To get my 3yr old a tablet?

[Poptart4]

My 3 yr old sometimes plays toddler games on her sisters tablet. I've been thinking of getting her, her own tablet. A Vtech kids one. But I'm just not sure if this is too young to have a tablet? I would obviously monitor the amount of time she is on it, maybe 1hr per day maybe less definitely no more. I'm just not sure.

YABU - Shes too young
YANBU - Get her one

At the end of the day the Ops child is already borrowing the sisters tablet. Imagine the fights and squabbles when the sister wants it back.

Op I'd go for it, but I don't allow my kids to have YouTube or KidsTube too much unregulated stuff on there, cartoons, inc Barbies with very adult voice overs, homemade movies really not designed for kids.

My oldest got his for long journeys, LO because he'd been in hospital watching the same 6 cartoons on a leappad for 3 days, I decided a better tablet was needed, as 3 episodes was £10.

Oh there's not much to see out plane windows, nor is there much to see on rural roads in the dark evenings.

My two have had tablets since 3. Perfectly fine imo if you monitor them. Amazon do a kids one which is really good. Theres loads of educational games and things.

Thanks for all replies.

As it turned out yesterday dd ended up having an almighty tantrum after I took her sisters tablet off her. I've decided to hold off on the tablet now and pull right back on letting her use her sisters one.

I do think tablets can be great in moderation though. I'll re-look at it in another year.

I would say no. There's nothing wrong with little kids occasionally borrowing a parent or sibling's tablet to play games, but not often enough to merit having their own.

@Inim

No I wouldn’t, my 4 year old throws absolute fits over the stupid thing I wish I never gave him one at all. I had good intentions of being super strict with a screen time etc but it’s just so easy when you need to get stuff done to let it lapse.

This. Why introduce something into your lives that you have to monitor and enforce rules over? There are enough non negotiables. We have the oldest kinds in our peer group. Incredibly homogenous similar about bedtimes, food, education, risk, extra curricular, any parenting issue you can think of. Except screens because they weren’t around when mine until mine were early secondary. The grief and sheer energy of the parents of the younger ones is really noticeable.

Oldest kids that should be, I’m not describing some sort of clockwork screen.

[quote brittleheadgirl]@SusieBob
But how many people genuinely 'moderate' it properly?

Not a single parent has ever said 'I'm really sorry but he's on it all the time' Yet I see kids holding them in the car, round the supermarket, in restaurants etc and have seen in my own family appallingly over use of tablets.

It's not unusual for us to do home visits before a child starts school and there to be hardly any toys in the house or for a child not to look up from their gadget when we arrive.
This is a huge and mind boggling change to young children's lives and you are very very very naive if you think it's not impacting on their development.

I work with 4 year olds, tablet and phone use is affecting the muscle development in their hands, this is a new thing and not something we would have encountered a few years ago.
How can I ignore it?[/quote]

I can only speak for myself, but my 3yo isn't that bothered about the tablet. She's rather play dolls, draw/colour, go swimming. It's only used as emergency entertainment (getting hair done or if she wakes up before me and I'm shattered).

Most kids would rather climb a tree than watch YouTube. The ones who choose the tablet are the ones who aren't given the choice of going outside or other activities - ie. very busy or disinterested parents.

My daughter also isn't that bothered about the tablet. She is 4. She has a 30 minute time limit but often asks to turn it off after 15 or 20 minutes

Lolz at the idea of a two year old telling you about their day at nursery@Caffeinemonster, it's not nursery it's very close family childcare.
So is it better in your opinion to let a child stare at Peppa Pig or speak to her when you haven't seen each other for over 8 hours?

My not quite 2 year old can tell me in basic terms about her day. She loves telling me what she ate for lunch or what she played in the car home when her grandparents have looked after her.

@Nonmaquillee

I don’t understand all the posters who say - but what about car trips / being stuck in traffic / waiting at the doctor / while I’m cooking dinner etc….the human race has survived millennia without being entertained 24/7. Why can’t children just sit in the car and stare out of the window? Why can’t they sit in the waiting room and have a chat with you? Why can’t they play on their own while you’re cooking dinner? Chat as you go around the supermarket?

If every bit of “in-between time” is filled with staring at a screen, how do small children learn resourcefulness and “making do” with what’s around them? Isn’t the world interesting enough?

Absolutely spot on.

YABU, do not do this.

My 4.5 year old and year old share a children's kindle. It's been fine. Only use it for car journies or my daughter's hospital appointments.

They still love doing puzzles, their bikes, painting etc

@Nonmaquillee I was in a&e for 3.5hrs the other day. We chatted, did colouring and sticking but the tablet came in very handy!

sorry mine should say 3 year old not year old!

DD (6) has one, the Amazon one. She had it at 3. We have boundaries around screen time and always have. She seems to be doing well at school, has lots of other interests, very active.
The key is to make it work for you and stick to your rules.

Well I'm clearly a terrible parent as we got DS one at 1yr old. We bought the Amazon Kids Fire to take on holiday with us to use on the plane. We used it to play Cocomelon and nursery rhymes on. A year later he used it when we went to Paris and played some matching games and colour games on it.

He's now 3.5 and we have never ever had a single tantrum or issue with its use. It's not viewed as special or forbidden and DS maybe uses it for 10mins 1-2 times a week.

As long as you're confident in your own parenting skills there's no reason why technology can't be a part of a child's leisure time.

My DS is super bright, excellent communication and language skills, attends a child-led music specialist nursery, reads every day, loves nature, exploring, swimming, animals. We do so much with him, I am absolutely certain that 10-20mins a week on a tablet does not undo any of the other stuff he does.

I am absolutely certain that 10-20 mins a week How do you manage only 10 minutes a week ? What's that one episode of Peppa pig every 3 days.

It's like when people say they only let kids have 10 minutes on a computer game, loading up my DS' Minecraft game takes about 4 minutes so I doubt think he'd get any play in the remaining 6 mins.

I agree with others that the casual use of tablets or mobiles to get through the day is the issue. In the waiting room or car or restaurant, is literally teaching children to bypass life. Fine to use a tablet as an hour's downtime every now and then but less fine to hang on to it as some kind of security blanket to avoid ever having the hint of boredom.

I agree wholeheartedly about TV v tablets too and there is a marked difference in mood when my kids watch TV or play on tablets. We bought 3 kindle fires for lockdown. I don't think we have had our money's worth yet. They use them about an hour a week if that.

There is more to life than staring at a screen.

I was also struck by the poster who said they had to buy a tablet because the child was wrecking their mobile phone.

How about saying no?

….I let my 22 month old watch my iPad :o it keeps her still enough to do her hair and from melting down when washing her hair in tub. It’s for distraction only but she loves it to watch ‘diggers for kids’ and does ask for it at times.
She’s at nursery all day or in-laws so doesn’t get it much at all. But I’m scared now I’m stunting her :o not sure how it’s that much different from tv though.

YANBU.

Mumsnet is weird.

My 2 and 3yr olds both have an iPad. Had them since they were babies!

My DD is almost 7 and has access to my tablet but I wouldn't get her her own. It is handy if I need a bit of sleep in the morning or keep her awake in the car on longer journeys. She's very sociable, plays with her toys loads and is doing well at school so I don't think it's done her any harm. There's some good games you can get too for role play which we play together. To be honest I think tablets are ok, but I wish my DD hadn't discovered you tube at times!

Meant to be shocked face instead of grin emoji…

Please take this in the way it is intended but as her parent i think you are more than capable of making the right decision for your daughter and certainly much more than anyone on here is. We all parent differently and that doesn't make one parent right and another parent wrong. None of my six children had their own tablets at age 3 but that was just my personal choice. I think it's good that you say you would only allow your daughter on the tablet for short periods of time and you could have set days she isn't allowed to use it at all but again that's only my opinion and i'm sure some parents let their three year old use their tablets as much as they choose. If YOU think it would be good for her and she would enjoy it then that's all that matters. There are plenty of educational games for children so it may become helpful in aiding her learning. Technology is not a bad thing, people misusing it or overusing it can be.