The Science of Bedtime Reading
『Just one more book!』 Bedtime bargaining is a familiar scene in many homes. A short routine, done in the same order every night, can make this part of the evening a lot easier.
Routines change sleep
In one study, families with children between 7 months and 3 years old followed the same routine every night for three weeks: a bath, a lotion massage, and a quiet activity such as cuddling or a lullaby. The children fell asleep faster, woke up less often and spent less time awake during the night. Their mothers' moods improved too (Mindell et al., 2009). A review of the research concluded that a regular bedtime routine may support not only healthy sleep but also children's overall development and wellbeing (Mindell and Williamson, 2018).
Routines with books and songs
A study that followed thousands of children in the United States found that children who had bedtime routines built around words at age 3, such as reading, singing or storytelling, tended to sleep longer at night and to have higher verbal scores at age 5 (Hale et al., 2011). A bedtime book tells a child that sleep is coming, and it gives parent and child a few minutes to talk about the day. How reading together helps children feel secure is covered in our earlier article The Comfort of a Book Read in a Parent's Voice.
Keep screen light low
In an experiment with adults, reading on a backlit ebook reader before bed made people take longer to fall asleep than reading a printed book. Their bodies also released less melatonin, the hormone that helps bring on sleep, and released it later, and they felt less alert the next morning (Chang et al., 2015). If you use a screen at bedtime, turn the brightness all the way down and let your child focus on the sound rather than the screen.
A sample bedtime routine
| Order | What to do | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bath or wash up | 10 min |
| 2 | Pajamas and brushing teeth | 5 min |
| 3 | One or two books | 10 min |
| 4 | Lights out, good night, lullaby | 5 min |
Try to keep the order and the start time about the same every night. It can also help to agree on a limit ahead of time, such as 『two books at most』.
Photo: the 『NoryBook』 collection by Budit (as of Sep 17, 2026). Around 120 worksheets plus posters, workbooks and picture books cover letters, words, stories, themes, math, science and art, and new materials keep coming. See everything at norybook.com
Worth watching
Video: EBS special documentary 『Why Does My Child Do That?』 episode 10, 『Why don't children want to sleep?』 (official YouTube channel, Korean). It watches children who cry and protest when told it is bedtime and looks for the reasons.
How this continues in Budit
The last three scenes of the Budit picture book 『My Day』 go from bath time to one more book to good night, the same flow as a bedtime routine. The image at the top shows real scenes from the book.
- 『Bath time』: at 『Splash, splash! It's bath time!』, talk about your child's bath today.
- 『One more book』: at 『One more book. Then it's bed.』, agree on how many books to read, just like the child in the story.
- 『Good night』: read the last scene, then turn off the lights.
At bedtime, keep the screen as dim as possible and let the reading voice take the lead. Mixing in paper books works well too.
References
- Mindell, J. A. et al. (2009). A nightly bedtime routine: Impact on sleep in young children and maternal mood. View on Google Scholar
- Mindell, J. A. and Williamson, A. A. (2018). Benefits of a bedtime routine in young children: Sleep, development, and beyond. View on Google Scholar
- Hale, L. et al. (2011). A longitudinal study of preschoolers' language-based bedtime routines, sleep duration, and well-being. View on Google Scholar
- Chang, A. M. et al. (2015). Evening use of light-emitting eReaders negatively affects sleep, circadian timing, and next-morning alertness. View on Google Scholar
This article shares general information about development and education. Every child grows at their own pace. For specific concerns, please consult a pediatrician or a development specialist.