night long. They are 10 and 13. I don't "hide" the stuff, I just set them upstairs on one of my bedroom tables. There is no misunderstanding there would be swift consequences if they ever took them back after we were asleep. I almost positive they wouldn't even try. They always need our permission before grabbing electronics, they aren't even in the habit of just watching movies or using these things on a whim during daytime hours.

You also want to think about accidently breakage. My older DD's cell phone fell just from her bed to her hardwood floor and the screen cracked, which was the beginning of the end for her phone. I would worry an Ipad would get crushed on the bed, stepped on, or fall off my DD's loft in the middle of the night. A child's bed is not a safe place to store a 200-500 piece of electronic equipment. Passcode is also a great idea to control use. My kids need me to log on to Netflix before they can start a show. They also know what they are and are not allowed to watch. And I check the "recently watched" page frequently just to check up on them.

Really? Where are these things, that she has such easy access to them? A child needing ELECTRONICS to get back to sleep is what's wrong with our modern society. Get a safe & lock them up if you have to.

You're the adult, she's the kid. Right now it sounds like she's the boss. I'm really not trying to be mean, but wouldn't it be obvious just to keep them away from her? Also, are you punishing her?

Also, is she in school yet? If not, this is going to a major problem.

Hello, I would have to say this isn't a good habit. First, sit and talk with her and tell her it's not a good idea and when it's time for bed it's to sleep not
play games or watch movies. Choose a book or a story and read before you tuck her in. During the day give her time to play and or watch movies.
This way she can understand what the routine is. Once you do, don't give in. Try and think of gathering all electronics and putting them away. I'm not sure that I woud hide them. She needs to understand what your rules are and if she does get them when she isn't suppose to, then, it's consequences. It may take a little time, but she'll get it. When you go to bed think of putting them up like you set your alarm for the morning. Eventually, you won't have to because she'll know what you expect. Good luck to you!

My daughter will be 6 this week and she will sometimes watch a movie or play games on her iPod at night during the summer. She doesn’t get up at night it is when she is lying in bed at bedtime. I don't mind when she doesn’t have school but since school has started she is not allowed to have it on week nights. Most of the time she reads books, but she is not always tired right away.

I figure there are much worse habits that children can pick up then watching TV at night.

ugh put them up. my 5 year old had a tv in her room till i caught her watching a movie at midnight. she knows the tv is not to be on when its bed time. i dont see that as self soothing i see it as she knows she can get away with it.