"Ipad Kid" ??

[Becc91]

Worried I'm going to be grilled for this 🙈... But has anyone else noticed that whenever you go out to eat there always seems to be a sticky toddler with an i pad?!
After seeing this for a 3rd time this week , complete with spaghetti hoops on the screen , a nasty cough and vacant parents who could care less - one of whom was ON THEIR PHONE 😱 i made what I thought was a reasonable request

to turn off the loud video of dancing fruits , only to be looked at like I'd grown a 3rd head?!?! DS (19) typically embarrassed- says I was out of order , but I just can't understand the laziness of it all.Is it just me?😲

@LoveFridaynight obviously they do that but the other children need attention and time too and when their younger sister needs constant care and supervision, putting her in front of a screen to calm down and enable them to eat in peace is not the end of the world. She wears headphones she's harming nobody so I don't see the issue

@StrawberryWater we had this today. Even took my daughters bike and cycled off on it round the garden and kept asking for a chip. Watch your own kids ffs

Literally all the more reason to be speaking to her. Non verbal does not mean non listening. How do non verbal kids become verbal if you don't chat to them?

if kids are going ballistic in a restaurant take them outside (or go home) till they calm down
why should others have to put up with kids buggering about getting in the way

How did people manage before iPads?

Probably actually had to parent...

I couldn’t give less of a shit if other people let their kids go on the iPad while they eat dinner out personally. “Lazy parents” meh, who cares as long as everyone gets to eat in peace? But I agree with others- volume needs to be down. I feel the same about people who talk way too loud.

It is your choice to take your child to a restaurant with an iPad playing and no headphones. That’s not ‘being kind’ to other ND children around you who may struggle with noise sensitivity, those who are hearing impaired and those who just want to enjoy a meal without the tinny sound of an iPad playing right next to them.

@TreeCake read my response below. Of course they talk to her ffs! But sometimes believe it or not, both parents and children need a break 🙄

How do you expect your children to learn if you stick them on iPads? They’ll only learn by doing. Children aren’t born with the skills, they have to been taught. You teach them. In the examples here, the parents are inconsiderate to everyone around them.

I agree. Some are.

But there are also a lot of judgemental people just sticking the boot in purely because they’ve seen a kid on an iPad not because it’s affecting them in any way.

My dd can eat perfectly well in a restaurant and is generally well behaved. But she gets bored. And if colouring and stickers and books aren’t cutting it I will give her an iPad. People looking at me might tut and presume I’m lazy and this is how she spends her days and how she’ll be developmentally delayed blah blah blah. It’s just not the case.

I judge kids on iPads while out for dinner, or doing anything in public really. I find it really sad. I stand by that opinion.

Let her be bored?

Then people would complain about her whining or becoming silly and irritable. No win situation.

Let them complain. Or chat to her and distract her. At that age she should be able to behave for half an hour. My 5 year old can sit quietly through a very dull, very long hour of church without kicking off.

I don’t think you can or should ever base opinions on other people’s parenting after a fleeting interaction. I had a thought on this the other day as my partner and I were driving back from a UK break with our 16 month old. It was a two hour trip back and I’d sat in the back with our little one for the journey, and for an hour and 55 minutes I’d sang to him, chatted to him and played with him in the back. 5-10 minutes before we arrived home I was completely done in, he was getting bored and restless and I whacked my phone out and played him some YouTube videos for the last few minutes. Anyone passing us in the car at that point would’ve probably had the same perception as you without the slightest idea of what the reality was. I really wouldn’t judge other people!

are you joking? I really hope so… 😅

Haha same

I find it a bit sad to see sometimes but appreciate it’s only a snapshot of their day.

What bugs me is when it’s played out loud and no headphones. I get really bothered by certain noises such as loud tinny music. Why does my experience have to be ruined? Restaurants shouldn’t be filled with people playing content on loud speaker.

Agree. As long as the sound isn’t on then it’s not an issue.

I don’t understand why some seem to think stickers or colouring books are somehow superior- it’s still a case of trying to entertain toddlers who don’t have the attention span to sit quietly or nicely for a dinner.

Just do what you have to and don’t worry about everyone else.

I don’t think I actually mentioned her age…

And also a point- if you don’t have children who are non-verbal/autistic/SEN please don’t tell parents who do what they should be doing, what would be best for their child. You have NO idea. And trust me no SEN mum is ever going to take you seriously anyway.

Agree and I’ve never ruined anyone else’s meal. His iPad also isn’t blasting and like I said he goes out to eat once in a blue moon. He’s been taken home on numerous occasions when not coping as I too believe his autism doesn’t trump anyone else’s peace. My comment was simply a response to someone coming over and asking him to not be on his iPad which would be none of there business 😊

Yes the sound isn’t blasting. To be fair I skimmed the op and didn’t realise it was the sound blasting that was the issue. I wouldn’t allow the volume to be heard by everyone else.

Agree. As long as the sound isn’t on then it’s not an issue.

In 99.9.% of these cases it is the sound from these devices that's causing the problem that people are being told to mind their own business about...

Not sure why readers on here can't see that....it's the noise not the fact a child's on a device, I genuinely give no shits about that, having to listen would be a different matter.

The sheer volume at which they're playing Cocomelon, Peppa pig or whatever the in thing is now is the whole issue and when it's being forced upon others to listen to due to the loudness, as let's be honest we aren't the one's in control of the volume button, you've took it upon yourself and made it that person business.

Whilst I'm aware that Americans say "could care less", they are still wrong. It doesn't make sense and they need to stop it.