How to Prevent Our Kids From Staying Up All Night Texting, Tweeting and Watching TV

With all the good technology that has been brought into our lives, there exists an insidious battle in many households where electronics are cutting into children’s much needed sleep hours.

It used to be, "Lights out and go to bed." Now it’s lights out, log off of Facebook, shut down the computer, turn off the iPod, the Xbox and the cell phone—and don’t forget to plug them into their chargers.

If this sounds like the routine at your house, it might be time to give technology a strict curfew.

Given the many opportunities for socializing instead of sleeping, kids are naturally inclined to surrender their slumber and reach for their computers or cell phones for some late-night texting and tweeting.

According to a report from the JFK Medical Center, texting through the wee hours is most common among teens.

While the obvious solution is to limit TV, the Internet and electronic devices past a certain time in the evening, it’s not always that easy. At night, some parents have found it necessary to place all electronic devices in the master bedroom where their children cannot easily access them.

No doubt about it—TV, interactive video games and the Internet can be excellent sources of education and entertainment for kids. But authorities say too much screen time can have unhealthy side effects.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that kids under age 2 have no screen time, and that kids older than 2 watch no more than one to two hours a day of quality programming.

Moms Council member Erika Bako says she’s already facing a similar issue with her 18-month-old son. He fell in love with Barney and Friends, she says, so she’s trying to set TV limits and curfews at an early age.

But parenting in the digital age is not always that simple. That's why we want to hear from you.

How do you prevent technology overload at your house? What works, what doesn’t and where do you stand on the issue as a whole?