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Why We Don’t Let Our Kids Listen To Music In Bed

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Parenting is surprisingly tough, and I don’t mean the 24/7 responsibility of the kids themselves so much as the social aspect.

Everybody has an opinion on what the parents around them should do, and many of us are pretty vocal about it, even when we try not to be.

It’s good to be able to discuss our varying opinions with each other, and just as important to respect each other’s choices.

One of the things I’ve been surprised to find lately is the push to let our kids listen to music or children’s programs as they go to sleep at night.

Image shows a young girl with headphones on a tablet, with text that reads "Why We Don't Do Bedtime Entertainment For Our Kids"

I get the reasoning: listening to educational material, or bible memory verse tunes as they drift off could be a wonderful opportunity to memorize those things, but it’s something we’ve chosen not to do. Why? Well, here are a few of the reasons:

  • We are surrounded by noise all day, even if it’s just the hum of the refrigerator, our life is full of artificial noise.
  • Nighttime is a time for resting and rejuvenating. For giving our brains a break from all the input that surrounds us.
  • Our kids don’t need constant entertainment. It’s good for them to learn to be still, and self-contained as they go to sleep at night. One of our children has an especially hard time with this, and often tells us that he doesn’t know how to go to sleep 🙂 and for him, I think it’s especially important that he consistently practice this bit of self-control.
  • They need to learn to put themselves to sleep without external aids. Many of us adults are addict to external sleeping aids and don’t even realize it (do you run a fan at night?). This is a problem for a number of obvious reasons. Traveling with a fan is cumbersome, sometimes the power goes out, etc.
  • There’s plenty of time during the day to listen to those important programs. Honestly, it’s easy enough to play the music or audio program during the day while the kids are playing with legos.
  • They sleep better. Conversations or music don’t make for a great sleeping environment, and kids often wake up when the noise gets interrupted.

The vast availability of music and audio programs is a huge blessing and it would be silly not to take advantage of it. We love Steve Green’s Hide ‘em In Your Heart albums, and Jonathan Park, just to name a few, and I look forward to exploring many more educational audio selections as the kids get older.

But those things get shut off and put away with the rest of the toys every night, and I feel that our kids are better for it. Not every parent feels that way. It doesn’t hurt my feelings if you’re one of them. After all, we’re all adults here, right? 😉

Do you agree, or disagree? Tell me why!

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3 Comments

  1. I’m one of those people who, starting somewhere along the line over the last 5-10 years, cannot sleep without a fan running!

    I don’t have children yet, but I do see kids way too over-stimulated nowadays. So my opinion is, yes, I think electronics and music should be shut off for bedtime, too.

    1. I should also mention I don’t allow myself to eat sugar or use my iPhone/watch TV/go on the computer for the last couple hours of the evening because then I’m too stimulated to fall asleep – and I’m an adult! I can’t imagine how kids handle it.

  2. I’m researching this topic and came across this post. I discovered that my 13 year old, who just got her own tablet for her birthday, is listening to her favorite rap/hip hop artist as she sleeps. The lyrics are great, and I don’t mind it during the day, but my gut instinct is that her brain isn’t getting rest. Personally, I am addicted to my fan. If I don’t sleep with it, my husband’s sleep apnea machine whistles at me and keeps me wide awake, so the fan helped me to adapt to it. When I have an opportunity to nap or sleep when he’s away, it’s almost blissful to sleep in silence!

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