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Original poster

Tablet for 3 year old? Too young?

102 replies

totallycluelessoverhere · 17/12/2018 14:29

DH wants to buy our 3 year old a tablet for Christmas. Possibly the amazon kids one. Is this too young to have a tablet of his own?
And does anybody have any preference over which kids tablet is the best in the market. We won’t be spending more than £100 on it.

OP posts:
AnnaNimmity · 17/12/2018 17:50

yes it's too young. Leave it for a few years so you still have something left to buy!

My 6 yo doesn't have one yet and has no interest in one.

HJWT · 17/12/2018 18:11

My DD has the amazon kids tablet and she's TWO!!! Ahhhhh OMG shoot me I'm such a bad mum.... she also has a speech delay and the apps out speech therapist recommend have brought her speech on tremendously, as long as you limit screen time and make sure the games are educational then it's fine.

The amazon fire for kids is great, I smashed the screen 🥵 and they send a replacement next day for free !!!

Bigonesmallone3 · 17/12/2018 18:12

@HJWT
Here here!

paxillin · 17/12/2018 18:14

Would be too young for my taste by about 5 or 6 years.

small2018 · 17/12/2018 18:20

Agree with @MarilynSlumroez

Too young. My DS is 4 and doesn't own one, I let him use my iPad occasionally when I need him to stay in one place and by occasionally I mean not even once a month!

Long car journeys - he sleeps in the car.

Plenty of other toys, games and puzzles they can be entertained with at this age!

AlexaShutUp · 17/12/2018 18:21

There are so many lovely toys you can buy for a three year old. Why not save the tablet until they are old enough to really appreciate it?

Original poster
totallycluelessoverhere · 17/12/2018 18:26

Long car journeys - he sleeps in the car.

I wish mine would sleep in the car. Even the one year old stays awake on our twice weekly long journeys.

I’m still undecided. It seems a split on people saying too young vs not too young. I will look at the research and discuss with DH.
Grandad is gifting each of the kids £100 for Christmas and wants us to buy something rather than save the money (he is not well enough to go shopping himself and doesn’t know how to use the Internet) so we will have a look at all possible options.

OP posts:
Fashionista101 · 17/12/2018 18:29

It's the way the world is going. Technology! Get with the times guys or you'll be left behind! My DS has an iPad (super restricted) and some of the apps are fantastic and he loves to learn on it. If used sensibly they are fantastic!

Original poster
totallycluelessoverhere · 17/12/2018 18:33

The apps he uses on my iPad and at schools are fantastic fashionista. He has learned a lot from using it, I just worry about the research which says acreennuse is negative at this age. I haven’t riledmitnour though

OP posts:
Original poster
totallycluelessoverhere · 17/12/2018 18:33

Ruled it out

OP posts:
tynext · 17/12/2018 18:33

I guess it’s a personal choice.

I see no problem with it as long as used in moderation. Plenty of toddlers have a tablet but still spend most of their time playing outdoors, riding their bikes/scooters, going to toddler groups and playing with toys at home.

Fashionista101 · 17/12/2018 18:38

I think everything in moderation is fine :)

SheldonandPenny · 17/12/2018 18:42

There's a negative impact on screen time for us all. It's magnified for under 5s. I would wait until 7 or so. It really is not necessary. Fear of missing out can be a common motivation with tablets, but true learning is a social process. Dc will learn more from you and dp at 3 whatever others say. A nursery should not be using iPads for 2 yr old's for.more than a few minutes. What's in the EYFS about IT?. Imaginative play and language development can be negatively impacted at this age. It can become very easy to use them as childminding devices, whatever the original intentions were. Children don't stay 3 for long and they have so much fascination with people at this age that can quickly be dulled by bright, shiny, flashing games. Please don't do it. A 3yr old needs contact with people first and foremost, learning to play more imaginatively and alongside others.

MarilynSlumroe · 17/12/2018 20:40

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Sexnotgender · 17/12/2018 20:43

Far too young. DD got an iPad at 8 only because she spent so much time in hospital.

3 is crazy!

Cheesycheesytwist · 17/12/2018 20:45

Far too young imo. I feel really sorry for small children I see with screens, just so unnecessary and bad for their development. Lazy parenting a lot of the time I think

Acopyofacopy · 17/12/2018 20:45

Please don’t do it. We have the first generation of kids who has screens from birth coming through to secondary school, and the difference in behaviour and social skills compared to previous years is quite shocking.

TheBaltictriangle · 17/12/2018 21:29

Yes too young, once they're older they'll be on it like zombies for hours. Get them proper traditional toys st this age so they can learn to play & interact with real kids. I'm saying this as a parent who is struggling to limit screen time with her kids. Delay it as long as you can op, I wish we did.

SatsukiKusakabe · 17/12/2018 21:50

The thing that holds me off is where do you go from there? My 7 year old is excited by the idea of getting his own tablet one day, but he’s still of an age where he appreciates toys, so making the most of that as it won’t always be the case. I think looking forward to something and being ready to appreciate its value when you get it adds to the enjoyment of things and I don’t want them to miss out on that by getting things too early.

PodgeBod · 17/12/2018 22:37

My brother got my DD the Amazon kids tablet last Christmas a few weeks before she turned 3. She absolutely loves it and we do have to restrict it or she would want to be on it all the time. That said I do think it's a good thing to have, and I like playing the games on it with her.

Whyisitsodifficult · 17/12/2018 22:57

SheldonandPenny wise, wise words. It makes me feel so sad seeing babies strapped in pushchairs glued to a screen not a clue as to what is going on around them. This will come back and bite a lot of parents on the bum! Poor kids.

EyUpOurKid · 17/12/2018 23:12

My two year old has one, uses it in the car when all else fails and for half an hour in the morning when he wakes up and I'm coming round. Couldn't give less of a shit about it generally but does come in handy.

Original poster
totallycluelessoverhere · 17/12/2018 23:30

From a zombie point of view, is half an hour on a tablet worse than half an hour watching kids tv?

OP posts:
AutoFilled · 18/12/2018 05:01

DC2 has the amazon kids tablet at 3yo too. It’s a good tablet and you can set profiles with age so content is targeted.

AutoFilled · 18/12/2018 05:03

I don’t see a problem because the kids doesn’t watch TV really. They prefer their own shows on the tablet. We limit screen time too.