I ended up with one of each. Had the tonie for 2 years and kids loved it but by 5, the 5yo was bored of it. Got him a yoto which he loves because he can listen to chapter books and drown out the noise of his little siblings. Also uses it a lot in the car while i'm playing little kid music for other 2.

1.5yo and 4yo still love the tonie and it gets daily use. They're happy to listen to the same things over and over and over

Other than the actual unit, it doesn't really end up being duplicative costs as you'd be buying the individual stories / characters for each of them anyway.

We have a yoto for our older child and tonie for our younger. They both get nearly daily use during quiet time and bedtime. The kids like having their own in their own room so if it’s possible, maybe consider a yoto and toniebox?

we have the yoto mini - we don’t miss the extra functions of the big one and love the mini for travel. And my younger child plays with the tonies like they are toys in addition to using them on the player

Anonymous wrote:My son has used his Yoto player since he got it at age 3. He probably took a little bit to get really into it though so 3 was probably a tad young but if I'd bought more music cards he may have, we use it more for audiobooks. He is 5 now and ebbs and flows with interest, but it is well worth it in our house for sure. I haven't had the tonie but the yoto felt more versatile to me and I don't know, just reasonable long term. My other son is almost 2, we don't really use it for him yet. We have the normal size because when we bought it the small one wasn't an option yet. We use it enough that I've considered getting the small one to use on trips. We bring the yoto on car trips but not as easy for something like a flight for example.

I guess I would say, we like our yoto a lot and think we'll use it for some years to come, but can't give a review of the Tonie

Pp here. We have the minis and just took them on a flight and connected to their headphones . Worked well.

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks so much everyone! I'm not the poster on the infants/toddlers page, so I'll look at the comments there too. I should have mentioned my 1.5 yo is really into music, like tries to yell at our Google home ot turn on music and runs and points to our record player, so maybe the answer is both because I think she'd really enjoy being able to manipulate and turn on music herself.

Unless anyone thinks she'd be able to get the hang of the yoto closer to 2??

How is she at shape sorter? The yoto is just putting a card into the machine. She doesnt even need the knobs unless she wants the next track.

My 3 and 7 year olds have yoto minis and we love them. The littlenone mostly uses it for classical/ballet music whe she wants to dance around.

OP here. Thanks so much everyone! I'm not the poster on the infants/toddlers page, so I'll look at the comments there too. I should have mentioned my 1.5 yo is really into music, like tries to yell at our Google home ot turn on music and runs and points to our record player, so maybe the answer is both because I think she'd really enjoy being able to manipulate and turn on music herself.

Unless anyone thinks she'd be able to get the hang of the yoto closer to 2??

My son has used his Yoto player since he got it at age 3. He probably took a little bit to get really into it though so 3 was probably a tad young but if I'd bought more music cards he may have, we use it more for audiobooks. He is 5 now and ebbs and flows with interest, but it is well worth it in our house for sure. I haven't had the tonie but the yoto felt more versatile to me and I don't know, just reasonable long term. My other son is almost 2, we don't really use it for him yet. We have the normal size because when we bought it the small one wasn't an option yet. We use it enough that I've considered getting the small one to use on trips. We bring the yoto on car trips but not as easy for something like a flight for example.

I guess I would say, we like our yoto a lot and think we'll use it for some years to come, but can't give a review of the Tonie

You posted this twice

My 6 yo still enjoys his Tonies, particularly the natgeo ones. And he and his youngest brother play with them in other ways too. They build them houses and cars with magnatiles and blocks, line them up, play pretend etc. i find that the tonies are more versatile, but to each its own.

Oh and mini vs standard I think is just a preference thing, I got the standard size bc I liked having all the features/would be less likely to get lost or misplaced..plus we now just take that on trips bc it's an all in one system, plus entertainment. I figure if my 2nd kid starts to really get into it I'll just buy a mini in addition and then we'll have 2 players

Not sure if this is the same poster from the infants/toddler group, but there is a story box post with a detailed answer. IMO I'd get the Yoto, you'll get way more use out of it, the 4 year old maybe has another year or so of possibly being interested in a tonie, but I think interest will wane around 5. Also, some of the tonies are cute and tolerable but many, especially the Disney ones are really annoying, it's a mix of songs and stories, the songs are not the original versions the stories often just not good. The Yoto will give you a lot more options for content, plus a really nice radio that plays both kid friendly adult music and kid music. You also could probably get some cards that both 4 &1 year old like, such as the llama llama series or hungry caterpillar. Then I'd say if the 1 year old shows a lot of interest you can consider getting a tonie too for their birthday.

We have a 1.5 year old and a 4 year old. It seems like for these ages a Tonie makes more sense, but my 4 year old is probably almost old enough for a Yoto. Will we regret not getting the one that will grow with the kids more or will I want one for each kid eventually? Any reason not to get a yoto mini over the yoto player? We already have a hatch so won't be using it for a night light.