How Long Before Bed Should You Wear Blue Light Glasses?

Melavue Midnight red lens glasses beside a phone and a warm lamp on a cream evening table

Short answer: Put your blue light glasses on at least an hour before bed, and two to three hours before if your evening allows. That's the window sleep researchers used: people who wore amber-tinted glasses for two to three hours before bedtime reported better sleep quality than when they wore clear or control lenses, and eye doctors give the same two-to-three-hour window for cutting evening screen light. At Melavue, that's what Midnight, our deepest red lens, is made for: put it on when you start winding down and keep it on until lights out.

How many hours before bed should you put them on?

Aim for two to three hours. One hour is the minimum. Here's what the research used:

  • Two hours before bed: adults with trouble sleeping wore amber-tinted glasses for the two hours before bedtime for a week, and reported longer, better and sounder sleep than with clear lenses (Shechter et al., 2018).
  • Three hours before bed: adults wore amber-tinted glasses for three hours before sleep for two weeks and reported significantly better sleep quality and mood than a control group (Burkhart & Phelps, 2009).
  • Two to three hours is the norm: a 2020 review of 12 studies found that most wear windows ran two to three hours before bed, or from early evening until bedtime (SLEEP Advances, 2020).

The American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) points to the same window: it says the best way to avoid sleep disruption from screens is to avoid them two to three hours before bed (AAO). Most of us won't put the phone away that early. Glasses let you keep watching, reading and scrolling while you cut down the bright, blue-ish light.

Why do the last hours before bed matter so much?

Your body clock reads light as its main "day or night" signal. As evening comes, your brain starts releasing melatonin, the hormone that helps you feel ready for sleep, and bright light can hold that signal back. The blue part of the spectrum is the most potent at suppressing melatonin at night (Brainard et al., 2001), and phones, laptops, TVs and LED bulbs give off plenty of it.

Blue-blocking glasses go right at that problem. In a study of teenagers using LED screens in the evening, blue-blocking glasses significantly reduced the screen's melatonin suppression compared with clear lenses, and the teens felt less alert and sleepier before bed (van der Lely et al., 2015). That's why the hours before bed are when they count. By the time you're lying down in the dark, the job is done.

What does the research show when people wear them in the evening?

The results are encouraging:

  • Most studies saw a benefit. Of the 12 evening-glasses studies in the 2020 review, eight showed some positive effect, including better self-reported sleep quality, longer sleep and earlier sleep timing (SLEEP Advances, 2020).
  • Healthy sleepers saw gains too. In that review, healthy adults who wore the glasses for three hours before bed reported falling asleep faster and sleeping better, and a two-week study found longer sleep and higher nighttime melatonin (SLEEP Advances, 2020).
  • It builds over a week or two. The positive trials ran for about one to two weeks of nightly use (Shechter et al., 2018; Burkhart & Phelps, 2009), so make it a nightly habit, not a one-off.

Results vary between people, and reviews call the overall evidence mixed (SLEEP Advances, 2020; Cochrane, 2023).

For more on how red lenses fit in, read red light glasses for sleep.

Wind-down timeline: DayLight yellow lens glasses for daytime screens, Midnight red lens glasses before bed, glasses off at lights out

What's the best evening routine with Midnight?

Build your glasses into a simple wind-down:

  1. When the workday ends: if you've been on screens all day and like a softer, warmer look, wear DayLight, our yellow lens for daytime screens.
  2. Two to three hours before bed (one hour at the latest): dim the room lights, switch your devices to night mode and put on Midnight.
  3. Keep them on for everything on a screen: your phone, your laptop and your TV. Midnight covers the room lighting too, not just one screen.
  4. Lights out: take them off, put the phone down and sleep.

The trick is consistency. Same window, every night, even after a late training session: here's how athletes fit it in.

What if you only have an hour?

An hour still counts. Midnight is built for the last hour of screens before bed, which is when most of us are scrolling in bed or finishing one more episode. If your evenings are packed, put it on the moment you start getting ready for bed and keep it on until lights out.

If you can start earlier, do. The study windows were two to three hours (SLEEP Advances, 2020), so think of one hour as the floor and two to three as the goal.

Red or yellow: which lens for which time of day?

The closer you are to bedtime, the deeper the tint.

For a side-by-side, see red vs yellow blue light glasses.

Should you wear blue light glasses while sleeping?

No. Take them off at lights out. They're made for the time you're awake and looking at screens or room lights. In a dark bedroom there's nothing left for them to do.

Can you drive in them?

No, not in Midnight. A red tint changes how colors look, including traffic lights and brake lights, and cuts the light reaching your eyes. Put it on once you're home for the night. And don't use any tinted lens as night-driving glasses: the AAO warns that lenses that reduce light can make it harder to see at night (AAO).

Start tonight

Make the hours before bed your wind-down window. Shop the Midnight collection for your evenings, and add DayLight for your screen-heavy days.

Every pair is $59.99, comes with a hard case and a cleaning cloth, ships free on orders over $69.99, and has 30-day returns.

Shop Midnight →

FAQ

How long before bed should I wear blue light glasses?

Two to three hours before bed is ideal, and at least one hour. Sleep studies had people wear amber-tinted glasses for two to three hours before bedtime, and the American Academy of Ophthalmology suggests cutting screen light for the same window.

Can I wear them all evening?

Yes. Some studies had people wear them from early evening until bedtime. Put Midnight on when you start winding down and keep it on until lights out.

Should I wear blue light glasses to sleep?

No. Take them off when you turn off the lights. They're meant for the time you're awake and looking at screens or room lights.

How soon will I notice a difference?

Give it a week or two. The sleep studies that saw benefits had people wear the glasses every evening for one to two weeks, so make it a nightly habit.

Can I drive while wearing them?

Not in red lenses like Midnight. They change how traffic lights and brake lights look and reduce the light reaching your eyes. Wear them indoors once you're home for the night.

Sources

This article is for general information and isn't medical advice. If you have ongoing trouble sleeping, talk to a doctor.