--- title: "Park the phones outside the bedrooms" status: "Idea, not yet tested" published: "2026-10-15" updated: "2026-10-15" author: "Dad Field Manual editors (drafted with AI help)" time: "30 min to set up" cost: "$0–$25" ages: "8 to 17" where: "A kitchen counter, a hallway shelf or a living-room table near an outlet, somewhere everyone walks past and nobody sleeps." topics: ["screens"] print: "https://dadfieldmanual.com/print?p=phone-parking-spot" url: "https://dadfieldmanual.com/plans/phone-parking-spot/" --- # Park the phones outside the bedrooms > Phones in bedrooms keep kids up, and “just ten more minutes” turns into an hour. In thirty minutes you set up one family charging spot in a shared room, pick the time every device parks there each night, including yours, and sort out alarms. **Tested on:** not yet. When a dad tries this, his name, the date, the place, and the kids' ages will be added here. ## What you need - A power strip or multi-port charger with room for every device (have / $15) - Each person's own charging cable (have) - Tape and a marker to label each spot with a name (have) - A basic alarm clock for anyone who uses their phone as an alarm (have / $10) - A sticky note with the parking time (have) ## Before you start - **Everyone parks, including you.** If your phone goes to bed with you, the rule won't last. The AAP says it helps the whole family when parents model the habit too. - **It's a routine, not a punishment.** Don't send a phone to the spot early as a penalty, or the spot turns into jail. - **Keep the tell-me rule.** If something they saw online scares them at night, or someone messages them, they come get you and aren't in trouble for it. - **If your kid still can't fall asleep** or wakes up tired most days with the phones parked, talk with their pediatrician. ## Steps 1. **Pick the spot together** (Together) Walk the house and choose one spot in a shared room near an outlet: the kitchen counter, a hallway shelf. Not a bedroom, not the couch where someone falls asleep. Say: “Every phone and tablet in this house sleeps here at night. Mine too.” About five minutes. 2. **Set it up and label it** (Together) Plug in the power strip or charger, run a cable for each person, and tape a name label at each spot. Let your kid make the labels. A spot with their name on it feels like theirs, not like a confiscation bin. About ten minutes. 3. **Pick the parking time** (Together) Work back from wake-up. The AASM recommends 9 to 12 hours of sleep for ages 6 to 12 and 8 to 10 for teens. If a 10-year-old wakes at 6:30, nine hours means lights out by 9:30 at the latest. The AAP suggests powering devices down 30 to 60 minutes before lights out, so phones park between 8:30 and 9:00. Write the time on a sticky note at the spot. 4. **Solve the alarm problem** (Dad) “But my alarm's on my phone” is the first thing you'll hear. Hand them a plain alarm clock and set it together tonight. The AASM's advice is the same for adults: keep the phone in another room, and if you use it as an alarm, try a clock instead. 5. **Park yours first** (Dad) At parking time, walk your own phone to the spot and plug it in where they can see you do it. Say: “Mine's parked. Your turn.” If you need to be reachable overnight, keep yours on the ringer at the spot, not on your nightstand. 6. **Agree on the morning pickup** (Together) Decide when devices come back: after they're dressed and have eaten breakfast, say. Write it under the parking time. A clear pickup rule means no one grabs a phone at 5 a.m. “just to check.” 7. **Check in after two weeks** (Together) After two weeks, ask at dinner: “How's everyone sleeping? Is the parking time right?” Adjust it by fifteen minutes if it's too early or too late. Weekends can shift a little, but the spot stays the same. ## If it stalls - If a phone sneaks back to a bedroom, don't make a scene. Walk it back to the spot the next night with them: “Phones sleep here. That's all.” - If they say they need it for homework, homework moves before parking time or to a shared computer in a common room. - If they fall asleep to music, use a plain speaker or clock radio that isn't connected to the internet, or play it from the shared room. - If they live in two homes, share the parking time with the other house. It doesn't have to match to help. ## Variations - **Ages 8–10:** Tablets and handheld games park too. Let them plug in their own device and flip their name label to a smiley face when it's parked. - **Ages 11–13:** Parking time is the same for every school night. Let them choose the alarm clock and set the morning pickup rule with you. - **Ages 14–17:** Give them a say in the time, within the 8-to-10-hour window. Laptops used for late homework park as soon as homework's done. ## Sources - **A family charging station away from bedrooms.** An AAP pediatrician advises setting up a family charging station away from bedrooms, keeping devices out of bedrooms and powering them down 30 to 60 minutes before lights-out, and says it helps the whole family when parents model the habit too. (checked 2026-10-15) - **Screens out of children's bedrooms at night.** The AAP advises keeping all screens, including TVs, computers, tablets and phones, out of children's bedrooms, especially at night, and turning screens off at least an hour before bedtime; it notes the sleep-hour guidelines come from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and are supported by the AAP. (checked 2026-10-15) - **How much sleep kids and teens need.** The American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends that children 6 to 12 years old get 9 to 12 hours of sleep and teens 13 to 18 get 8 to 10 hours on a regular basis. (checked 2026-10-15) - **Phone in another room; a clock for the alarm.** The AASM suggests keeping your phone in another room at night if possible, using a clock instead if you use the phone as an alarm, and turning off notifications if the phone must stay nearby. (checked 2026-10-15)