I-POD

[Anonymous]

My six year old DS is asking for an I-Pod for Christmas. Has anyone purchased an I-Pod for a DC this age? Please share your thoughts about the purchase and the benefits of having an I-Pod. TIA

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My six year old DS is asking for an I-Pod for Christmas. Has anyone purchased an I-Pod for a DC this age? Please share your thoughts about the purchase and the benefits of having an I-Pod. TIA

Wow, parents are buying I-Pods for 6-year-olds? When I was 6, we get a $5 book for Christmas.

[Anonymous]

My sister bought an MP3 player for her 6 year old last year for Christmas. Not an IPOD though, something cheaper. I think it's great, personally. I'm all for promoting a love of music. I would just, as with everything, monitor it for appropriate use. And Itunes is easy to use and there are lots of kids' songs available. The new "genius" feature can help you find new songs that might be a good match for your (or child's) tastes.


drawbacks? child withdrawals from others and listens to music too much. potential hearing issues if headphones are used too long or too loudly.

[Anonymous]

I'd go with a cheaper option for a child that age.

Maybe the ipod shuffle?

[Anonymous]

We gave our (then) 8-y.o. daughter an MP3 player last year and she loves it. When her friends are over, they put on some music and dance -- very fun. Yes, she could do this downstairs, but she loves turning her bedroom into a disco. Now a few of her friends have ipods and she's asked for one, but we'll wait at least a year on that. Last Christmas we did give our (then) 13 y.o. son an ipod. For his age it was a great choice. Social withdrawal hasn't been an issue. He mostly uses it on long car or plane trips (when a little withdrawal is probably a good idea for everybody), and sometimes we plug in an extra set of ear buds so our daughter can listen with him. (We screen the music first and talk to him about what's appropriate for her to listen to -- those are interesting discussions.) Also, it's socially interactive in that we listen to his music and he listens to ours sometimes. We do, however, worry about the volume level and constantly tell him to turn it down. I guess my bottom line is to wait a while on an ipod (or even a shuffle). You don't want kids to get jaded too easily and one way to avoid that is to have them look forward to something. Also, by age 10 or so, most kids are much more responsible about looking after their things and not losing them. My daughter's friends who have ipods leave them behind after almost every sleepover.

[Anonymous]

I don't think my 6 year olds could properly take care of an ipod. They do each have their own Sansa Shaker. You can listen to it without ear buds, which is the big bonus for me.

[Anonymous]

We have an iPod Nano attached to speakers in our baby's room. We have soft music playing in her room all night long. That's one thing your 6 year old might like it for, to play soft music while they falling to sleep and have it continue playing all night in case they wake up in the middle of the night.

[Anonymous]

We use an iPod in a dock for our 1 yo, and he gets exposed to a lot of music with it, because I can put together playlists of (acceptable) grownup music for him.

I would be concerned about using headphones, although maybe for a six year old that would be OK. There is an ability to set a volume maximum, but I am a little wary of the possible hearing damage from earbuds, because I have concert damage from my younger days and volume with earbuds is tricky (move it around in your ear and the volume goes way up or down).

I would not let a young child use it outside because I would be concerned they might put the earbuds on and tune out traffic, etc. just like I see happen to their parents wearing ipods and pushing stollers.

I do think the cost is pretty high for a child of that age. I might give an ipod hand-me-down to a child if I got an iPhone. I think it's a very expensive gift for someone that age, especially if it is one gift among many. I mean, that's like getting the bike or the electric train when we were kids. But I don't know if a child is going to look at it like it's the present of a lifetime. Still, every parent has their own idea of the money thing. But I would feel bad if it went unused or got lost on the way home from school a few months later.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'd go with a cheaper option for a child that age.

Maybe the ipod shuffle?

OP Here: Thanks for your thoughtful replies. Some very good points are raised. When someone asks DS what he wants for Christmas he states an I-Pod which is why we were considering the purchase.

What is an ipod shuffle? How is the Shuffle different from or similiar to the I - Pod??? TIA

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

What is an ipod shuffle? How is the Shuffle different from or similiar to the I - Pod??? TIA

http://tinyurl.com/84fjuk

[Anonymous]

My now 7 year old has been asking for an ipod for about 2 years. I told him when he is 10. For now he can use mine. Its on a dock in the kitchen for everyone to use. It has a playlist of kids songs they he and his sister have asked for and it has a playlist of Christmas songs that they are listenting to these days. This way music is more of a social thing, too. I really worry about how much we give pur kids so young. I worry about the gimmes and their being jaded before highschool by having all the "coolest stuff." Its like the 16 year olds I knew who got BMWs from their parents. What did they then have to look forward in their own car purchasing years (after college) ??? I was so excited when I bought my first car (not a BMW though!)

PPs all have good points about the ability to take care of something, ear damage, socialness, etc... but for me the bottom line is I think its is too much for a 6 year old.