Reading in Bed Before Sleep: Phone, Kindle or Book?

Melavue Midnight red lens glasses resting on an open book beside a low warm lamp on a cream background

Short answer: Reading in bed can be a lovely way to wind down, but what you read on matters. In a Harvard-led study, people who read on a light-emitting tablet in the hours before bed took longer to fall asleep, made less melatonin, had a later body clock and felt less alert the next morning than when they read a printed book (Chang et al., 2015). The fix isn't giving up your nightly chapter. It's changing the light: a printed page or a dimmed screen, a low warm lamp, and Midnight, our deepest red lens, for the last 1–3 hours before bed.

Is reading in bed bad for sleep?

Not by itself. The difference is the light that comes with it.

  • Tablet vs book, several evenings. In Chang's study, the same people read either on a light-emitting tablet or from a printed book in the hours before bed for several evenings in a row. With the tablet, they took longer to fall asleep, felt less sleepy in the evening, made less melatonin, had a later body clock and were less alert the next morning (Chang et al., 2015).
  • Tablet vs book, 30 minutes. A smaller Norwegian trial had 16 students read for 30 minutes in their own beds. The iPad lit their eyes about twice as brightly as the book lamp did. After the iPad, they felt less sleepy and their deep-sleep brain activity started about 30 minutes later, but they didn't take longer to fall asleep (Grønli et al., 2016).

So a short read on a screen isn't a disaster, but longer, brighter screen sessions night after night add up. And most of us don't stop at 30 minutes.

Phone, tablet, e-reader or paper: what's the difference?

What you read on What reaches your eyes What to do
Printed book with a lamp Light reflected off the page, as bright as your lamp Keep the lamp low and warm
E-reader with the light off Reflected room light, like paper Same as a book
E-reader with a front light Some light from the screen Turn it down and warm it
Phone or tablet Bright, blue-rich light aimed at your eyes Dim it, use night mode, and add Midnight

Chang's comparison was a light-emitting tablet against a printed book (Chang et al., 2015). The American Academy of Ophthalmology suggests limiting screens for one to two hours before bed and using night mode (AAO). Night mode only changes the screen, though, not the lamp beside you. More on that here: blue light glasses vs night mode.

Don't forget the bedside lamp

Your reading lamp counts too. In a lab study, ordinary room light before bed held back melatonin compared with dim light (Gooley et al., 2011). Experts now recommend keeping evening light low, starting at least three hours before bedtime, and using warmer light where you can (Brown et al., 2022).

For reading in bed, that means:

  1. A low, warm lamp aimed at the page, not your face.
  2. Overhead lights off once you're in bed.
  3. Screens dimmed to the lowest comfortable level.

Reading in bed with less light: a low warm lamp, overhead lights off, a dimmed screen, and Midnight red lens glasses

Where does Midnight fit?

Dimming helps, but light still reaches your eyes from the page, the lamp and the screen. A lens adds a filter to all of them at once. In a test of 50 lenses, red tints let through the least body-clock light, with orange close behind, and clear lenses barely touched it (Mason et al., 2022). In a small trial of adults with insomnia symptoms, wearing amber lenses for two hours before bed for a week improved their sleep compared with clear lenses (Shechter et al., 2018).

Midnight is the deepest filter we make, built for exactly this: your book, your phone, your lamp, in the last 1–3 hours before bed.

  1. Put Midnight on 1–3 hours before you plan to sleep. Timing details: how long before bed to wear blue light glasses.
  2. Read as usual. Pages and screens will look warm and red. That's the point.
  3. Glasses off, light off when you're ready to sleep.

Midnight is for indoors only. Never wear it to drive (can you drive in red or yellow glasses?).

What if reading in bed keeps you awake?

If you sleep well, a nightly chapter in bed is a common, gentle habit. If you often lie awake, sleep experts suggest using your bed only for sleep and sex, and doing quiet activities with little light somewhere else (AASM). In that case, read in a chair with Midnight on, then go to bed when you feel sleepy. For the whole evening plan, see our evening wind-down routine. And if you wake up in the night, here's what to do: woke up at 3am?

Keep your nightly chapter

You don't have to choose between a good book and a good night. Read in Midnight for the last 1–3 hours before bed. Try the Midnight Aura in Glossy Black or the Midnight Nocturna in Black. Two readers in one bed? Get two Midnight pairs in one set and save $19.99.

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.

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FAQ

Is it bad to read on your phone in bed?

It can make it harder to fall asleep. In a Harvard-led study, people who read on a light-emitting tablet before bed took longer to fall asleep, made less melatonin and were less alert the next morning than when they read a printed book. Dim the screen, use night mode and add a deep evening lens.

Is a Kindle better than a phone before bed?

An e-reader with its light off reflects room light like paper, so it's closer to a printed book. If yours has a front light, turn it down and warm it. A phone or tablet sends bright light straight at your eyes.

Is reading a book in bed good for sleep?

For many people it's a calm way to wind down. Keep the lamp low and warm, and turn overhead lights off. If you often lie awake, sleep experts suggest reading in a chair and going to bed when you feel sleepy.

Can I wear red glasses while reading in bed?

Yes. That's what Midnight is made for. Put it on 1–3 hours before bed, read as usual, and take it off at lights out. Pages and screens will look warm and red.

Does 30 minutes of reading on a tablet affect sleep?

A small trial found that 30 minutes on an iPad made people less sleepy and delayed deep-sleep brain activity by about half an hour compared with a book, but didn't change how long they took to fall asleep. Longer, brighter sessions had clearer effects in other research.

Sources

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