To love this buggy!

[curiousgeorgie]

DH got a delivery this morning....

My DD2 is a nightmare. She screams and cries if I put her in the pram, she's impossible to pacify in a restaurant or shopping etc...

So DH says this is the solution.

She's been quiet for 15 minutes!!!!

Dinosaur, I would say food is a pretty appropriate way of keeping children quiet in restaurants, which is the kind of place op had in mind for this iPad buggy thing.

One would have to be very disciplined to not overuse technology as a pacifier. Out and about there's lots to see - babies should be gawping at their surroundings, not at screens.

Why do people compare watching a screen with reading a book? If you spend hours reading a book you are actively engaging your brain in imagining the world contained therein, whilst watching tv there is no brain engaging unless the parent is sat with their child and talking about what they are looking at.

I think its a dreadful invention :-( If dd is going to be stuck in the buggy all round the theme parks, then surely you will be keen to take her out in the restaurants anyway?

I had a very high needs baby, who is now a high needs 10 year old with ADHD. We don't go on holiday because I know she couldn't cope, a tablet certainly wouldn't have changed that.

Don't be ridiculous. TV watching fills in all the gaps books dont. No thinking required. Pack your imagination away, all the hard work is done for you.

Hmm i may get a sore arse from sitting on the fence for this one.

Definitely not appropriate for everyday use but if i had to que for an hour for a ride at a theme park i would rather do it next to a baby in this monstrosity than one that spends the whole time screaming.

Although if all the family are going (you mentioned extended family) then surely there will be enough people to entertain the baby without the need for the ipad.

God help you if you forget the charger

OP's at Disney. She definitely won't be the only parent with this gadget. Guaranteed. So there won't be much, if any, judgement there.

To me, going to Disney with a toddler would be my idea of hell on earth, but I applaud her bravery.

My DD has had screen time, before she turned 2, albeit very controlled. So I can't say much about that. I still try to limit it, barring hellish sick days or awful weather here.

OP, if it works for you, great. Enjoy your holiday and don't waste it on here arguing.

DS2 was a demon on the game boy when he was 3. Kept him entertained for hours.

Can I come to Disney too and be pushed around with one eye on the iPad? Sounds fab.

I've eaten an entire tube of pringles reading this thread!

I think it's a pretty good idea, certainly if you have to keep a young one entertained for a while. Why would you make life harder on yourself, especially on holiday??!

Enjoy the peace OP

I want pringles. I can eat them while MNing on my iPad. I'm over 2, so that's ok.

Out and about there's lots to see - babies should be gawping at their surroundings, not at screens.

Theres room in life for both. It does make me laugh reading all the angst and hand wringing over children and technology in these threads though. Very amusing to read.

It makes me cringe a bit that such a buggy exists, but mostly because of the potential for it to be abused; iPads stuck infront of newborns or used every single time the child is in the buggy etc. It makes me think of the floating chairs with attached screens that everyone is confined to in WALL-E.

BUT... In the circumstances the OP describes, then yeah, why not? Maybe not the ideal, but not the end of the world either.

We deployed the iPad and buggy combo earlier this week when we flew back from the UK to the US. We landed in Washington DC after an 8 hour flight, and there was a mahoosive queue at passport control and immigration. 3 YO had not slept at all on the plane so was tired and grumpy (had been awake for 15 hours straight at that point), and is not known for his patience and ability to stand still at the best of times. So we strapped him into his little sister's buggy and gave him the iPad with some downloaded episodes of Abney and Teal. We were in the queue for 50 minutes; DH and I had not slept either, were knackered and stressed knowing that we had a connecting flight to catch and we just did not have the energy to keep him entertained and still otherwise. 22 MO DD was happy to stand next to us and chatter, but she had slept and is a much more placid child anyway.

Anyone who saw fit to judge us would have had a whole lot more to tut about with the inevitable whining and escape attempts had we set him loose.

Traveling with tiny children is hard, so in my opinion OP YANBU. Your DD is a little peach too!

m.psychologytoday.com/blog/in-the-neighborhood/201306/is-television-the-key-academic-success

I hate all this hand-wringing about screen time. Everything in balance. I find some people who think that TV is an absolute no-no are sometimes the same people who constantly direct children in structured play. They don't seem to see the irony in that they are also not allowing children the freedom to control their own entertainment.

Oh and OP, you have a gorgeous little girl

There is clearly the potential for a buggy like this to be horrendously misused. But like everything contentious - sugary food, fruit shoots, whatever - moderation is key. If I was in a lengthy queue with a 15mo I'd take out my phone and show a program. I'd add this to my repertoire of baby entertainment along with all the other things I'm sure OP does like making ridiculous faces, pointing things out and endlessly narrating your surroundings (while the MN-er behind you starts a sniffy thread about your loud parenting), waving a toy around, showing them a book etc etc etc.

I think it sounds like a fantastic holiday, it's lovely to have your extended family, Disney us a dream for loads of kids and the iPad will come in handy I'm sure whilst also not entirely replacing all your interactions with the baby.

Sorry, I had to do some real life stuff...

Thanks for the lovely comments about my DD

Great idea,never to soon to get the wean into eastenders

My DS is 2 and uses an i-pad - but only on holiday. We used it fo the first time last year (17 months) for the aeroplane journey of 4 hours and for the very early wake ups as there is only so many toys and books you can take away in 20kg of luggage, especially as a 19 month old doesn't get any allowance!
This year (2 years, 8 months) we downloads Fireman Sam, Postman Pat and Little Red Tractor. It was a God-send on a 4 hour aeroplane journey with no in-flight entertainment (again - only so many books, games and puzzles to take in 5kg of hand luggage to entertain a toddler for 4 hours!). We used it in the apartment when getting ready to go out and once or twice - dare I say it - IN THE BUGGY whilst we could have dinner (DS had already eaten, was tired and fed up of the same books, puzzles and games).
But like I said, in moderation and special occasions, it will not do any long term damage. I wouldn't use an i-pad as an everyday solution to keeping a child entertained whilst walking with the buggy.

Junk food, I think that's how most of us responsibly use an iPad, they can be invaluable.

But not a solution to a buggy hating child, they will just expect the iPad until they get bored.

Nick - how's that any different to what I'm doing??

Entertaining a child on a flight is totally different to buying a buggy for a baby (sorry, 15 month old) with a section cut out especially for an iPad.........

Junk food said they used it while getting ready and then 'in a buggy in a restaurant'.

Where's your judgement now?

For her now two year old. I didn't quote her post word for word but we have (mostly) all done that to make a flight more pleasant.

Look, I can't be bothered arguing with you about it. You think you are right to put your baby two feet away from an iPad and I think that's ridiculous.

Let's agree to disagree