Cell Phones

unaveragejane

Do you let your LO play with your phone? I am torn on this one. Originally it was off-limits, but then someone told me that the "Talking Tom" app is great entertainment when you're stuck in a waiting room. I d/l it, and now anytime DS sees my phone, he wants it. My problems with him having it are: germs, he gets drool all over it (water hazard!), and he pitches a big fit when I need it back from him. He used to just look at it while I held it, but that doesn't work anymore. I think I'm just going to have to put it off-limits again.

stanfordt04

cell phones are off-limits here... i used it to get him to learn to roll over and to keep him busy to get those extra few minutes of sleep. but then i realized i was creating a monster around the eight month mark. he would throw tantrums anytime i took it away. so the cell phone became off-limits. 

maybe in a year or two, we will introduce the ipad to him with all those great apps!  

Gismo123

I have an old smart phone that I let ds play with. he also has 2 fake flip phones he plays with.

HollyBabyNumber2

I definitely don't let my LO play with cell phones. The only reason is because of the radiation it emits. I mean, you can't fully keep radiation away (it's in microwaves for God's sake). But when it comes to frequent use and when it's close to the head, that's where I draw the line. It just scares me that the bone marrow of a child's head absorbs 10 times more radiation than an adults and even MORE in infants and toddlers.. Just something to keep in mind.

FutureMrsFezz

K has his own phone.  It's my old iphone and it has a bunch of apps for him since it still works on the wi-fi.  He'll pick up our phones and hand them too us though.  The more you try to keep things from him the more he wants them.

MsLs

Ours are off-limits he has some old non working phones but of course he only wants ours. I agree with PP that is I needed him to be distracted I would totally use it.

EMOmamma

Nope, neither of my kids get to play with my phone.  I do have an episode of YGG & Dinosaur Train loaded that we can watch if needed.  (use it mainly for my toddler to watch when I have to nurse DD while we were out and about)

My 2.5yo now gets limited time with the iPad or an old ipod touch - maybe 15 minutes a few times a week.  The peek-a-boo apps are his favorites (zoo, barn, etc) and now he does a Thomas match card game and puzzle. 

Samiantha101

They're mostly off limits, however I'll admit it, I've let her play with mine while changing her diaper a couple times. It's become such a nightmare to do so, I'll do almost anything for her to chill out for the 30 or so seconds.

drbethc

Our cell phones are also off limits. I do however, use my cell phone sometimes to distract him on long car rides when he is fussy or no longer wants to be in his car seat. I hold on to it and scroll through photos or may watch Sesame Street.org.

 Also wanted to add DH is usually driving and I'm with him in the back seat.

alizabethanne

Generally my phone is off limits. However, we just went away for a couple days and I did a lot of diaper changes in pubic restrooms and she rolls during them. So I gave it to her a couple of times to distract her from rolling over or getting upset when the hand dryers turned on.

JessieCupcake

I let him play with it sometimes. He loves it. Sometimes I play the show he likes on YouTube and the holds the phone to watch it.

Socialworkgirl

I try to keep her away from them, but if she sees us on them, she wants to play with them. I will let her hold it for a few minutes but then will take it away and distract her with something else.  Our iPads/iPhones are our main cameras and we do FaceTime with grandparents on them too so keeping her totally away from them just isn't going to happen.  I have resisted downloading apps for her though, mainly to help myself feel better about it.   

giggles0918

She loves the cell phone and as soon as she sees it she wants it.  I turn it off so when she has it it's pretty boring for her and after she realizes that she moves onto something else.