My genuinely lovely in-laws keep 5yo dd for us on the odd day or two overnight during extended school breaks. During the last stay, while FaceTimeing, dd shows me her "new phone" which was actually my old one I'd lent to DMIL when her last one broke. She has since upgraded. Dd was very pleased with the gift. I wasn't best pleased but said nothing as thought it would be better to speak to them separately about how I don't think a 5yo needs an iPhone. But my silent nods and wide eyes and mmm-hmms when they were speaking should have gotten the message across. They then brought her back the next day with the phone in tow. They were very quick to say, content has been deleted, there is no SIM, only works on wifi, and with apps DPIL have put on it etc. They were working hard to convince me but could tell I was being politely unhappy about it (while being totally grateful they keep her saving us childcare)
I'm not happy about it as she already has an iPad which sometimes becomes a source of friction, as it's used as a treat for good behaviour.
I don't like the idea of giving her a phone at her age anyway, I think she is far too young and it could be a slippery slope. She's marching around telling everyone she has a phone. Never mind retinal issues watching videos on kids YouTube on a tiny screen. DFIL has it synced with his iTunes so I can't control it. A lot of reasons...
My DPiL and DH don't think it's a huge deal. They think it's no different to the iPad. However DH would certainly put up a united front with dd if I put my foot down. I expect my dpils would think I was being a bit mean.
I say, it's my phone anyway (or was!) and as we don't need it any more I would like to sell it and put it towards things dd really does need in her life.
I genuinely don't know if IABU here as everyone else is quite nonchalant about it, even DH who is the protective sort! Any Views please??