Kids and audiobooks

[Tinytottz]

Our kids are getting an audioplayer for Christmas but do people put a limit on how long their kids listen to audio books? We are currently at my parents and my DM is adamant that we must moderate it like with screens, DH thinks she's being ridiculous and thats its more like being read to and no one limits that. I noticed that some of the stories can last for hours. My kids can indeed spend an hour or two listening to a story on audible. What do others do?

I don't think you'd need to limit it, it is like being read to surely. Can't see any harm.

We allow unlimited when DC are home at weekends/holidays. My DD can quite happily take herself off and sit and draw/do crafts while listening to a book. The only 'rule' we have is that she goes to bed at 7/7:30 and must read until 8 unless she's exhausted and wants to go straight to sleep, she can't just go straight to audiobook. She probably has a bit of a dependency on them to fall asleep but it's never been a problem. Her teachers say her vocab is fab and while she reads a lot, I think most of it comes from the audiobooks.

My daughter got a yoto last Christmas and it’s never occurred to me to limit it. She mostly uses it to go to sleep (I would and have intervened if she’s still awake longer than I want because she’s for a new story and it’s just too interesting 😂), in the car (no whinging on journeys up to 1.5 hours now) and other random times. I would never put a limit on a child reading or listening to music and this is the same in my eyes. My daughter is 3 by the way.

We don't limit it, DS has a yoto player, he listened to a story in the bath earlier and will someone's have it on while he's playing. The TV is never on in our house unless we are specifically watching something. I don't see the harm in listening to stories. He also has done they call soundscapes, and loves them for imaginative play, so he had space sounds while building a mooncave (chairs and blankets with cushions inside) for an alien to live in, with DH last weekend. Someone's it gets a bit dark and he plays campfire Shiva when he's playing with his firestation and fire engines. I see no harm in it. It's not like screens. We also often have stories (or radio 4) on in the car

We listen to them for hours, we can draw, colour etc at the same time

Oh DS is just 4

Mine listen to audiobooks a lot. The only time I limit it is when I want some quiet!

Consuming stories is good, whether read or listened to.

I don't limit them, though sometime I hide a card for a bit as ds has a tendency to listen to the same one on repeat for days.

Currently with my phone, they can just go off and listen to them for an hour or two but usually they might make a den and just sit in it while they listen. For how long do others kids listen to their stories?

Just checked and today they listened for 2hrs 20mins to some story about a Christmas dinosaur. Ok, it was really rainy around here so they spent a lot of times indoors. Is that too much or ok?

I don't think audiobooks need limiting at all but I'm not keen on headphones all the time, especially when in the company of others

They don't have headphones, just take them up to their room

I wouldn't put an arbitary limit on an audio book. You can do other things while listening and it's very different to gaming or watching endless videos streaming.

I wouldn't cap listening time on music/ radio either.

Would it make a difference if my kids don't do anything else while listening to the stories. They will just sit there and listen. For an hour at a time.

I don't limit it except to put it away at bedtime and insist they join in normal family activities. But if they've been listening too long in their rooms I'd make them come down to do an activity together. If they were just listening to books for hours and not e.g. playing Lego or crafting, I wouldn't be happy.

We never put a limit on them - DS would listen for hours while he painted or pottered around. He's early 20s now and still uses them a lot, although he has his own Audible account now! I can't see why you would want to yank them away from something they were enjoying - what's your DM's reason for thinking it's necessary?

I wouldnt usually limit it. But its not like being read to properly by another person who is physically with you, engaging with you & the story. There's no pausing to talk about it or explain a word etc.
Its somewhere between being read to and watching tv. I do notice some children have a tendency to "zone out" quite a bit listening to audiobooks, its a very passive activity, its consumption of media with little interaction.

Dm thinks its just like watching TV esp. because the kids will just listen and not do anything else. They never really combine it with anything else