How to Limit What a Toddler Can Do When You Hand Over Your iPhone or iPad

[uBetchya]

It really surprises me how quickly kids these days are able to grasp and understand technology. When my niece was six months old, she was already able to identify my Apple Watch and able to navigate around the UI using swipes with her fingers whenever I carried her. Now she's almost 2 and whenever she visits, she instantly runs into my home office, sits herself on my office chair, and begins attempting to unlock my iMac with the keyboard and mouse. But most of the time she just sits there and enjoys my Memoji making all of the silly faces from the login screen in Monterey (underrated feature by the way). However, I agree with everyone here, we shouldn't push this technology onto them so quickly, before they're able to understand how to properly use it and protect them from all the bad things that are out there.

 

[ignatius345]

Totally agree about the "keeping toddlers off of screens" advice. But as the parent of a toddler I will say this: you have to also walk the walk yourself around them. If the kid sees you sucked into a screen they're gonna want to find out what all the fuss is about. That's how they learn, by imitating. They don't do what you say, they do what you do. It's effing hard to do these days when so many aspects of our lives are mediated through our devices, but the more you can model offline activities, the better.

Now, that said, an endlessly swirling and changing interactive slab of bright pixels and sounds pushes a lot of buttons that light up our primate brains and those of our kids, which is why we're even talking about this in the first place.

 

[JosephAW]

We tried using Guided Access for my 88-year-old mother as a phone only device but when you make a call a separate app launches which can cause confusion and we also had trouble with it locking the screen after a time out so we went to a flip phone that uses speed dial buttons.

Apple needs to open up third-party phone apps or have some very simple interface where only favorites show up with pictures of people in a tile format.

 

[Scott Robinson]

I wonder how many of these passing judgement and promoting a zero-screen utopia are actually parents. Like everything in this life it is about balance. Try doing your day job and be a good parent during a pandemic with multiple lockdowns and self-isolations without the help of screen time… and two libraries worth of books and wooden toys and parents undivided attention etc. Some very absolutist thinking here.

 

[Alpine1876]

How about not giving your toddler a table tor a phone. That is the correct answer.

 

[ChromeAce]

The iPad has another built in feature for toddlers: lock it with a passcode and take them outside.

 

[Alpine1876]

I wonder how many of these passing judgement and promoting a zero-screen utopia are actually parents. Like everything in this life it is about balance. Try doing your day job and be a good parent during a pandemic with multiple lockdowns and self-isolations without the help of screen time… and two libraries worth of books and wooden toys and parents undivided attention etc. Some very absolutist thinking here.

Three kids here. No screen time for any until they were 3 years old. Only small amount of television thereafter. No phones, no tablets. All doing wonderful in school and at home. Can't say that for the many others who cannot behave unless there is a screen in their face.

Phones and tablets pull your child from the world around them and into an addictive 2d space. Once inside they can barely look away, removing opportunities for boredom and empty time. Thus, their not challenged to find new and interesting ways to play and create. Ask any veteran teacher of young children. Something has drastically changed in many of them. I believe early childhood screen time is root cause.

Absolutist thinking is exactly what we need. Especially for 3 and under.

 

[topdrawer]

Parents: don't give your toddler a tablet.

this. it's not that hard. i kept my son off tablets and phones till he was 13.

 

[ikramerica]

Preschooler Screen Time Linked to Attention Problems

Parents of preschoolers know it’s challenging to keep their kids from watching screens all day long. Now, a recent study shows the more screen time little ones get, the more problems they have paying attention.

newsroom.clevelandclinic.org

There is tons of research.

Not sure about cause and effect though.

Children with attention issues may be more easily engaged by highly stimulating screens than slower less dynamic real home life.

 

[ikramerica]

this. it's not that hard. i kept my son off tablets and phones till he was 13.

It’s hard when schools ASSIGN ixl, iready, AR tests etc. And since our kids don’t get a lot of screen play time otherwise, it takes the longer to navigate the apps and the work because they are less “fluent.” It may not be a good thing for their brains, but tech fluency at a younger and younger age is becoming a requirement.

 

[RC Mike]

I wonder how many of these passing judgement and promoting a zero-screen utopia are actually parents. Like everything in this life it is about balance. Try doing your day job and be a good parent during a pandemic with multiple lockdowns and self-isolations without the help of screen time… and two libraries worth of books and wooden toys and parents undivided attention etc. Some very absolutist thinking here.

It's not that hard. I've got a 20-month old. He doesn't get any screen time and no TV. There's actually absolutely nothing hard about that at all. People make all sorts of lame excuses, but the research on screen time and early childhood is startlingly clear. If you can't do the simple things like this for your kids, why did you have them?

On one had parents who just don't care don't bother me. My little guy will have some pretty strong advantages over those other kids, and that's not a bad thing. On the other hand, we've all got a duty to make sure our society makes good choices for our collective benefit.

 

[BaracksPhallusPalace]

It's been proven that screens are dangerous for kids and it's highly recommended not to show them before at least 3 years old.

DON'T FOLLOW THIS ARTICLE's ADVICE --> JUST DON'T GIVE ANY DEVICE TO TODDLERS.

Your kids will thank you.

Yep. When I see parents giving their 2 year olds a tablet or phone to play with, I immediately think they are unfit.

 

[ignatius345]

We tried using Guided Access for my 88-year-old mother as a phone only device but when you make a call a separate app launches which can cause confusion and we also had trouble with it locking the screen after a time out so we went to a flip phone that uses speed dial buttons.

Apple needs to open up third-party phone apps or have some very simple interface where only favorites show up with pictures of people in a tile format.

My grandmother (well over 90 now) had for years a Jitterbug flip phone that was pretty much perfect: large, easy to hold form factor, big clear buttons with emergency speed dials highlighted, replaceable battery.

Much to my chagrin, I went to visit recently and found they'd "upgraded" her to a ****ing touch screen model, which is probably the worst thing I can think of.

 

[Sir_Macs_A_Lot]

Why would a toddler need an iPad?

To get his/her pron fix? Hopefully not! (Though kids are starting earlier and earlier these days.)
All kidding aside, I have seen my fair share of parents handing their toddler one of these expensive devices...just to have that kid hurl it at the wall.

 

[marclondon]

I bought a game on an iPad for my kids' birthday (they are twins). Cost about $5. But I stupidly left my credit card details live. Three days later the bank calls and says do I know $1500 worth of new purchases from Apple are on the card... All from in-app purchases. Thankful this was in the early days of such mishaps and Apple gave me the money back. Lesson learned.

 

[MysticCow]

Not sure about cause and effect though.

Toddler brains are NOWHERE NEAR fully developed and will make new connections based on what the toddler is doing. All that visual time on the screens literally wires up the visual pieces of said child's brain and will make further connections at the expense of about anything else if that area is often used.

They literally go to PreK with that part wired up and wanting that kind of "fix" (for lack of a better term) at all possible moments. This leads to attention issues, behavior issues, and dependence on the iDevice for dopamine. The dependence on the iDevice then becomes cannon fodder for teen body issues and teen suicide rates.

 

[bbeagle]

How about not giving a toddler screen time. Instead give them actual toys to play with and develop motor skills?

How about BOTH? In an hour, I can give my kid 20 minutes of screen time, 20 minutes of alone play time with physical toys, and 20 minutes of interactive playtime with me. ALL are allowed to happen.

 

[bbeagle]

Not a parent, but has to do with kids. Toddlers, in this fragile age, should only interact with peers and toys, no screen time, no tablet or whatever. I see many parents that are using the cellphone to keep their kids quiet, as a reward for something they did well...
We should definitely have more understanding of the effects this screen will have on the future generation and their mental health but looks that the majority don't care much, not yet...

You obviously aren't a parent, especially one who has to work from home with kids running around. If my kid is sitting on the couch near me, I can pay attention. I can't work while my kid is running around the house like a monkey breaking things.

 

[techno-Zen]

At this point, the research is pretty damning. Only an idiot allows a baby or toddler any sort of screen time.

Give me a break. My son is advanced in his class because we watch educational YouTube shows. My nieces all skipped grades as well. Don’t buy this stigma.

Be involved with your child. Don’t just hand them a tablet though.

 

[RC Mike]

Give me a break. My son is advanced in his class because we watch educational YouTube shows. My nieces all skipped grades as well. Don’t buy this stigma.

Be involved with your child. Don’t just hand them a tablet though.

Anecdote trumps peer-reviewed research? That's some pretty advanced thinking.

 

[MysticCow]

hand them a tablet.

This is what bad parents heard. Nothing else. I work with those exact parental types. This is what they would have heard.

 

[Kar98]

I don’t know any toddlers but if I did I sure as hell would not hand them a fragile $900 device.

 

[sideshowuniqueuser]

Tablets and other devices the only way now days? Geez, what did people do before 2010? ?

TV.

The real question is, what did they do before around 1950.

 

[sideshowuniqueuser]

Not having my toddler not use screens is easy. They don't expect it if they never get it. But I really wish it was a lot easier to not have my teenager have screens, but with every single other kid having an iPhone in their pocket, and messaging each other to joke around and line up meet ups using it, it's bordering on cruel not to let them have one too.

 

[markusfarkus]

TV.

The real question is, what did they do before around 1950.

Their mothers didn't work. And they had more siblings.