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The role of the Registered Nurse or Newborn Care Provider is to feed, soothe, bathe, change & provide all other gentle care to baby through the night.

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Sleep Hacks: 4 Tips to Maximize New Parents’ Sleep

updated April 6, 2025 – Is “sleep when the baby sleeps” a myth in your house? It is for most of us! Here are our tips to maximize parents own sleep in Sleep Hacks: 4 Tips to Maximize New Parents’ Sleep.

Sleep Hacks: 4 Tips to Maximize New Parents' Sleep
Denise Iacona Stern on ABC7

Sleep Hacks: 4 Tips to Maximize New Parents’ Sleep:

You might be able to catch a nap when your baby is asleep during the day, but it’s unrealistic for many. Caring for older children in addition to the newborn, limited time off work, having twins or higher order multiples and babies who have unpredictable and short nap schedules are just a few instances that make daytime sleep impossible.  When you do manage to get a nap, these shorts bits of sleep do help. But naps don’t take the place of the deep, restorative sleep that keeps parents healthy. In other words, parents need to maximize the stretches of sleep we can get.

TIP #1 – Breathing Exercises to Help Your Body Switch Gears

For many new parents, one of the frustrating things about sleep is that we’re running on so much adrenaline that we can’t sleep when we’re supposed to. Controlled breathing can help your body make the switch from wakeful to sleepy. Here are 2 methods:

  • The 4:7:8 Technique

This simple meditation popularized by Dr. Andrew Weil is a “natural tranquilizer for the nervous system” and is based in the yogic philosophy of controlled breathing. While all evidence seems to be anecdotal, we do know that conscious breathing has health benefits. It also allows the brain and nervous system to become calm. Here’s how to do 4:7:8:

  1. Place the tip of your tongue against the ridge of tissue just behind your upper front teeth, and keep it there through the entire exercise. You will be exhaling through your mouth around your tongue, 
  2. Exhale completely through your mouth, making a “whoosh” sound.
  3. Close your mouth and inhale through your nose to a mental count of four.
  4. Hold your breath for a count of seven.
  5. Exhale completely through your mouth, making a whoosh sound to a count of eight.
  6. Now inhale again repeating the cycle three more times for a total of four breaths.
  • Tactical Breathing

As noted in a 2021 NIH study, tactical breathing is used by military and law enforcement personnel to reduce stress and maintain psychomotor and cognitive performance in dangerous situations. This of course is more than parents need, but the principle is the same…get yourself calm! One method of tactical breathing is:

  1. Breathe in through your nose for a count of 4
  2. Hold your breath for 4
  3. Exhale through your mouth for a count of 4
  4. Hold your breath at the bottom of the exhale for a count of 4

Repeat step 1-4 as much as feels good to you.

  • Meditation Apps – Free and paid meditation Apps can allow new parents to fall into a relaxed, hypnotic state. Sometimes you can fall completely asleep.  

Calm is a 5 star rated free App (with some purchasing options) noted for its ease of use.  Headspace has an associated cost of $70 but is known for it’s productive 10-minute sessions; a very useful 10 minutes for a sleep deprived parent. 

TIP #2 – Ease up on the caffeine 

I know. Ridiculous suggestion, right?  While we often see caffeine as vital, it’s been proven to keep us up even when we don’t want to be.  Try these natural energy boosters instead:

  1. Increase Magnesium – Magnesium in the form of whole grains and fish is one of  WebMD’s top suggestions to fight fatigue.
  2. Decrease Sugar – As our own head nurse Joy Becker tells EveryNurse.org, make healthier snack choices such as dried fruit or green-smoothies for a sweet and natural energy boost.
  3. Drink Water – To keep your energy up when you actually want to without the caffeine side effects drink lots of water. According to WebMD nutritionist Keith Ayoob, EdD, RD, “Sometimes, even slight dehydration can leave you feeling tired and lethargic.” 

TIP #3 – Divide and Conquer

Swap nights, or even 1/2 nights, caring for baby with your partner even if it means sleeping in separate bedrooms.  Being “off” from 10pm – 6am a few nights per week allows your body the deep, restorative sleep it needs. It also give you a mental boost knowing that there is a definite break in sight.

divide nights of sleep when your newborn arrives

This works if you’re breastfeeding too. When nursing throughout the night, simply stay in bed to nurse while your partner brings the baby to you. Partner also does all other care like diaper changes and soothing in another room.  This can give you at least an hour more of sleep per night!

TIP #4 – Get Outside Help

Allow friends and family to provide child care relief. Whether they act as a night doula, or even if it’s just for an hour or 2 take everyone up on their offers to help! Even 1-2 hours or uninterrupted time alone can help. Of course you can always call our night nannies if professional help is needed as well.

Bonus TIP – Put a Blue Light Blocking Screen on Your Phone and Devices!

Blue light blocking screens help reduce exposure to blue wavelengths, which can suppress melatonin — the hormone that signals your body it’s time to sleep. By filtering out this stimulating light, especially in the evening, these screens support a more natural sleep-wake cycle. Using them can make it easier to fall asleep and improve overall sleep quality.

And of course, helping baby sleep = helping ourselves sleep!

Swaddles, pacifiers and white noise machines are all tried and true methods to help infants sleep longer and more peacefully. These items each offer something comforting to infants. You can use all of them or experiment with 1 at a time to find what works best for your baby and helps them sleep more soundly.

Sleep deprivation is seen as a rite of passage for brand new parents, but having a plan to get more sleep can ease its effects. There’s no award for suffering and you can try to make those first months with baby easier on your health.  

If you feel that anxiety, depression or sleep deprivation is affecting you more than just the “baby blues,” there is help. Contact Postpartum.Net or call/text 833- TLC-MAMA (1-833-852-6262)  for help.

Are you expecting? Sign up to receive our free newborn and postpartum care guide for more tips to help make your life easier.

Dad putting newborn safely to sleep in crib.
Maximize Sleep by taking turns

Postpartum Employee Benefits: Positive Disruption at Work

With the passing of the Providing Urgent Maternal Protections (PUMP) For Nursing Mothers Act in December, workplaces must comply with stricter laws to allow breastfeeding workers time and a dedicated space to pump (not a bathroom!). Companies have an opportunity right now to not just comply with the law, but overdeliver on its purpose! We tell you how in Postpartum Employee Benefits: Positive Disruption at Work.

Postpartum Employee Benefits: Positive Disruption at Work
Postpartum Employee Benefits Positive Disruption at Work

Offering In-Home Visits by a Nurse after baby is born or Overnight Newborn Care when employees return to work, shows that a business does more than just offer “perks,” they actively prioritize employee welfare.

Denise Iacona Stern, Let Mommy Sleep

What do you mean by Postpartum Employee Benefits: Positive Disruption at Work?

While large companies try to outdo each other with a week or 2 more of maternity leave, a nursing pod or a gym membership, Postpartum Benefits are an innovation that actually sets a company apart. These benefits make a true impact on the lives of employees.

Here’s what we mean:

Home Visits by a Registered Nurse – Newborns have well-visits with a pediatrician many times in their first months home. Did you know some new parents often don’t have any?! Postpartum Visits are just what they sound like – a Registered Nurse visits the family home to provide head to toe assessments, education and breast or bottle feeding support to brand new parents. Visits occur during the vulnerable first week home with baby.

Why Home Visits?

  • Education and clinical assessment in the early days home with newborns equates to better breastfeeding outcomes, lowered hospital readmissions and better mental health outcomes. These are health benefits for the whole family recommended by many organizations including The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists in 2016 and reaffirmed in 2021.
  • Postpartum visits bridge the month-and-a-half gap in care for birthing parents to see a physician for their own health.
  • Visits are the only opportunity for non-birthing parents to receive a formal health assessment and education.
  • Postpartum mood and anxiety disorders (PMAD’s) are the most common complication of pregnancy for both parents but are also 100% treatable. Early intervention is a key solution.

Overnight Newborn Care – happens when the employee arrives home with baby or during the week an employee returns to work, usually between the hours of 10pm and 6am. A certified Newborn Care Provider (NCP), also called a postpartum doula or night nanny feeds, monitors and cares for babies through the night.

Why Overnight Care?  Postpartum Employee Benefits: Positive Disruption at Work

  • Allows for proper recuperation after birth and continued monitoring of parents.
  • Caregivers provide responsive care and monitoring of baby through the night ensuring proper feeding, safety and safe sleep.
  • Employees receive the deep, restorative sleep that keep mind and body healthy upon returning to work.

These simple services positively affect the health and wellbeing of employees, but they also provide impactful, cost effective and measurable solutions to companies in the following ways:

Recruiting: 

  • Corporations are typically competing to hire from the same pool of elite applicants. Salary and traditional benefits are of course huge factors in a potential hire’s decision but increasingly, so is the feeling that companies actually care about their employees’ well-being. (Gallup, 2021)

Retention:

  • “How a woman is treated in the months leading up to her maternity leave and then during leave and shortly thereafter when she returns to work will determine whether or not a company will be able to retain her.”– Asha Santos, partner at Littler Mendelson P.C., who advises U.S. companies on employment law and how to build respect in the workplace.”
  • Parents receive the tools that are lacking in traditional healthcare to stay mentally and physically healthy, increase breastfeeding rates and be ready to return to the workplace.

Cost Effective:

  • Using a salary of $100,000 for easy math, the amount of lost productivity per employee in 2018 was about $4300.   Cost of the postpartum care program is only $100 – $1440 per employee welcoming a child.
  • Cost only occurs for those becoming parents, not for the entire workforce. Among adults, it’s estimated that less than 2% of the population is pregnant at any given time (CDC data: 11 births per 1000 population). Extending benefits to both spouses means that only 4% of the workforce will use postpartum benefits in any given year.
  • Benefits become more cost effective, the higher the salary of the employee. Because the rate for postpartum care doesn’t change, the cost benefit becomes greater.
Five women and newborn during maternity leave
Postpartum benefits actively prioritize employee welfare

Postpartum Employee Benefits: Positive Disruption at Work – How Does It Work?

It’s so easy!

  1. Employee visits their custom company portal to request service.
  2. Care is coordinated within 24 hours, so the employee receives their postpartum doula profile and then service occurs when it is requested.
  3. The company is billed after service has occurred.

Why Let Mommy Sleep Postpartum Benefits?

We’ve been at this since 2010 and have since replicated our model all over the United States! Our corporate care program has been profiled on TODAY and in Parents Magazine. It was also used by INOVA EAP, serving over 200 locations across the country for 3 years. We’re widely considered the Industry Leaders in newborn and postpartum doula care.

Here’s why:

  • Awarded a local government contract to teach Newborn & Postpartum Care from 2015-2021 (ended due to covid)
  • Provided almost 1 million hours of exemplary care
  • 13 locations nationwide with 2 more due to open in 2023
  • Our teaching and experts have been cited in healthcare and pediatric journals, as well as local and national press.
  • Licensure and certification is required for all caregivers, attracting the highest level of candidate and greatest level of accountability.
  • We proudly serve military & first responder families whose babies arrive when a parent is deployed, wounded or deceased through our 501c3, Mission: Sleep.

Want to Enroll? Contact your local office today!

Sign Up Today

Would you like to learn more about Let Mommy Sleep and our franchises? We have a dedicated website for that!

Night Nurse Franchise Updates

updated, April 1, 2023 – We began franchising in 2016 and proudly remain the only overnight newborn care franchise in America! What began as a simple service in Washington DC has now grown to 11 locations nationwide. Read our Night Nurse Franchise Updates below! 

Night Nurse Franchise Updates

Here at Let Mommy Sleep Franchising, our Registered Nurses and Newborn Care Providers support brand new parents as much as we support their babies. We’re bringing this detailed model of evidence-based teaching and newborn care to families across the country. In addition to caring for others, franchise partners have the time and means to be present for their own families. Ownership means working from home while contributing financially to your own family. We call this a circle of success for families.

We currently service these locations:

  • Washington DC
  • Northern & Central NJ
  • Chicago
  • Boise, ID
  • Dallas
  • Houston
  • Las Vegas
  • Loudoun Co, VA
  • Tampa and Orlando FL
  • Boca Raton, FL
  • Philadelphia
  • San Antonio
  • Wichita

What’s different about us?

  • We are 100% woman owned and operated. This wasn’t done on purpose, we just happen to match the demographics of the child care and nursing professions. These are both overwhelmingly staffed by women.
  • The overriding mission of Let Mommy Sleep is to work together with families, nurses, caregivers, corporations and local businesses to truly raise the standards and accountability in postpartum care.
  • Besides having local offices, our Nurses and team members contribute to local and national media.
  • Our curriculum was awarded a government contract and taught from 2015-2020, ending when covid forced closures of public school facilities. The same coursework is now taught online as well as to families.
  • Our non-profit, Mission Sleep is back up and running! We provide free, overnight newborn care to families whose babies arrive when a parent is deployed, wounded or deceased.
Night Nurse Franchise Updates from the nation's newborn care providers.

Why We Decided to Franchise

The words “certified” and “accredited” are used often in business to market providers as trained and professional. However, there is little oversight on the use of these terms. In child care, the only legally protected title is “Nurse,” referring to Registered Nurses and Licensed Practical or Vocational Nurses. Other licensed professionals in healthcare are licensed by and accountable to their state’s Board of Nursing. In other words, there is accountability in healthcare.

We would like to bring this same level of accountability to the newborn care industry to help families and elevate caregivers. Our goal is to make the franchising the training and concepts at Let Mommy Sleep the industry standard. We will continue to pursue licensing but in the meantime make the LMS brand trusted by new parents and families.

If you would like to learn more, you can read more about us here and you can always set up a 1-on-1 meeting.

Las Vegas Night Nanny Franchise owner Jordan
LMS franchisee Jordan, CLC

Night Nanny or Postpartum Doula: How-To Get Your Dream Job!

updated, April 1, 2025 – For the past 15 years, we’ve been caring for newborns and their families, and we’re often asked about how to start working in newborn care. This blog, Night Nanny or Postpartum Doula: How-To Get Your Dream Job! details how to become a newborn care provider. We also share what it’s like to work with us at Let Mommy Sleep.

Night Nanny or Postpartum Doula: How-To Get Your Dream Job!

  • Baby Care Experience: Experience is probably the most important part of becoming a night nanny or postpartum doula. Being comfortable with newborns and baby care is something that only comes from having worked “on the job.” Experience can come from being a parent, friend, nanny, daycare center worker or hospital nursery. If you don’t have this experience you can find a mentor or shadow a current caregiver to get your own.
  • Continuing Education – Once you’re certified, be sure to remain current with your CPR, safe sleep and newborn care knowledge. In addition to ensuring you’re following the most up to date recommendations, you can also sharpen your knowledge and skills with specialized classes in twin care, breastfeeding or bereavement.
night doula classes for twins at newborncarecertified.com

How Much Does a Night Doula Make?

It definitely depends on your area of the country, but a good rule of thumb is that a Night Nanny can expect to earn several dollars more per hour than a Certified Nursing Assistant or Home Health Aide. The rate of pay is usually on par or better than traditional home health agency rates.

What’s the Difference Between a Postpartum Doula and a Night Nanny?

The word doula is an ancient one that has come to mean “mother the mother.” (It actually means “female slave” but that’s for another post!) While this scope has certainly been expanded to include all family members, the spirit of support is still the same. As the Doulas of North America (DONA) website says, Postpartum doulas understand what everyone needs, and part of their role is to help the entire family adjust and settle in. This can mean cooking, nannying toddlers and older kids and performing household tasks. Because of the focus on the household, postpartum doulas can offer support at night, but typically work during the day.

The two most highly regarded organizations that educate birth and postpartum doulas are DONA International and Childbirth and Postpartum Professional Association (CAPPA). Both offer education, certification and ongoing training. However, it’s important to note that while certified, birth and postpartum doulas are not licensed. Certified Nurse Midwives (CNF) and Certified Midwives (CM) are the only birth professionals aside from physicians and nurses, regulated and legally recognized on the state level.

In contrast, a night nanny or night doula typically works overnight. While some household tasks can be done overnight, the focus is on allowing the entire family to sleep and be rested and present for the day. This also means helping the baby sleep properly and feed efficiently. This sounds simple but is crucial to the families health.

Just a few of the reasons sleep is crucial:

  • It aids in recovery from birth
  • Deep, restorative sleep fights postpartum depression and mood disorders which are the most common complication of pregnancy
  • Sleep keeps our immune systems healthy and strong
  • Restful nights allow parents to be present during the day, not just for their newborns but for older kids and work

While the newborn and postpartum support work certainly overlaps, the main difference between a Postpartum Doula and a Night Nanny is the hours during which they work. Other differences include the focus on household tasks like cooking during the day. This is in contrast to helping babies to sleep through the night for example, during overnight care.

So what are Baby Nurses and Night Nurses?

It’s important to pause here to talk about the terms, Baby Nurse and Night Nurse. The title of “Nurse” is legally protected in most states. So calling someone a baby nurse should mean that they are a Registered Nurse (RN), Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) or Licensed Vocational Nurse (LVN) focusing on prenatal, neonatal or postnatal care. While these days the term Baby Nurse is becoming outdated, there’s no denying it’s become a generic term for “newborn expert,” the same way the word tissue is interchangeable with Kleenex and no matter the brand, every icy treat is called a Popsicle. EIther way, it is legal and respectful to only use the term Nurse to describe those who are clincally licensed nurses.

What’s it Like to Work at Let Mommy Sleep?

Working at Let Mommy Sleep means you will typically work from 10pm-6am. During this time you’re diapering, swaddling, soothing and feeding the newborn. You’re also providing evidence-based education to their families. As baby gets older and is able to sleep longer stretches through the night, we help baby to sleep independently. We often care for twins and triplets as well. The overnight shift is not for everyone, but it’s an intimate, peaceful way to support families. Providers do this job for deep personal satisfaction, to gain experience while they are in nursing school and to have quality time with their own families.

Here’s what Let Mommy Sleep offers you:

  • Flexible scheduling – You make your own schedule and can work as little or as much as you like. We also love our PRN team!
  • A wonderful team to support you – Every LMS owner is a Registered Nurse, Licensed Clinician or Postpartum Specialist. We know what it’s like to work in the field because we’ve all done it too!
  • Make a difference by educating and caring for families who are transitioning home with their newborns.
  • Patient ratio of 1:1 or 1:2 😄
  • Pay is on the upper end of CNA and Home Health Care rates in each city. Registered Nurses can expect $25 -$35 per hour (depending on which city they’re in).
  • Teach Baby Basics classes or conduct 1-2 hour Postpartum Visits.
  • Free education and continuing education certificates
Night Nanny or Baby Nurse: How-To Get Your Dream Job!

What can I do to prepare for a career as a Night Nanny or Postpartum Doula?

  • Get Vaccinated: We understand people have different feelings about the COVID vaccine. But the truth is we’ve never met a family that wanted an unvaccinated newborn caregiver. Get the vaccine, update your flu-shot and at the very least check to see if you need to update your MMR (Measles, Mumps and Rubella) and TDaP (Tetanus, Diptheria and Pertussis). These are universal recommendations from pediatricians that protect the vulnerable 6 month and under population.
  • Stay Educated: Follow NewbornCareCertified.com for the latest newborn care and safety classes. For this reason it’s crucial to remain up to date on American Academy of Pediatrics feeding, care, safety and safe sleep recommendations.
  • Further that Education: Participate in continuing education, lactation and early childhood education classes to further your training.
  • Get Comfortable with Babies and Parents: There’s no substitute for experience, so care for newborns and infants whenever you can! Ask questions, find a mentor or volunteer your time. We can help you with this!
  • Infant & Child CPR Certification: Regular CPR class is great but infant CPR class is even better for working in newborn care.

Night Nanny or Postpartum Doula: How-To Get Your Dream Job! Apply Now!

If you’re ready to apply for a position with us, complete an application in your city here. Or send your resume to: care(at)letmommysleep.com. You can also visit us on Indeed and read what current and former staff have to say!

Night Nurse and newborn baby smiling at each other

How to Activate Parental Controls on Your Child’s Devices

updated January 9, 2023 – Balancing responsible and safe internet use for kids is an ongoing challenge for parents. In addition to age- appropriate content, there’s blue-light and screentime limits to worry about. How to Activate Parental Controls on Your Child’s Devices shares info on making screens a little safer for infants, toddlers and older kids.

Kids and Screentime- First Thing’s First

There’s no substitute for parental involvement when it comes to screen time use and children. Research shows this is especially true for infants now that we know that screens affect development. The true protections from screens are:

  1. Do not allow screens at all for your newborn and infant’s health and development
  2. Activate parental controls but continue ongoing involvement and monitoring of your child’s computer use
  3. Making sure your kids understand they can talk to you about something they’ve seen that’s inappropriate
JAMA study on infants and screentime

Newborns, Infant and Toddlers and Screens

Simply put, according the all major research, babies should not be exposed to computers, televisions and phones.

The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) for example recently found that “screen exposure at 12 months of age was associated with a 2-fold increased odds” of future sensory processing disorders. This is in addition to the AAP’s long standing recommendation of that babies younger than 18 months get no screen time at all because babies’ brains are still developing.

How to Activate Parental Controls on Your Child’s Devices – Apple Devices

Parents can choose what content is suitable and what’s not by accessing the area called Screentime in the iPhone/iPad Settings.  In “Screentime” you’ll see that restrictions can be set to filter out explicit material, but don’t stop there. Filtering out explicit material is good of course, but you can go deeper in to the Content Restriction area to control access to specific types of media. Here’s what we mean:

  1. go to Settings
  2. click Screentime
  3. select Content and Privacy Restrictions
  4. hit Content Restrictions
  5. At the bottom of this screen you’ll be able to click “Use Screen Time Passcode” to enter a 4-digit passcode to access the next section. This is a different passcode than the one used to open the phone and should only be known by the parent.

After choosing and confirming your passcode, you can access Content Restrictions and choose what ratings you feel are appropriate for: Movies (R, PG-13, PG, G), Books (clean or explicit), Apps, TV and Music (all ages, age 7+, age 14+).

In addition to obvious adult content sites, you might consider blocking sites a child could accidentally stumble upon.  Reddit for example, isn’t a site my 12 year old will actively seek out, but popular news and memes often originate there. So Reddit threads may come up first in search results for “funny cat meme,” or another innocent search. Clicking on that search result puts him on Reddit which is fine in itself, but now he’s literally 1 click away from content inappropriate for his age.

How to Activate Parental Controls on Your Child’s Devices – ChromeBooks and Android Devices:

Schools are increasingly requiring Chromebooks for elementary and middle schoolers and because of their price are a common choice for younger users.  Chromebooks allow teachers to communicate with the class and monitor learning app use and help kids to learn basic computer skills by completing writing assignments via GoogleDocs.  

Here’s how to keep a Chromebook safe:

1. Since Google is the default search engine, be sure SafeSearch is enabled (see above).

2. In order to block websites or content, a Chromebook requires the installation of “Chrome extensions” which are separate applications that can be dowloaded or purchased from the GooglePlay store.  As the name implies, this is just like Apple’s App Store and works the same way:

          – To access GooglePlay, simply type it into the Google browser.  

          – Type “website blockers” into the GooglePlay search field. 

          – You’ll see 5-10 choices of content blocking Apps that are free to download. Once you download them, you are able to type in specific sites or words to block. Once downloaded, these Apps can be accessed in the device’s settings and will also stay in the top right corner of the web browser.  BlockSite is the most popular App but there is no harm in downloading as many as you like. 

Activate Parental Controls on iphone
Activate Parental Controls on iPhone and iPad

Use a Parental Control Device like Gryphon

What’s Gryphon? Gryphon is a free-standing device that is placed in the home and requires download of an app to set up.  The WiFi Parental Control app allows you to filter inappropriate content, view each devices browsing history and suspend internet use. You can also set screen time limits.

How is this device used?  In addition to easy-to-use parental controls, the Gryphon gives all of your devices an extra layer of network safety by blocking ransomware and malware from coming in your home’s network. It protects your internet from hackers (no one will be able to access your baby monitor), but also manages and restricts access on each device. There were other items similar to Gryphon like Koala Safe or the Circle by Disney but those items have been discontinued.

Can it protect our devices too? The nice thing about this device is that parents can control all their kids devices from one central location so your 7 year old can have different restrictions than your 14 year old. Additionally the Gryphon offers malware protection for all connected devices.

Gryphon parental control device
Gryphon Parental Control System

How to Activate Parental Controls on Your Child’s Devices to Make Google Safer:

  1. Go to Google.com
  2. Click “settings” (located in the lower right corner on a computer, and in the 3 horizontal bars on the upper left on a phone.
  3. Click “Filter explicit results” if using a phone.
  4. Check the “Turn on SafeSearch” box on Safe Search Filters on a computer.    
activate Google safe search settings
Make sure Google Search settings are in SafeSearch mode

Filtering YouTube Content:

We’ve written before about YouTube Kids and how it’s mostly safe, but videos depicting suicide, sex and violence can still get through.  Curb this from happening by doing the following:

  1. On YouTube Kids Turn Auto-Play Mode OFF the: located in the upper right hand of your screen turning auto-play OFF ensures kids don’t get taken down the wrong path by having videos continually running.
  2. Keep Restricted Mode ON when using regular YouTube. This is found under Settings on YouTube.com.

YouTube’s algorithm isn’t perfect. With millions of videos uploaded every day and filters need time to check each one, questionable content definitely gets through. When videos are posted and then shared, each new version is another video YouTube needs to “catch”.

Your Family Screentime Plan

Even with every protection in place, it’s likely inevitable that your child will be exposed to inappropriate content for their age. This is because of the sheer amount of content being produced and because you’re depending on every device your child encounters has protections in place. If kids are playing on devices together, it’s okay to ask other parents what their screen time rules are. Insisting that devices be used while parents are present and keeping an eye on kids’ activity shows kids that the internet is a serious place. Parents can have expectations of kids’ behavior online just like in the real world.

For more guidance implementing sensible internet rules, check out the AAP’s Family Media Use Plan for families.

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