this post was submitted on 12 Oct 2023
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What age did you get your kid a tablet? (lemm.ee)
submitted 1 year ago by Noit@lemm.ee to c/dads
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My daughter is approaching 3 and my wife has suggested a tablet either as a birthday or Christmas present, and I’m a bit hesitant. It’d be great for long trips, but I think as a day-to-day thing it might be a distraction. It’d get Spidey and Friends off the telly though. How and when did you handle this?

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[–] FurtiveFugitive@lemm.ee 4 points 1 year ago

We got a tablet for him about 3. It was only used for long road trips and even then just to watch 1 movie. He's 5 now and he gets 1 hour of screen time on it each weekday. However it's not a free for all situation. He has to spend about 30 minutes in an educational app first and then he's allowed to watch videos from a curated list.

I can see a huge difference in his behavior when he gets "too much" screen time. This is what works for us and every kid is different. I would recommend limiting screen time as much as possible without putting them too outside the social norms. At 3 that isn't a concern but at 5 he does have friends now and it's healthy for them to be able to bond over things they've both seen.