Nobody is worried about the kid smashing it on something and breaking it? eee...

Also, I think it's a stupid idea. Sorry! Reminds me of Wall-E where everyone is sitting in chairs with a screen in their face 24/7. Scary thought.

if, you're THAT busy, you shouldn't have reproduced.

My nieces and nephews love my iPhone. The 5-year-old begs me to play tic-tac-toe and Uno with him, and the younger ones love to flip through the pictures and tell me who's in each one. When I'm taking care of them, I occasionally use the iPhone to appease them, but mostly as a treat for a few minutes of fun playing with the adult toy....

My 2.5 year old son plays with our iPhones but only for a few minutes. He looses interest quickly and we prefer it that way. As mentioned above, kids don't need electronic distractions in the car, simply engage them!

I like the interactive games. I was out with my friend and his three sons the other day. We went to a lounge in downtown San Jose and we played Uno on the iPad. Then, when we wanted to have a grown up conversation, the boys played amongst themselves while we had a drink and chatted.

I think denying access to interactive technology to children is very short-sighted. Did anyone see the cover of last month's Fast Company???

If you think denying children access to technology will help them adapt in the long run - you're wrong. I think there's a time and place for smartphone activities in context to all other activities in a child's world. The responsbility falls back to the parent to ensure the child's activity matrix is reasonably balanced with ALL types of activities.

My 2 yo daughter loves my iPhone. She's been playing with it for a long time. First, just as a shiny object to covet, then to look at pictures of her family & friends & different adventures we've had and now, a few games. I particularly love the Sound Shaker game. She doesn't get to play with it that often, and just a few minutes at a time, but it's nice to have it "in case of emergency." It will also be a essential component of my airplane strategy the next time we travel.

As a parent, the amount of interaction my child has with screen media (the tv, the computer, my iPhone) is a big issue for me. On the one hand, I instinctively feel the need to limit it and wish her play room were filled with wooden, noiseless toys. On the other, that's not really representative of the world she lives in now, much less what things might be like as she gets older.

http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/144/a-is-for-app.html

Linke for the article I reference in my earlier post. And I quote "For children born in the past decade, the transformative potential of these new universes is just beginning to be felt. New studies and pilot projects show smartphones can actually make kids smarter. "

As an aside, my wife is just learning to text with her phone (Razr). She's still a little hesitant about the iPhone (although we're about to get her one). But our 3 year old has taken to the iPhone interface, unlocking the phone, finding his favorite apps, and playing (appropriately!).

Needless to say, I don't just leave my phone lying around for the kids to "play" with. But they've taken to the technology with almost no problems.

Just something that interests this old-school geek.

"if you're THAT busy, you shouldn't have reproduced."

Bingo!

It seems like a costly thing to hand over to a little kid, BUT it's definitely a good thing! I don't think it means that there will be less interaction between parents and children, just more opportunities for different ways of learning and developing brain power. I wouldn't think of it as a distraction. TV, though... now that's mindless.

The only show my son watches is Sesame Street. We have episodes downloaded on the iPhone as well as Sesame Street music. While engagement is preferred (that's why we chose NOT to get the DVD player in our new minivan), sometimes little ones throw major tantrums. And often the only thing that calms my little guy down is Big Bird & Elmo. If that allows us to get through the grocery store with our groceries and without a major meltdown, I'll take it. I think it works like everything else, moderation is the key. The more you tell anyone they can't have something, the more they will do everything in their power to get it.

I have a 2.5 year old, and he loves to play some of the games, especially the letter ones. Is he learning? Maybe. Is the iphone keeping him happy at the restaurant that last 15 minutes when we might not otherwise be enjoying the meal? Yes. Does that make it worth it? Oh yes.

As a Pre-K teacher who just got a grant for 2 iPod Touches for my classroom (and a $50 iTunes card for lots of apps)...it excites me to see how excited my 4-5 year old are to play with the Touch. Are they learning? We will see (researching that currently). Are they involved and interested? Yes!

Educational research Indicates that any child under the age of 2 should not be exposed to "screen media" of any kind. After that, supposedly 20-30 minutes per day max is okay. Other research indicates that households where radio or TV on as background noise generate an environment where kids develop less language and less intellect (we use words to categorize and classify the things we are learning). As a teacher I deal with kids every day who spent time on screens instead of reading daily, let me tell you, it's hard to regroup when you're 2-3 years behind peers once you are in middle school. My kids, now 8 and 11, have had very little screen media time compared to peers. However, they adapt to new technology just fine. More importantly, they love books and both read well above their grade level. My kids could take a book on CD and a player with color coded buttons and turn the page to the beep as early as 3 years old. That's much more positive activity. Any screen media that young kids are watching should be always viewed alongside a parent who is doing a play-by-play. The best distraction for your kid is playful interaction with you. We always enjoyed playing the find the ABCs game at the Home Depot, or pretending we were on a spy mission while out on errands in later years. Not always easy, but I have always thought Navy Seals had it easier than parents out somewhere with a cranky kid.

@mitspeck, I've read similar advice and have used that as a guidepost, but it's sometimes difficult for me to ... well, is it the medium or the message? :) Is setting a 15 mo in front of the computer screen for a Skype webchat with grandmom appropriate? It's a person, interacting with the child in the moment, but it's still an electronic voice and a flat image. Why would that be any different than playing an "interactive" game? Our daughter loves to look at photos ... what is the difference between paging through a photo album and scrolling through them on my iPhone? This isn't meant to be argumentative in the slightest - I'm just very interested in what other people are thinking about this subject, as well.

You can pretty much tell from these posts who has kids and who doesn't, can't you?

Denying children one on one parent time and substituting with an electronic device is ludicrous.

I carry Robert Munsch, and others, pint-sized mini books on person. Along with moleskin notebooks, crayons and stickers. It takes up zero space in my purse.

In a blink of an eye he'll be submerged with the latest technological toy and suffer from eye strain like the majority of the population. For now I will enjoy his tiny companionship and relish in thought that he loves when I draw those misshapen cows that look more like hot air balloons.

I grew up in the 70s & 80s and had plenty of video games and electronic toys to play with - none to my detriment. And I watched a LOT of tv. Not a lot has changed, just the level of sophistication to the technology. I don't have any kids, but do have 3 ill behaved nephews that I would never hand my iPhone over to willingly. That is - if I could afford to have one in the first place, THEN I wouldn't entrust it to the lovely, lovely children of my brother. I keep imagining the scenario: kid melting down in car; last ditch effort to entertain them with a video; they watch for a few seconds, remember they're upset, and throw the gadget with all their might - out the window.

My friends gave their two-year-old an iPod Touch for watching TV shows and playing games. I thought they were insane for giving an expensive gadget to a child who regularly destroyed everything he could get his hands on, but it's their money and their kid.

Wow. I must be a terrible parent... I have my own iPhone and my son loves it, so at the age of 2 we bought him his own iPod touch. (We were going on a long flight and my iPhone wouldn't have lasted the journey.) For that trip we had loads of "fun" things on there like shows, movies, games, etc. (For those of you with kids, you know the idea of a 2-year old in a confined space for 13 hours is scary!!)

I was appalled at the idea of spending that much money on a "toy" but I've never looked back. (By the way, we also purchased a very sturdy case for it. It hasn't broken yet!)

Anyway -- he's nearly 3 now and I personally believe it was worth every penny. The ratio of things is about 75% purely educational (alphabets, etc.), 20% books, and 5% just pure fun (movies, colouring games, etc.)

By 2 1/2 he could identify all of his letters both lower and upper case, he could count/identify numbers 1-29 and his vocabulary was (and still is) impressive.

That being said, I AM a parent and he doesn't play with it 24 hours a day... he wouldn't want to anyway! It is not a substitute for me but I won't deny that I'll use it to pacify him... at the grocery store I'm happy to have him sitting in the shopping cart playing his alphabet game -- better that than a grumpy 3 year old and a stressed out mom.

I should probably be a bit embarassed to admit this, but our 2 year old is quite proficient with the iPhone. He loves some of the toddler apps such as Tozzle and Peekaboo Barn, but he also loves looking at the pictures & videos in the Photos app, as well as pick from our selection of favorites on the Youtube app.

I somehow prefer this to letting him watch TV, and he only gets to use the iPhone when we're out and about.

The only thing I've had to do is to disable buying Apps, as I've had him buy an app entirely by accident!

anning; I am in total agreement with you. I would listen to the nonstop chatter from my daughter all day. I would use the opportunity to teach her things since she was my little captive. Books, yes. Eduacational audio that encourages playing along (singing, couting, spelling), yes. These "games" even the educational ones mimic phones and laptops that people use to stay connected, but they are really disconnected. The actual art of communication is lost once one starts becoming attached to these tools. Human contact has also become a thing of the past. TV's and video games are a bad idea for long periods of time (in my opinion).

Hey Question! Other parents-who-use-iPhones-with-2-year-olds how do you keep them from push the home button, like all the time? I start-up an app, and he's into it, but inevitably pushes that home button and gets frustrated. Any tricks?

On the more intellectual side of this conversation: People keep noting that parents are trading good chances to interact with their children for smartphone face time, and that is not how it works. I love to sit and build things with my boy, go for walks, make dinner together, but the truth of parenthood is that sometimes you have to get something done that isn't compatible with interacting with the baby (calling the bank, draining boiling hot pasta, cleaning the toilet, checking out at the grocery store, etc). THAT is when the iphone comes out in our house. We drive, long drives from upstate NY to South Dakota, I don't think I'd use the iphone for a 3 hour trip up the road, but after 3 days of being in the car, even he is tired of telling me what color the semi-truck that just went by is.

In the end, its all about moderation.

And no, I do not think there is any difference between looking at pictures in photo album (which no one would criticize as ignoring your child) and looking at them on the iPhone. . . . now if I could just get him to stop pushing that "home button!"