Tonie box or amazon echo?

[Buttons294749]

Im on a quest to get DS to settle in his bed at night and was considering audio stories. I could either

1. Get a tonie box mini (£60) plus stories
2. Get an amazon echo and audible subscription.

Does anyone have any advice? ds is 4

Thanks!

Is there a reason you're not considering the Yoto player?

We have a few echos in the house. There are some free story apps on it as well as audible (more aimed at younger children). Also great to send a message to the older children in their rooms without having to shout up the stairs.

I have an echo and Dd has a tonie. She is 5.5 and got it when she was 3 and there is no sign of her not wanting it.

It was the best purchase ever. Love the little characters and they release new stuff all the time.

I use the personalised tonie for when she’s staying away so I can still read her a bedtime story.

Tonie box here. The Yoto cards are the same price as the Tonies and just cards - easily damaged or lost, which is why we went for the Tonie.

How about a Bluetooth speaker, and just play stuff from your phone? I bet there's loads of free stuff available via apps, Amazon music etc.

We have The Toniebox, Yoto player and Google home thing. Toniebox is good for younger kids around 1-4 (indestructible and easy to swap characters but limited choice). My 6 year old uses the Yoto - better range of cards and it has radio/app control. The voice activated things such as Alexa & Google home
Are better for older kids (7+) I think.

Personally, I think the Tonie box and similar are very expensive for what they can actually do. There are lots of cheaper ways to play stories to your children.

Thanks all, i actually relaised i meant the yoto and not the tonie, i find it very confusing! The one with the little cards.

I dont want to play fron my phone as i want to use my phone (to MN!) At the same time, i dont have any sort of speakers but was thinking of getting one for playing music so coukd start off with an echo.

You can still use your phone while playing music to a speaker!

Gosh im so rubbish at this lol.
Maybe ill start with a speaker thing and see how i get on

I would go for something that just plays stories or something you have control over, or isn't voice activated such as your phone. The boys I look after (5+3) spend a lot of time asking alexa to fart or play songs about poo and wee, or songs like ghost busters on repeat.

Definitely get a yoto. The cards are very durable and it's so much more than an audio story player. A yoto player has podcasts, radio stations, story cards, song cards, timers, make your own content cards, multiple language options and more.

At your sons age it would be a very useful tool which he could have autonomy over without the downsides of something like an Alexa which would be easy to use for anything but it's intended purpose.

I was torn between a YoTo and Tonies and ended up getting an echo I found the choice far wider for my DS to listen to. He's a terrible sleeper but we have found audiobooks brilliant for him to settle and soothe him. The only thing I can't do which another pp has mentioned is record my own story for him in my voice. I wanted to be able to do this for him with his Grandparents as well so he's got a record of them etc. I'm on the hunt for an app that will let me do it - there is bound to be one!

It's worth checking if anywhere nearby has a Yoto library so you can borrow, rather than buy every story.

@mommybear1 you need to record it on your phone or computer and convert the file to an mp3 if needed. It is simple to transfer files to your phone to play, then connect to the echo as a Bluetooth speaker and play it. Have a Google, there's probably lots of tutorials about it.

Have a Tonie my DS got it for his 3rd birthday absolutely loves it as does my 18 month old. We were lucky in that the relative that bought him it bought him 10 figures/stories for it but I do think it is quite expensive to add to the collection. The figures are around £15 each. It is worth it if Ur child likes it though. My DS has the carry case and earphones too. Earphones go on at bedtime and it sends him to sleep. Definitely been worthwhile from that point of view

We have Echos for all of our children, they are brilliant. We shave them throughout the house too, so we can set timers, announce dinner, set reminders to brush teeth or PE uniform etc. (Children are 7, 6 & almost 2). Plus they are usually available very cheaply.

I think they do kids versions of echo that work like fire kids tablets, with limits and more control over accessing suitable content.

Oh also with the echo, we have the audible app, which can be played on phones or tablets when we go away rather than taking a load of things.

plus all children can listen to the same thing if they want, in different rooms.

Yoto mini - they are brilliant, there is a lot of free content (radio, podcasts), and you can make your own cards using MP3 files, so if you already have music or audiobooks you can use those, and you can also use BorrowBox. I think for a 4yo it's much easier to have physical cards to look through and choose from than using an Echo or similar.

I have a referral code for 10% off if you'd like one.

This one - it's small and portable so it's great for travel
uk.yotoplay.com/yoto-mini

My children is older so perhaps my perspective is changed by this. We got echo when DC2 is 4 or 5. It's got much more potential to grow with the child. It can play games, announce to other echo speakers, set up routines, play music (from our spotify subscription) and change colour to room lights. That's all in addition to audio stories.

Thanks all x

Ah see, I like the Tonie figures better (though I think they are a little bit more pricey generally speaking, room on the broom for example is £14.99 on Tonie but £7.99 on Yoto, but then you do get a figure as opposed to just a card so there is some added value there), but Losing them was the reason we went for Yoto over Tonies, I could see my little one wanting to play with the little toys which would then be amongst a load of his other toys and a nightmare to find whereas he wouldn’t play with the cards (which are plastic like debit/credit cards so not that easy to break without force) which we keep in a card wallet.
You can tell we are a very disorganised family with a toddler who randomly requests toys he hasn’t seen or thought of for months meaning we have to trawl the living room for it 😄

@inappropriateraspberry thank you! I knew there must be some solution I will get the Grandparents prepped for their stories - thank you 😊