iPads/tablets for kids

[nicolewi]

Do your kids have their own tablet of some kind, or do they share with other family members? How old are they? Do you like that set-up?

Trying to decide how to organize family iPads and whether some kids should have their own dedicated one or if they can continue to share.

DD1 has a phone and an old iPad and uses both. 

DS will finally be getting a phone and has a Fire tablet.

DD2 and DD3 (turning 9 and 11) are sort-of in limbo right now.

[sdlaura]

My two older kids (11 and almost 10) have iPads and my younger two (6 and 3) have fire tablets. Sharing would not work in my family!

[nicolewi]

That’s my dilemma. Not sure they use them enough to need their own, but out of all my kids, these are the two that would be better off not sharing with each other.

[dcn]

8 and 11 year olds have their own iPads, and have for 5 years.

[lessel]

8 and 5 yo and have had their own iPads. We did hand-me-down iPads from DH at first and then they both got new iPads for Christmas last year and we set up the whole Apple Family thing. (The previous iPads were so old they wouldn't do updates and stuff and were kind of 'locked' with only toddler-y apps.)

It's easier for them to have separate ones because they tend to want to be on them at the same time, like a long car drive. It oddly kind of encourages them to play together too... like they'll play legos together for hours. I feel like if we were trading/sharing one iPad one of them would play legos while the other had iPad. I dunno. Maybe that's just me selling myself a story. 🤷‍♀️

[Saudade]

My kids started out with Fire tablets. In 2016?2017? (I can't remember exactly when), we bought each of them refurbished iPads. They worked really well for several years but around 2021 they stopped holding charge. Since then they have received Nintendo Switches and so I haven't repurchased iPads because they don't need them for anything. DS1(12) has his own Chromebook from school but otherwise doesn't need it for much. If they want to watch netflix they can in the house but if we're driving they're either on their Nintendos or watching a movie in the car so I haven't felt the need to replace the iPads at this point.

[maudefindlay]

My 14 yr old and 12 yr olds have their own phones and their own Samsung Galaxy tablets. The 12 yr old uses both, the 14 yr old mainly uses his phone.

My 11 yr old's tablet gave out and will get a new Samsung Galaxy tablet for Christmas. She will get a phone next Christmas.

They've had tablets since they were little and never shared since the times they use them would be the same. Also they help on the really long road trip we take every year (16 hours each way).

[purplepenguin7]

Are they asking for tablets? My 5 year old has a fire tablet and is getting an ipad soon so I am def pro-individual device. However, if you have made it to 9 and 11 with no device or a shared device I wouldn't get them one unless they are asking.

[macmars45]

No one in my family has an ipad. I have a surface pro computer and that's the closet we get.

My DS(7.5) has H's old phone with games on it. He's been using that phone for 4 years now.

We are OAD so no sharing issues.

[VillainV]

We only have one kid, and he uses one of our old iPads. He’s the only one who uses it, but it’s not “his.”

[nicolewi]

Interesting, thanks.

Yes, the 11 year old is asking for an iPad. I decided to give her the newer one I bought on Prime Day...today is her bday. I will keep sharing my old one with the youngest kid.

I think it would be good for her to have her own and might encourage her to use more reading apps/audio books.

[beerlover]

Also OAD over here so no issues with needing multiple devices. DS has an iPad. We upgraded to that this summer when we had a long flight and I didn't want his stupid Fire tablet to die in 30 minutes lol. But the Fire was fine from ages 3-6.

[noodleoo]

Dec 12, 2023 10:30:07 GMT -5 VillainV said:

We only have one kid, and he uses one of our old iPads. He’s the only one who uses it, but it’s not “his.”

This is our philosophy too.  Kids are 8.5 and 5.  We have 2 ipads in the family, one used to be H's and one was mine, but we barely use them anymore.  The kids can use them, but they aren't "theirs" and they don't have individual profiles on them or anything.   We also have 2 old iPhones that we bring on car trips/restaurants but again, they aren't "theirs".  They are all stored in our room and the kids have to ask to use them.

[hbomdiggity]

We only have one kid, but DS has had an iPad since he was maybe 3 or 4. At first it was my hand me down, but we wanted him to have more storage for long drives and airplane rides so he got his own brand new one at 8yo. It is set up with his own profile which is awesome because we can control everything and he doesn’t have access to our stuff. And his grandparents can text/FaceTime him directly vs going through us.

[scm1011]

My kids (4.5 and 7) have Kindle Fires that they use sparingly because they kind of suck. Which is fine with me. My kids watch TV, but I’m pretty anti-screens otherwise. My 7 year old wouldn’t know what to do with my iPhone.

If we went the iPad route I agree with noodle and others that they’d be shared family devices and not personal tablets.

[cricketwife]

My two DS’s, 7 and nearly 10, share an iPad. It works for us. They get screen time on weekends annd non school days and have to take turns. It alternates who gets the iPad first.

[quesyrah]

My kids are 10 and 13 and have never had their own iPads.

DS (13) now has an iPhone but we have a lot of parental controls on it and he doesn’t have games on it.

[sparty04]

My boys have had their own iPads since 5 years old. We'll probably get DD one when she turns 5 as well. They all tend to use them at the same time so sharing is a big nope.