What age did your kids get devices?

[Jelly837363]

Just as the title said really, what age did you let your kids have a tablet or a device like that?

My DD is still quite little but very interested in my phone and iPad so just wondering what the standard age for getting one was.

DD1 is 10 and does not have any device. I might consider getting her a phone for next September (she’ll be 11) but there will be conditions and monitoring attached.
She has access to Youtube on our TV in the living room.

DD2 is 2 and thinks my phone belongs to her, hence much howling at times.

Just before he turned 2.

They had a Kindle Fire at about 4 or 5 years old. It felt fine, and was easy enough to limit use.

I keep reading the title as ‘What age did your kids get divorces?’

DS is nearly 9 and has just been given my old iPad.

My DS is almost 4 and he has a tablet, he only has one game (Thomas the tank). He uses it really to watch things. He doesn’t spend much time on it but it’s there if we were to go on a long car journey (ha obviously not at the moment!) or a meal out with a long wait (ha again!!!)

My daughter was 8 when she got a kindle which was her first device. 14 now and has an ipad, laptop and TV, all of which she only got last year. She's also had a phone since she was 11, when she started going to school independently and out with her friends.
My younger daughter also got a kindle aged 8 and now has a phone and ipad too (aged12). She'll get a TV and laptop if she wants them at 14.
Youngest is just a baby so no worries yet. Looks like I might be getting him a device when he's younger than his sisters if the replies on here are anything to go by.

We just share devices in our house, nobody has one that is just theirs. I try to keep use to a minimum and they're not used daily. My two are both under 7 and they haven't asked for their own devices yet

My toddler has a tablet. It’s not the mum I thought I’d be, but I also didn’t think I’d be parenting in a pandemic where I’m not actually able to take her anywhere.

Just got them this xmas primarily for online schooling they are yr 3 and 5

DD 10 saved her birthday money for an iPhone when she was 9 so got a bit cornered with it iPad that Xmas, Youngest DS got one that Xmas too age 8 as he was the only one in the house with nothing, older kids had them from age 5 on as we were traveling a lot and it gave them something to do on planes etc.

Kindle Fires at 4 and 3...’app time’ is limited to about half an hour a day on normal school days. DH is a gamer and bought a Switch and all three of them play together (DSs are 8 and nearly 5) and they can both get a bit obsessed but if they lose the plot about it then app time is curtailed. No IT in bedrooms unless an adult is there too.

My DD had an iPod touch at 8 and a mobile phone aged 11.

She got a vtech in primary.
Mobile phone for secondary.

We got DD an Amazon tablet at 3 as we were just going into lockdown and I thought it would be useful. I didn’t want her to have one so young but realistically she used to just use my iPad for games so I was a bit in denial.

My dc1 had a laptop for schoolwork from 8, and got an iPad and phone at 11, for starting secondary. I think everyone else in the class had a phone by year 6, though.

Will be the same for DC2, but they do borrow their sibling's iPad, and my phone a lot more than dc1 did, mainly to play Minecraft together.

No screens in bedrooms, (and DH and I try to follow this too) - they do have smart speakers so they can have music and audiobooks in there though.

Dc1 8
Dc3 6
Dc3 4
Got younger with each child as wanted to be like sibling

DD used my iPad until she got my ancient iPhone 5 when she was 11. I don’t believe in kids under 10 having their own tech. I believe the reason DD has taken so bloody good care of her phone was because the iPad was always mine, which I allowed her to use. There were and still are rules about its use, not leaving it on the sofa etc.

iPads and other tech are great in small burst but they can get in the way of basic developmental skills and sadly they are often used to babysit kids.

My older ones got a hudl/kindle fire age 7 and an old phone when in year 6. They have iPads now as part of their secondary school scheme. Youngest age 6 has access to an iPad mini that I got as we went into the first lockdown so she could access online learning. She can't unlock it though, she has to ask me so she doesn't think it's 'hers'.

18 months because we were doing a lot of plane travel at that time and the iPad was the best way to ensure a hassle free flight! She’s 3 and uses it most days but not usually for more than 1 episode of something.

9

My DS got a kids kindle fire at 3.5 for a holiday that involved a long journey. He now only really uses it in the car which I don't mind. Alot of the games he plays are educational.

Had her first phone at 11, ipad at 15.

Doesn't seem to have done her any harm at all, probably the opposite.

that didn't work. 9 for a kindle fire, 11 for a phone. 12 for a laptop only because required by school. My youngest would have liked a tablet from age 7 and used older siblings devices if they could get away with it, until they had their own. Strict time limits on screen time and restrictions on content.

Ours had Nintendo DSs at 7.

Phones for 11th birthday (but not allowed in primary schools if their birthday was during Y6).

Tablets, iPods, etc. they bought themselves - youngest was in Year 4.

Laptop for school - 6th form.