Introducing babies to tablets

[HappyCaroline]

Hey all, I'm looking for practical advice about how to introduce babies and toddlers to tablets and devices. I don't know of any resources or devices aiming to make this transition safer for very young children. Below is a summary of my thoughts so far:

• I hate the idea of my child living on a tablet / becoming addicted to flashy screens. Since 3 months old he's been obsessed and so I deliberately never treat it as a toy and try not to let him see us using our phones.

• I work in IT and data so I think it is lunacy to cut him off from access to electrical devices. I'd like him to learn valuable life skills and see devices as a tool instead of become a vegetable in front of them.

• I don't want to give him access to cocomelon etc but I'm also aware there's lots of things I would "never do" as a parent which we ended up doing to stay sane. So I want to know what I can do besides give up and play cartoons on a tablet.

• I want to know about how to make electrical devices less addictive or if there are things which can bridge the gap until he's older. Like a dumb tablet for babies or baby apps which mimic his other counting/ABC toys.

DD is two and a half and the only time she's had a tablet is on a long-haul flight, for a couple of hours, when we borrowed my goddaughter's tablet (and immediately gave it back after the holiday). She doesn't use any screens other than watching TV. She doesn't know how to swipe or to click on screens and long may it last.

I've never had a tablet (I'm in my 40s); I can't see the point as I have an iPhone which has always done what I needed.

I will be resisting any tablets or other devices for as long as possible.

Our children won’t be allowed access to any screens until this is required for school.

No, banning does not encourage "secrecy". It is good parenting.

For a child under 2 the TV is just useless. The world is so exciting for them. Hand them a spoon and a pan, some pincers, a whisk, some coasters, an aeropress. They can be fascinated with many things at that age. TV time is absurd.

Neither of mine showed any interest in tablets before the age of 3 tbh, certainly not as babies.

I agree. Extraordinary.

This thread must be a wind up.

@HappyCaroline it's good for children to be bored and learn how to create their own fun. A tablet in each room and wearable is insane!

Have you mistyped this? Throw out the books and toys?

Why would you ever put as a title... "introducing baby to tablet" and think that there would be a different response?

"Toddler" would have still gotten you a bad response but "baby" is just a bit wild tbh ...

OP - dont fall into the trap of thinking you need to have your baby/toddler/preschooler using ipads etc "to prepare them for the modern world" - its totally not true.

My two didnt at all until they were 6+ and from then on spent maybe an hour (but not more) a few times a week using a laptop. They had their own aged 17. Within weeks of having their own they were both already far more proficient than Ive ever been. They also didnt have mobile phones until they were 17 - another decision I dont regret.

Many of us didn't have electronic devices until well into adulthood. We do just fine!

You're talking like it's something you must do. You don't. Babies and toddlers are best learning from the people and the world around them. It's so sad when they are In a buggy or restaurant staring at a screen. What happened to talking ? What happened to looking around and taking in their environment It's terrible really.

This.

This has got to be a wind-up?

I'm guessing you're intending to "home school" your child?

My SIL lay her baby on the gym at 10ams old and propped an iPad next to her saying she had to get used to it for education and distraction . 10days old. 10. It was crazy

So many sharks being jumped recently....

Our standard out and about bag always has a couple of clipboards with a wodge of plain paper and a bag of crayons/pens. The kids will happily draw if we're waiting in a cafe. We always have some books in there too, and I rotate them regularly to ensure they don't get bored of them.

We use tablets for very long journeys, and occasionally for educational games for the 5yo - schools sets some as homework, though I do wish they wouldn't.

I would strongly recommend not letting young kids anywhere near YouTube. Too much inane nonsense on it, it rewards short flashy videos which don't help develop attention span. Most of what we watch is CBeebies content via iPlayer.

This is either a wind up thread or clearly the OP didn’t like some of the answers given so got a bit defensive (and sarcastic!) I really have no idea why you would want opinions of giving a baby a tablet? Why did you include that in your title other than to cause controversy? Babies or ‘very young children’ as you say (and toddlers) DO NOT need tablets. Yes, you might give a toddler one on a long flight or occasionally but that’s different to regularly giving it to them.

Cocomelon is not good and neither is You Tube. Coming from a primary school teacher - please just don’t. What’s wrong with a bit of TV when they’re older and books!? No idea how a 3 month old can become obsessed with one unless they’re regularly put in front of it.

Honestly just wait and let him play on a tablet from 6/7 years old. He doesn’t need to learn it now and he has a lot of time to learn and it is quick to learn so there’s zero rush. I think it’s better to prioritise learning other skills before you encourage a sedentary activity with not much movement. It’s not only about the tablet skills it’s also about the things he is not learning because he is sat doing that as an activity.

I miss the Olden Days when I only had to guess whether the OP was on a total wind up, whether they were fishing for a DM slow-news-day story, or maybe they were looking for inspiration for characters for a crappy novel that would never get written.

Now we also have to guess whether this nonsense is some AI training data bollocks.

I'm going to start a campaign to have tablets provided on maternity wards, so that as soon as babies start to open their eyes they can watch YouTube.

@LochKatrine I'm in, could we also push for every baby to be allocated a smartphone at birth, loaded with apps so they get a head start with phone addiction too? Why wait I say.

Now, @Seas164 - you're forward thinking. The apps thing is brilliant. Possibly start with Amazon because we can get them into unfettered capitalism before they can talk.