Would You Get a 4 Year Old an iPod Touch for Christmas

No, a thousand times no. 4 year olds need to be playing outside or using
their imagination indoors. We are a society that has to be "plugged in" at
all times. 10 years from now, no one will know how to converse. So sad.

YES!!! My son had one at 3. He kept him entertained when we went out to run errands~
PS. In NO WAY does it interfere with him wanting to ride bikes, play on his scooter, go to the park, play with his friends, use his imagination, etc... He's not in anyway "obsessed" with it! He also has a DS and barely touches it...

No. I might get a 4yo something like a Leapster though -- they're made for small children, and much less fragile than an ipod.

I don't think I have enough ways in my vocabulary or expressive self to say "NO"

If I could I would do an interperative dance, to music I composed, while I recited a poem I wrote entitled "Never, Never, Never Buy Your 4 Year Old an iPod."

In short, "no."

no way. there's a million other things a 4 year old should be doing. I have an almost 7 year old and there's no way I would get him one. Sure, he wants to use the iPhone, but I would rather give him 5 minutes a day on that (with the use of a timer) and call it good. I would be willing to bet that the amount of time your son spends on the iPod Touch will greatly exceed the time he's on your iPhone, which isn't necessarily a good thing.

I work in IT and totally 'get' the tech craze, but I don't buy into it nor do I think my son should get caught up in it. Go run around outside and create imaginary stories. :)

When we're in the car, we use the time to talk to one another. Only on long trips do I let him use electronics. I don't want the car ride home from school to be all about the electronics when I haven't seen him in 8 hours.

No, I wouldn't. My kids bug me for my phone a lot too, but I try to limit their use to times when we are stuck waiting somewhere (like a doctor's office) or when we may be out to dinner and they have colored all they can color and it is taking longer than we thought. I make it a treat, rather than the norm. I think everyone needs to make the decision that is best for their family, but I don't see any reason that a 4 year old needs such a device. My daughter turns 6 three days after Christmas and even if it was her birthday AND Christmas gift combined, I wouldn't buy her one. Just my two cents though.

no. a 4 year old should be experiencing things with all of his senses. touch, smell, hearing etc. why would you want to get a kid started on a phone that early. and I get that an itouch is not a phone but it will just get him started in that direction. you will be the M. that other moms look at and go omg did you see little johnny has a phone he's only 6 what does a 7 year old need a phone for. I don't think that kids under the age of 10 need anything electonic to carry around and bury their noses in. no iphones, no itouch, to mp3s , no hand held video games. they bury themselves in their rooms soon enough. let them play with real toys. and be the M. and say "no" and thats the end of it.

I'm sorry Erin but I wouldn't get him an iPod touch at such a young age. He has his whole life to deal with technology. Right now he's just interested in your iPhone because it's yours. Even if he had his own, he would still be into what's Mommy's. Maybe save FB for later when he is not around? That way all can benefit.

No way. My son will be four in a few weeks, and I wouldn't get him an ipod for any reason at this age.

I wouldn't, but that's me. Just not our thing or way we wish to spend our money. We're not tech people.

If you decide to get one, sit down with your husband and go over all the foreseeable situations and how you are going to handle them.

How much screen time? Can he have it whenever he wants it? Can he take it to bed with him? Where is going to be kept? What if it gets broken or lost? Can he use it in the car? At friends' and relatives' houses? How will he react when you take it away? You get the picture!

That's my only advice. "Wear" the idea before doing it.

NO, why wouldn't you choose something geared specifically towards a child & is educational?

Erin, SURE, why not? I wouldn't pay new retail price. But you can find them on craigslist very cheap, or on amazon.com

If you think he's capable of treating it properly, then go for it. I suggest you buy a refurbished one, which you can buy through Apple. They are usually cheaper than brand-new and come with a limited warranty. We've bought several refurbished Apple items and have never had a problem.

Another alternative would be the new LeapFrog electronic device, I don't know its exact name but it is modeled after an iPhone/iTouch.

My 4 year old uses mine and my husband's iPhones all the time. She is very good with it. My husband just got a newer iPhone so we're going to give her the older one to use as an iTouch.

Absolutely. There are many great apps out there for kids and you know he is already drawn to your iphone so he would love the itouch. My nephew is two and he has had his own ipad for a while now. My SIL loaded it with his kid music and Baby Einstein videos so he can use it in the car, restraunts and at appointments when needed.

I didn't read the other answers but I'm willing to bet you got a lot of NO WAYS! I don't see why not though. My kids play both mine and my husbdans iPhone's ALL THE TIME! It's a pain, like you said, to use it because if they see if they want it. I would get him one if you trust him to be safe with it.

Can't beleive your even considering it but then again I would never give a DS to a 4 year old either. Neither of my kids (9 & 13) even have cell phones yet, the oldest does have a laptop we just got her that she uses for school and social. They are straight A students, have lots of friends, are great kids and are not suffering at all from lack of electronics. In fact I think not having their face stuck to a screen even for a hour or two a day has benefited them greatly, they both love to read for pleasure and I'm sure there's a correlation. When kids have to entertain themselves they develop creative skills, problem solve and yes actually have fun interacting with the world in a way that can't be duplicated electronically.
I found the article below interesting about silicon valley execs sending their kids to a Waldorf school with NO technology in the classroom at all.

http://www.good.is/post/why-are-silicon-valley-executives...

Added- Just read some of the responses, wow. What's going on in this world that a child has to be entertained all the time. What's wrong with talking, looking out the car window, listening to music? Can we not expect our kids to run errands, ride in the car etc. without having a screen to entertain them? We let them play with the phone on long car rides, maybe watch a movie to save the adults from another "are we there yet?" but otherwise they survive just fine running errands the old fashioned way.

My husband bought "us" an iPod touch when my son was born b/c he loved music and I had a hard time changing the CD's while nursing. It's "ours", but it's really my son's- he's 3.5 and he LOVES it!

There's nothing "downloaded" on it because I don't want him accessing the internet, but he has family pictures, music and his t.v. shows on there. It's docked in his room and he loves playing the music while he plays. He loves his iPod. We have a dock that we take with us when we travel (pretty frequently) so he has his tunes and his shows with him on long flights/car rides.

If you're buying it to "babysit" and allow him to play games on it, then no. If he would be using it with supervision and with limited access, then go for it.

Technology isn't bad... it's how it's applied!

nope. There's no way I would buy a 4 yr old an ipod touch.
he's 4!!! not responsible enough to take care of his own ipod.
now my kids are almost 10 and 7. When DH and I get our upgraded phones they will have access to our old first generation Droids. Which cost us a total of 100$.

My son has had an iPod touch since he was about 3. And still has it and yes it works! If he's use to your phone chances are he knows how to be careful

My husband's aunt and uncle gave our kids iPod touches last Christmas. My younger daughter was 5 at the time. She has used that thing non-stop ever since. She isn't the kind of kid who takes particularly good care of her things, so I was very concerned about how long it would last. Well, it's been a year and the iPod still lives! LOL I would definitely invest in a case for it though. In case it gets dropped, the case will help protect it.

Absolutely not. I am a firm non-believer in making teenagers out of younger kids, and you are talking about a preschooler. My kids are 12 and 16. They both got their first IPod at age 12. When my daughter got hers, they didn't even have Ipod Touch. She got that last year at Christmas when she was 15. My son will probably get one for his middle school graduation gift. I think it's fine to explain to him that these things are for older people and are not a toy for little children who should be playing with Lego's and Star Wars figures. I also think it's bad for kids to see parents constantly on phones and laptops.

My daughter is 4 and we are most likely going to get her one this Christmas.

We gave my now 6 year old one last year for Christmas. (It was my husbands that we told her we sold to someone...husband got an iphone) All I did was buy a pink case for it and remove all my husbands applications. She NEVER knew the difference. So I agree with looking for a used one. That is what we will do for my 4 year old. FYI: My daughter loves her ipod touch and has taken great care for it. She does not play it all day long and we rarely take it places unless we are going on vacation somewhere. She uses it mostly for dancing (we got a barbie portable speaker for it)...but plays a game here and there too. Oh and we bought the Tangled movie with digital copy, so she has that movie on there if she wants to watch something.

I am sure if our child was 4, my husband would find one on craigslist or inherit one from a family member so our daughter could have one.

She was a very careful with all of her toys, games and books. They all looked brand new even after years of play.

We never had a TV?DVD player in the car, because we could not afford it, but I think it is the same as having access to an old iphone, itouch, ipad..

So yes, just do not pay retail.. he will not care about that.

FYI, if our daughter hounded me for anything.. The answer was always NO. She knew this, so she would ask politely and accept my answer.
Try it with your son. At 4, he is able to follow this rule.

i personally dont see anything wrong with it i run a store in the mall that sells products for phones and ipods , my husband does all the repairs on them there too... Yes we see about 3 broken ipods a day that belong to a small child but also if you invest in a $50 otterbox for it its gonna save alot drops. There are so many child applications you can put on the ipod that help they with spelling, colors etc... just as long and they arent glued to it all day and night and his time on it is limited i dont see anything wrong with it.

No, I wouldn't do it. There are so many things that 4 years olds need to learn that aren't part of computers. They will learn computers later, but they need to play with their bodies now and get dirty and run around. Kids with xboxes and computers and gameboys and ipads sit a lot.

My 6 year old son is getting one this year I asked my daughter if she wanted one too (she is 4) she said she would rather have a bunk bed so that is what she is getting. I think they are actually better than the ds because the apps are cheaper than buying a lot of the ds games that are the exact same. We have ds's and they get played here and there. I did buy an ottercase (which I would highly encourage, I just ordered both today for my son) they have a lot of the educational games that are better than you would find on a leapster such as letters, numbers etc. Plus you can use downloading new apps for rewards too. Im hoping that he will share with her and I can take off some of these games on my phone for them which they constantly want to play. I will say that we own 3 ds's, a wii, a ps3 and my phone and the kids chose to only play maybe an hour a week total. Not every kid who has electronics are going to be hooked.

My almost 4 year old would love to have her own ipod touch as well, but there is no way she's getting one. I think we are going to get her the Leap Frog Leap Pad for Christmas this year so that she'll think it is her own iphone/ipad. We are hoping that if she has that, she'll leave my ipod touch alone.

No, but only because it sets a precedent for gifts....where do you go from an iPod? Does he then get an iPad at age 5?

I think you'd be better off getting a DS or something that is *made* for children. I just think it's too much too soon.

Nope, I'd get a Leapster.

wow ipod for a 4 year old?! I would not give it to my preschooler even if i got it for free LOL! In my house, my kid is not even allowed to touch our iphones. "Sorry its only for adults". He has his toy phone that he can use. Kids are not supposed to be playing with technology at this age.
Besides, I earned my first gadget (a first generation Nokia phone) and I expect my kid to do the same!

Get him a leap pad or something for kids. If you get him an iPod at 4, then he'll want a car at 5...LOL Just kidding! But anyway, are there any toy versions of an iPod that would be better for him at this age? Just my opinion. good luck!!

I wouldn't buy one for Christmas but I see no reason why he can't get your old phone to use as an iPod if you ever decide to upgrade. Or I would think about getting an iPad as a gift for the whole family. That way it would be easy to control his access to it and you & your husband get to use it, too. Assuming he's mature enough to treat it well.

Personally, I wouldn't get a leapster b/c he would be too old for it soon.

No - I think electronics are simply inappropriate for children who should be spending their time interacting and playing with real people. I cannot stand to see children out with their little video games in their own little worlds, completely ignoring the people and world around them. Their is pretty good scientific evidence that screen time is a negative for children and human interaction is a positive. I assume your son goes to bed after you do, so you could check facebook before he wakes up, when you are at work, when he is at school or after he is in bed :)

If you are going to spend that kind of money, invest in a Nintendo DSi XL.
He will use it til he is at least 12 and he is definitely old enough for many of the games. It has a camera on it and drawing board and there are a lot of educational games on it. It will definitely keep him away from your IPhone :)

ETA: I agree about skipping the Leapster...we had one and my DD outgrew it quickly.

We let our son have a cast off nano ( the kind without a screen) He proceeded to destroy it. I can't see paying retail price for him to have such a delicate device until he's much older.

I didn't read the other answers but wanted to let you know what we did. My 5yr old loves rock music so we decided to get her an ipod for her 5th bday. We eventually decided on the new ipod touch with the camera because she likes to take pics and videos of her and her brother being silly. I got a deal on a preowned one on ebay and also bought the Otterbox heavy duty case for it. She LOVES it. Loves having her music and her games. I downloaded some movies on there for her. My 3yr old son also loves playing with it and I've considered getting him one for Christmas, but I think we will wait since she didn't get one till she was 5. She's not able to care for it 100% on her own-- occasionally I find it on the floor or left in the car, but like any electronic device she could have, I just remind her thats now how we take care of things and it could get broken, etc. I also have to take it away periodically when she's been on it too often, but the battery life actually does a pretty good job of policing that for me. She's been pretty good about it and its still in perfect shape. The case really helps a lot, and it has been dropped a few times, so I definitely recommend getting a good case for it.

If you think its something your son would benefit from, then go for it.

My daughter is 4, and wants to play games on my phone all the time, but I only allow it in certain circumstances - like having to wait at a restaurant or the doctor's office, or at the end of the day I will let her play a little bit if she's behaved herself all day (so she has to earn playing time with good behavior). I would not get her something like that of her own because I couldn't expect her to take proper care of it, and then I think it would start to lose some of it's "power" - right now it is my ace in the hole, my main bargaining chip, when it comes to getting her to listen and cooperate with me. I wouldn't get him an iPod just to keep him from bugging you - I would discipline him for bugging you and have some guidelines in place. My daughter already knows that pestering me to play on my phone will only result in her not being able to play at all later.

My now 4 year old son has had my old ipod (not a touch) since he was about 2. He loves music and can navigate through the playlists (all kid friendly) to find his favorite songs. If your son loves music - you may want to consider just an old used ipod to start with.

No I wouldn't do it. They are way too expensive for a 4 yr old. My daughter is 3 1/2 and she has the ipod shuffle with a attached speaker. That is as far as I go with that. She has all of her favorite music on it. I refuse to spend that kind of money so that she can break it. That ranks right up there with a 5 yr old having a cell phone. Why do they have to have cell phones???? Their 5 for crying out loud! I just wouldn't do it.

My son (9) is lucky we have a Wii. I'm holding off on the face glued to the electronics until his teens.

Not at 4. But I WOULD get him a DS. My 3.5 year old son loves it and there are simple games for his age. Lifesaver in the car, grocery, Etc.

I wouldn't get a family ipad - they are much more delicate and easy to break. I had one screen completely shatter from a fall from a coffee table. (Now Apple was great and replaced it - but I've become completely paranoid now about my ipad!) My daughter (3.5) actually has my old iphone 3. With the case on it - it is pretty tough and the apps you can get on it are great. She mostly gets to use it when we are travelling and when I'm putting her little brother to bed. It's also great for when we go out to a restaurant and are waiting for the food!

I would not buy an iPod touch for a 4 year old. They are too young to be able to really appreciate it's value and use it to it's full potential. Why buy such an expensive and elaborate technology gizmo for a child who could only use a couple of apps? That would be like buying a 13 year old girl a brand new BMW so she could store shoes in the trunk. Yes, shoe storage is great, but there's no way to fully appreciate the value and capacity of the whole car. Doesn't make sense, right? I'd stick with something more simple and less expensive.

I like the problem solving I see my daughter go through when she's trying to figure something out. I don't know if I would go so far as to spend ipod money, but I think our budding tech geniuses should be encouraged and they seem to get such a kick out of it. My 4 yr old loves my phone and is a whiz with it. She takes amazing pictures and finds features on it that I didn't even know existed. I've been looking for a small, sturdy, handheld electronic that takes pictures, records video and audio and has simple games. If yall have aby ideas, let me know. She has little pretend laptop learning toys, leapster and leap-pad, but they are too busy for her taste and too bulky to throw in my purse.

No way! Check out the kid electronics and see what you can find that is more kid resistant than an adult piece of electronics.

No and the reasons have already been posted.

I know you're going to do what you want, but my answer is Heck, NO! I won't even buy one for my 10yo, or my 13 yo...or my16 yo. Now, if the older two wanted to purchase their own, and had the money, I probably wouldn't have a problem with it but not the younger two. It's just too much!

Of course, I have a Droid and the kids are constantly asking to play on my phone. Dang cool phones and their kid appeal!