Parents, please stop this.

The more time toddlers spend using touchscreen devices, the more likely they are to have sleep problems, a new study has found.

Three quarters of children aged between six months and three years in the UK use devices such as an iPad or smartphone every day, according to researchers at Birkbeck, University of London and King’s College London.

Light emitted by electronic screens has been shown to lower levels of the sleep-regulating hormone melatonin in adults – and this could also be the case for young children, said Tim Smith, a psychology lecturer who carried out the study.

Around half of babies aged six to 11 months used a touchscreen daily, with the rate increasing to 92 per cent among two year olds.

Read more – Touchscreen use by toddlers linked to poor sleep patterns. Three quarters of children aged six months to three years use a touchscreen device every day. via independent.co.uk