To get a tablet for 2 year old?

When i was about 4 we went on holiday to Cornwall. We're from the North West so maybe a 7 or 8 hour drive. I'm in my 50s. So clearly tablets were not a thing. My sibling and i did colouring, reading, eye spy, are we nearly there yet etc. Our parents interacted with us. I didn't go on a plane until i was at uni. We travelled to europe in the car. With books. With things to look out for on the journey.
I use various types of technology for work and leisure. I am not and have never been disadvantaged by not having a tablet until early middle age!! I do my shopping on line. I use online platforms for work. I met my husband online. I have adapted to the changing world. No 2 year old is going to be disadvantaged by not having a tablet!

The problem lies in when people don't notice the changes or don't realise it's the tablet.
Because the tablet creeps in and the behaviour escalates in small increments.

So day 1 kiddo might spend 15 minutes...then by Week 2 they're spending 45 mins a day because they weren't showing any detrimental signs a week ago, so you push it and allow more. However, you also don't notice the incremental poor behaviour where they whine a little more each time they have to stop, they used to ask fornitnince a day, and now it's twice...and then its every time they come home and they want to relax... And because it's a drip drip drip you just don't notice it as much.

Where as if you look at a child who's had it for a year and you observe them staring at the screen for 45 minutes and then getting angry when mum takes it off them etc...it didn't happen overnight, so it's easy to see what affect its having on them, but not so much when you're there day in day out.

I suppose it's about like the whole "wow, haven't you grown?" That Granny says after seeing a 3 year old after a month break, but as a parent you barely notice...until their trousers are too short or their shoes are too small....

Yes, but giving a 2 year old their own tablet is not the way to introduce screens to children...

I think that's true to a degree. I wouldn't try to stop a 12 year old having any access to screens. But there's no need to start before that.

I think most parents (me included) allow TV and other screens purely to make their own lives easier. Why do people feel the need to pretend it's beneficial for the child? Just admit it isn't! It's ok to be human and need a break.

Because at one point they WILL have a device, surely its best to moderate and teach as you go?

Imagine telling these folks commenting here that you would take away their smartphones

I wish someone would take mine away. I piss away far too much time on it. Phones and iPads are so addictive; why you’d want to give anything so addictive to a small child is beyond me.

Surely like everything, it's all about choice, moderation and making sure you change it if you notice behavioural changes.

It's precisely because of my own experience of smartphone addiction that I want to protect my children for as long as possible. I don't give my children alcohol either...

I'm not a fan of sticking small children in front of the TV, either. And the idea of watching TV on a phone, even for an adult, is crazy.

@00100001 Thats presuming that the tv watching involves an active adult participant. IME most parents use TV or tablets as a way to get stuff done and don’t sit there with a running commentary interacting with their child.

There isn’t any need for a tablet for a preschooler BUT I do find the ‘my kid isn’t allowed a tablet’ brigade but can spend ages watching tv on my phone to keep them quiet a bit ridiculous! And I know a lot of them.

I couldn't agree more with this. My 6 and 8 year olds don't have tablets and won't for the foreseeable future. They watch a bit of TV (sometimes more than I think is ideal), but other than that they're busy doing - playing, reading, talking, using their imaginations and being physically active. If they had tablets they'd probably choose that over lots of other things because they're highly addictive, which is widely known and is why they're such a useful tool for keeping kids quiet.
They have no problems navigating tech - they use computers at school and occasionally at home, and they know how to make my phone do things I can't even though they're hardly ever allowed to touch it.
I've no worries at all about them being "left behind" in terms of using technology, but I firmly believe that by denying them tablets we're giving them the best chance of being well-rounded, physically and mentally healthy people with a wide range of interests. I believe the later you leave it, the less chance of it becoming an all-consuming obsession.

Tablets are worse than TV because they are exclusionary and addictive.

Tbh I don’t think a tablet is any different than the tv. Well actually it’s better for their fine motor skills and there are some fabulous educational apps.

Mine had them when they started school nursery as they use them there. The key is that you are in charge of the content and the time. Having controls and guidelines is vitally important to sensible usage!

2 feels very young to me but it’s really no different to sticking Blippi on YouTube on a phone, which is what many people seem to do but their children aren’t allowed a tablet so they feel superior. I think I’d prefer my child be swiping numberblocks on a kindle tbh.

Yes. But they absolutely do not need to use it learn how to use a tablet. Which are some people's reasoning for getting a toddler a tablet. They can be picked up and learned in minutes. No 8yo will be disadvantaged if they didn't have access to a tablet at 2, and it was introduced at 7instead.

Oh my word! Just because a child has a tablet it doesn't mean that they never run around and play outside etc. Life is about everything in moderation surely!

What absolute nonsense. A 2 year old needs to learn to run and jump and balance and recognise shapes and patterns and how to play with other children. They need to touch, feel and fall down. They need to play and interact with people and things and the world.

Not how to fucking swipe left on a screen of a passive entertainment system.

This is actually the only answer the OP needs, @00100001

I don't think it's a terrible thing, almost better they see it as "just another toy" rather than something particularly special.
For car rides I'd recommend a yoto player or similar for audiobooks. My daughter gets sick if she tries to read or look at a screen.

Again, these are splinter skills, the kid who uses the tablet often has learned to draw a line, because that's the game? But can he climb and run and catch a ball, does he have sensory issues form not playing outside. None of these things get tested. Also, every typically developing kid can be taught to draw a line ..

anecdotal evidence. Your kid is good at maths, i-pad doesn't have to be the cause. I can tell you that i can see the kids who spent to much time on devices from a mile away in my practice, mom will come in with a set of problems and i don't even have to ask because i know what the answer will be. "how much screen time does he have mom" Oh there's your problem. Also i-pad, screens whatever is splinter skills. a kid learns one maths game or a shapes game. He just has the game down, sometimes not even the concept. Remember games are made to be fun and to be able to do them otherwise no kid will play them

What madness, thinking a 3 year old has to learn a tablet so young... as if they're a tricky skill to learn over months and years....

It's ,by design, intuitive, a 8yo who never used one will be up to speed in minutes...

It's not like... Learning to read or do maths that take years to master.

You don't need it now, when you go out, but give him one and you will! As a paeds OT, hold off as long as you can. Once they're used to it, the habit is hard to kick. How often are you on MN, FB, insta? And you are a grown women, much harder for your kids to say no. These 'educational' toys are engineered to keep your attention for a s long as possible. Also, educational my bum. At 2, your baby still needs to practice his balance, fine and gross motor skills, shoulder girdle muscles, coordination, you name it. None of which can happen on an i-pad and all of which he needs to be able to sit and write at a desk one day. you can teach a kid to read and write in a week, if they're physically developed. But a kid that hasn't got the co-contraction to hold a pen for extended periods, i don't care if he knows the alphabet, cause he can't sit to write it. Don't want to sound rude, but it would be a stupid move

What absolute nonsense. A 2 year old needs to learn to run and jump and balance and recognise shapes and patterns and how to play with other children. They need to touch, feel and fall down. They need to play and interact with people and things and the world.

Not how to fucking swipe left on a screen of a passive entertainment system.

I don’t disagree with you - balance is key. I was responding to a pp who claimed there was a study that showed young children with tablets out-performed those who did not use them, which I found very hard to believe given our experience. My DC2 is in Reception and the teachers’ view is that over-reliance on screens during lockdown (unavoidable for many, I appreciate) has contributed to a much higher incidence of speech and language difficulties amongst this cohort.

I’m sure a child who has half an hour a day on a tablet but otherwise has engaged parents and spends time reading, playing etc. will see no ill effects whatsoever. I still don’t see any good reason to give one to a two year old and would recommend the OP hold off as long as possible.

I got my 2 year old an iPad as their visual impairment teacher recommended starting using as soon as possible. My child has complex disabilities including a cortical visual impairment but we hope that, by starting early, that one day they may be able to use eye gaze to communicate. If my child had been neuro-typical I would have been holding off buying a tablet for as long as possible.

It’s a personal thing - but there’s a place in hell reserved for any parents who let their kids use tablets in restaurants without headphones!