Screen time on before bed for 5-year-olds
Screen time rules for a 5-year-old on before bed: the numbers that matter at 5, what official guidance says and rules that keep it calm.
Before bed at 5, in numbers
- Asleep by, for a 7am wake-up
- 8:30pm
- Screens off by
- 7:30pm
- Sleep
- 10-13 hours a day, including naps
Our arithmetic from stated assumptions: the middle of the sleep range, 2 hours for meals and washing, the activity guidance for the age and, on school days, a 7-hour school day with travel.
Rules for before bed
- Screens off an hour before sleep
- Devices charge outside the bedroom
- Swap screens for a story, music, a bath or a chat
- The same wind-down every night
- No screens as a way to fall asleep
At 5: A story and a cuddle take the place of a show.
What official guidance says
- American Academy of Pediatrics, Media and Young Minds (2016): for 2 to 5-year-olds, limit screen use to 1 hour a day of high-quality programs, and watch with them to help them understand what they see.
- American Academy of Pediatrics: designate media-free times together, such as dinner or driving, and media-free locations at home, such as bedrooms; the AAP offers a free Family Media Plan to write the family rules down.
TaskFamily helps you keep screen rules without the fight: extra screen time as a reward children earn in your own shop, focus timers, a routine step for "devices on the charger" and chat quiet hours.
Free for one household. Premium is $5.99 a month or $49 a year for the whole family, never per child.
Keep reading
Guidance is quoted only from the named official sources; the device rules are TaskFamily's suggestions, not official guidance. The guide text is drafted with AI from these numbers and checked automatically before it is published.