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Original poster

I need some sort of audiobook player...

32 replies

BigYellowTaxiDriver · 19/09/2019 23:35

...for my 4.5 year old DD. She has recently started school and is so wired at bedtime that she can’t sleep and she is just so overtired and tearful it’s awful.

So I thought audiobooks and headphones might be a way to keep her distracted until she falls asleep. But what could I play the audiobooks on?? I’m not very up to speed with this stuff. She can’t have a phone or tablet because she will just play with it all night.

Any suggestions??

OP posts:
PastTippingPoint · 19/09/2019 23:39

Could you go old school and get a cd player? I used to listen to audiobooks on cassettes when I was a kid! We used to get them from the library, i think you still can?

BahHumbygge · 20/09/2019 00:14

ipod touch (passlock the screen) and bluetooth speaker. Put an audiobook app on the device like Bound, or a library one like BorrowBox (check what system your county uses). With Bound you can set the sleep timer to come on at 5mins/30mins/end of chapter.

TreacherousPissFlap · 20/09/2019 00:19

We use Audible but it's about £7 a month. I believe you can get free apps from some local libraries.

You could buy a cheap Bluetooth speaker and that way keep the phone / tablet out of her room?

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RoomR0613 · 20/09/2019 00:25

An Amazon Alexa dot. Very child proof, not even sure my DC realise that's where the noise is coming from.

They are currently about £35 but are often on sale for less when amazon have one of their days.

We use audible on it, you don't have to sign up for the monthly subscription you can just buy individual books on it and there's often sales.

The beauty of it is that it has loads of other uses too so if the audiobooks thing doesn't work out you can always just listen to the radio if make shopping lists on it.

DamonSalvatoresDinner · 20/09/2019 00:35

I have a kindle fire and instead of forking our for audible audio books I put voice view screen reader on and whatever Amazon assistant voice I have picked reads it out to me, including turning the pages. It's slightly robotic but only a little. Nothing at all like robotic Siri.

Original poster
BigYellowTaxiDriver · 20/09/2019 00:37

Some fantastic suggestions here - thank you all! I could get her Bluetooth kids headphones and hook them up to my phone!!

OP posts:
Original poster
BigYellowTaxiDriver · 20/09/2019 00:37

I do quite fancy an Alexa though

OP posts:
NaughtToThreeSadOnions · 20/09/2019 00:53

I could get her Bluetooth kids headphones and hook them up to my phone!!

While that might seem like the cheapest solution, just a few things to consider kids headphones tend to be the over the ear type ones, likely to be very odd to go to sleep in, she'll find it hard to sleep with something on her head and struggle to get comfortable .

But the bigger problem would be do you get phone calls while she is going to sleep/after she has gone to sleep? Because if you do and the phone rings while this is happening the phone will divert the sound of the ringing to the headphones and wake her up. Even if you happen to see the incoming call on the screen and answer it because the headphones won't have a mic the caller will just hear silence or her, not you. You could both be saying hello hello hello whole she's wondering why there's a voice in her story repeating hello.

It needs to be a separate tablet or iPod that's not going to stand a chance of any distractions. I would also reconsider the headphones for the reason I said earlier i used to go to sleep with audio books and from about 11 even just live broadcast radio 4 - I might have been a strange kid my mum would just tiptoe in a turn of the radio with a Bluetooth speaker you could very easily even keep the tablet in your room and switch it off when you go to bed/she's well a sleep.

BiologyIsntBigoted · 20/09/2019 01:25

Amazon certified Refurbed Echo dots are £24.99 at the minute.

I like audible but recently cancelled my sub until I catch up a bit and finish my back catalogue, every now and then they have an offer where you get the three credits for £20 and then they have offers where you get two for one so six audiobooks for £20 if you tone things right.

Another. It if a sneaky thing you can do is go to cancel your subscription and they'll give you three months half to change your mind, do it again after the three months and they give you another credit to use. I only know this because I genuinely went to cancel mine due to having a shit load of unlisted to books.

Flower777 · 20/09/2019 01:27

The Calm app has some lovely calming kids stories on it. As well as meditation and white noise. We use it a lot.

BiologyIsntBigoted · 20/09/2019 01:29

But the bigger problem would be do you get phone calls while she is going to sleep/after she has gone to sleep? Because if you do and the phone rings while this is happening the phone will divert the sound of the ringing to the headphones and wake her up.

You can change settings for connected Bluetooth devices to stop calls going to headphones and/or bluetooth speakers.

Tojigornot · 20/09/2019 01:30

Yeah, a dot. And get yourself an echo while you’re at it Wink

NaughtToThreeSadOnions · 20/09/2019 11:35

You can change settings for connected Bluetooth devices to stop calls going to headphones and/or bluetooth speakers

Still going to stop the story though isn't it!! No phone plays audio books while the phone is being used as a phone

BiologyIsntBigoted · 21/09/2019 19:15

Still going to stop the story though isn't it!! No phone plays audio books while the phone is being used as a phone

I'm a dipshit. I didn't think of that. Grin

Putting the phone in do not disturb would stop calls coming through at all but would be a fanny on remembering to turn it back off and could miss something important.

homemadecommunistrussia · 21/09/2019 19:24

Am I the only person with an mp3 player?

CodenameVillanelle · 21/09/2019 19:27

Get an echo dot. £35 at the moment. You can get books on audible and connect more than one account so you should be able to get a couple of free ones. It has a sleep timer and you can set sleepy music or a gentle alarm in the morning.

Mitebiteatnite · 21/09/2019 19:33

If you get a Google home you can cast your Playbooks library, so just purchase whatever book you want on the Play store and cast it through Google home. It doesn't interrupt or stop playing if you're on the phone, and as long as phone and home hub are on the same WiFi it won't stop playing, unlike Bluetooth which sometimes won't work when you're too far from the device.

I can cast an audiobook to DS speaker and cast iplayer radio to my kitchen speaker, plus Spotify to DDs speaker all at the same time, with no interruptions for calls etc.

Mitebiteatnite · 21/09/2019 19:34

Can even cast I player app to the chrome cast in the bedroom for DH at the same time too!

EskSmith · 21/09/2019 19:40

I have an old phone and Bluetooth link to a Google home for my dd. Works really well.

The benefit of the home over the Alexa is that you can Bluetooth link to it whereas I don't think you can to an Alexa (you certainly didn't used to be able to) We've cheap audio books from the book people which i have on a card on the phone, much cheaper than audible etc.

As others said if you Bluetooth link then all sound goes to the speaker , so you wouldn't be able to use the device for anything else whilst she was listening and if you got a call/message etc it would interrupt her story.

Chocolateteabag · 21/09/2019 19:43

Ive see this wall mounted cd player on a insta account I follow (Muthahood) - if it's up out of the way - less chance of being knocked over.
DS2 had a £20 one which he broke vv quickly because it was within his reach

FATEdestiny · 21/09/2019 19:45

Speaking as someone who always listens to audio books to go to sleep, some things to think about:

  • all types headphones are uncomfortable to lie on and require lots of getting used to.
  • the wires gets tangled around my neck fairly often as a turn over in bed, and I'm an adult. Massive strangulation risk in a child.
  • Wireless individual ear buds are unlikely to fit in a child's ear. They are also a chock risk since they are swallow-able.
  • taking the headphones off is likely to wake child up.
  • a speaker on a low volume would be a better idea than headphones

On a completely different note:

  • following any book as you drift to sleep makes the story impossible to follow night after night. I always re-listen to the chapter I had on at bedtime, in the morning. Otherwise I wouldn't follow the story/plot as my concentration waivers with drowsiness.
  • if your DC only listens at night, they'll either not follow the story so get bored. Or will need to re-listen to the same section over and over again night after night, so get bored with the story
  • so I'd recommend a large selection of short stories that are listened to from start to finish in one sitting. Cheaper books are unlikely to work.
1984isHappeningNow · 21/09/2019 19:47

Echo dot.

If you have Amazon Music you can play all kinds of Meditation stories and classical lullabies. Pachabels Cannon in D sends my kids straight off to sleepGrin

Current favourite is Faerie Meditation for children, which gets them to relax and then a story with relaxing gentle background music.

You can control it directly via the dot or via your phone on the Alexa App.

I luffs mine.

I also have regular reminders in the morning set up so 8.00 Time to brush your teeth, 8.20 Time to put your coat on, and finally 8.30 Time to stand by the door.

The 3 kids obey her without a fuss, and it saves me screeching like a banshee each morning to keep everyone on track!

FATEdestiny · 21/09/2019 20:37

The problem with going for an Amazon device (dot, echo, Alexa) is that you be home tied to a paid-for subscription.

There are three free library apps for audio books (See your local authority library web page for more info). I used RBdigital for free audio books and (admittedly paid for) Spotify for music and podcasts.

FATEdestiny · 21/09/2019 20:38

be home = become

BiologyIsntBigoted · 22/09/2019 00:32

The problem with going for an Amazon device (dot, echo, Alexa) is that you be home tied to a paid-for subscription.

Which paid subscription are you tied to?

I have an echo don't and can't think of any subscriptions I'm tied into that I wouldn't be on an iPhone or non amazon device.