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AIBU?

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Original poster

Wwyd. Would you buy a kindle fire for a 2 year old?

240 replies

UmbongoUnchained · 20/07/2016 08:16

Just out of interest.

OP posts:
Original poster
UmbongoUnchained · 22/07/2016 18:58

I will find any excuse for a new gadget Grin

OP posts:
Huldra · 22/07/2016 20:08

I have been having this discussion with my husband we can usually find an excuse to buy a new gadget. Recently we both muse that it feels like we should be getting new toys but can't think what Sad Grin

strayduck · 22/07/2016 20:11

If you do get the kids Kindle version

Alisvolatpropiis · 22/07/2016 20:32

No I wouldn't but we all make different parenting choices.

TheUnsullied · 22/07/2016 20:44

And who else is going to teach her to read when I'm in the pub?

Careful Umbongo, some of the people who think playing on a tablet stops all other play indefinitely may think you're serious! Grin

Original poster
UmbongoUnchained · 22/07/2016 20:49

I'm deadly serious. I'm 22 weeks pregnant and deserve a few tequilas after a long day at work Grin

In all seriousness though it's been fantastic. Her Russian is coming along much better by hearing a native speaker on the tablet. She only really see's my husband at weekends as he leaves early and comes home late so she wasn't speaking it enough with him. But but now she can spend 20 minutes in the evening on the tablet with the programmes and it's coming more naturally to her.

OP posts:
TheUnsullied · 22/07/2016 20:59

DD kept herself occupied playing a game on her tablet while we were doing the big shop today. I'm wondering if the judgemental looks I got would reduce or increase if I'd let her cry in frustration or run around untamed instead. Then I remembered that I did a massive shop with a very active 2 year old (who's getting her back teeth in) without a huge tantrum.

Original poster
UmbongoUnchained · 22/07/2016 21:03

I was actually thinking about this today when I took my daughter out for dinner. She didn't have her tablet with her and was say nicely but I thought about if she kicked off would people judge more for her having a tantrum or playing on a tablet? I reckon tantrum.

OP posts:
Artandco · 22/07/2016 21:27

Her Russian is coming on? You only bought it yesterday!

ShyOyster · 22/07/2016 21:31

My 3yo has a kindle fire. I don't care what people think about it. It gets used on flights and at the hairdresser. Our last flight (just two hours but still could havd been horrible) was mid afternoon, too early for DS to have a nap before. I was dreading it. Tablet sorted it, 2 hours of some silly kiddy games. It meant we got to our destination without me wanting to jump out of the plane on the way...

FasterThanASnakeAndAMongoose · 22/07/2016 21:38

Christ on a bendy bus! No.

Original poster
UmbongoUnchained · 22/07/2016 22:19

As in her pronunciation has improved. She's not quite Tchaikovsky level yet Grin

OP posts:
purplefizz26 · 22/07/2016 22:34

My 2 year old has her own Kindle Fire for kids. And I don't give a shit what anyone thinks about that Smile

I have an expensive iPad that I don't want breaking it covered in sticky fingerprints. The fire comes in a child friendly case and is replaced by Amazon if broken by a kid so no issues there.

It is fab for long car journeys, entertaining her (on mute) in restaurants if she is restless, and yes she watches the odd cartoon on there. She mainly does puzzles, jigsaws, number/alphabet games and 'paint' games. She knows much of the alphabet and can count to 20 through playing games together on it,

She doesn't mither to use it, to her it is just another toy and doesn't make a fuss over it. She probably spends about a maximum of hour a day on it, spread out in little bursts of ten minutes here, five minutes there etc...

She has tons of books and toys, craft stuff, paints, play doh, dressing up outfits, everything, we go on walks, to playgroups, she isn't deprived of being creative or learning through play.

The world we live in today is full of amazing technology and we should embrace it, not act like it is something to be ashamed of if you let your kid use them!

Each to their own, of course, but I personally don't understand all the 'screen time' fuss. As long as it is handled age appropriately and they there shouldn't be an issue.

JustPoppingIn · 23/07/2016 07:16

Personally I don't see any benefits of my DS3 using a tablet. I don't judge others for their choices, but it is not for us.

When my DS was 2 he could count to 20 tablet free and he is slowly learning his letters, but there is no rush.

I don't think using a tablet will make my DS more school ready then a child who has had access to one.

JustPoppingIn · 23/07/2016 07:31

Sorry. That last sentence should read...

I don't think my DS will be less school ready then a child who has access to a tablet.

soundsystem · 24/07/2016 15:26

My not quite two-year-old has an iPad mini (granted I didn't buy it, I won it, but if I didn't I would be thinking about getting her some sort of tablet). She loves books, splashing in puddles, mini beasts and all that stuff. It's not one or the other. It's just another thing that's fun, and she learns from. She uses it for around 20 minutes a day, and usually puts it down herself in favour of a real book after a few stories.

As she's not quite two, she can't read, and so she uses the "read to me" option on the cbeebies app. It tests comprehension at the end (asks a question and she taps the picture that corresponds with the answer) and it's genuinely astonishing how much she takes in. I wouldn't have realised that just reading to he myself (if asked her questions she wouldn't have the vocab to answer.)

Lymmmummy · 24/07/2016 19:07

No

Age 5 and above if necessary - as soon as they get them they can be the devils work and very addictive I would put off buying them as long as pos - I managed until 5.5 and I also,limit it quite severely to weekends and only for short periods - if I had known what I know now I would have tried to make it to 6. It is almost inevitable they will have them and in principle I don't object or judge those whose younger kids have them but as a parent I know they are a double edged sword they can make life easier in some ways but harder in others - I really think starting at 2 is not a good idea

Hulababy · 24/07/2016 19:18

Do what you feel is right for you and your child

Some (many?) Mumsnet parents are often very anti technology for children of any age and many also seem to think that technology and other forms of okay and interactivity are exclusive of one another.

As to why some feel the need to judge other people's choices in there - well, that's parents for you. Some always feel the need to judge something.

I can see why some parents may chose to have a separate tablet for their child rather than share theirs.
I can see why some parents are happy to let their child use a tablet in different situations.
I can see why some parents may not want their child to use a tablet at all.

Technology can sit very happily along side other forms of toys. It can sit happily alongside books, colouring, craft, imaginative play, playing outside, traditional forms of learning, etc. Of course it can. Anyone who thinks it can't - really?!?! If a child likes books a lot does it mean they can't then play a game or do a jigsaw as well? It's the same.

But at the end of the day - you choose. It's your child.

Mantaforce · 06/05/2018 20:47

I thought dinosaurs were extinct. As long as you’re not using it to substitute parenting then what exactly is the problem? My two year old likes to have a go on my phone to play the CBeebies app usually just before tea time. Stop being cheap skates and buy one

Metoodear · 06/05/2018 20:48

No

kitkatsky · 06/05/2018 20:48

It's the best tablet for kids imo- cheap and easy to use and great apps etc, but I think 2 is a bit young personally

SideOrderofSprouts · 06/05/2018 20:49

No. Children should be playing with toys not technology at that age.

Sammysquiz · 06/05/2018 20:50

This is a zombie thread Angry

mirime · 06/05/2018 21:00

My DS was about three when I bought him a Kindle fire - he'd already been using an old one and it had run out of space and didn't have expandable memory.

He doesn't use it that much, but it's been a godsend on long journeys as it keeps him entertained - we stick a film on it, there's games, and he has some ebooks as well - a couple of Hairy McClary books and a few others that were cheap that I can read to him. It's just one easy thing I can pop in my bag.

Now he has an old SIM-less mobile for playing Pokémon Go on as well, he doesn't do anything else with it.

DH and I are gamers and like technology so DS is going to see us using it and want to join in, as long as it's in moderation and he does other stuff as well I think it's fine.

altiara · 06/05/2018 21:06

No I wouldn’t, they’d break it and then I’d have to be cross at myself because what kind of idiot buys something like that for a 2 year old.
I did consider buying the children’s kindle when DCs were younger (but older than 2) even though it cost much more than the kindle fire. I didn’t want them to own an expensive looking gadget because then anyone’s iPad/phone etc was free for grabs to touch as it could be theirs. I wanted them to respect expensive looking gadgets and only touch their plastic stuff that was theirs (irrelevant of price).
And I agree, Kids don’t need to learn this technology early on, they can learn it in 5 minutes at any age. I remember DS when he was 1 swiping my DMs phone to look at photos as if it was a smartphone! (It wasn’t). I don’t think anyone had showed him, it was just intuitive to touch it and see if you could see something else (but I like the idea that he might be good at tech at secondary school!)