Way too regimented

This is a child

I don't like that they are emitting radiation all the time. I am not a crazy person or anything, but to have something on my body 24 hours a day that emits radiation is just something I'm not comfortable with especially for my kids. I agree with someone else who said to get a pedometer.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We got the Garmin Vivofit for our 8y old last Christmas. He wears it everyday and never takes it off - except for showers. He just looks at it for the number of steps he gets (he gets far more in school that I do at work!) and is always trying to beat his 'record.' And he competes with his sitter for the number of steps they get.

It has worked great for my kid.

This. My 7 year old begged for a month straight and also offered to use his savings. Bought it in January and he is still very much in love with it. In fact, there has not been one toy/item that has kept his interest like his Fitbit. We have daily challenges with DS, DH, cousins and aunts/uncles. My DS usually beats us all every day. He has been very responsible with it. Takes it off before showering (even though it's resistant). He got bummed last sat when we had to leave for baseball game and it was still charging. Equally bummed when I told him it would be best to leave it home this summer during camp as they will be swimming/lake most days. I never thought I'd say it has been the best purchase we've made for him to date.

I'm sorry this just sounds really unhealthy to me. You have the family competing against each other and your 7 year-old wins? This is a perfect illustration to me of why I would never get a fitbit for a child this age. The thing is set up to maximize, maximize, maximize. It just encourages the child to run those numbers up as high as possible. This can lead to very unhealthy practices. These are young children. They should not be trying to meet a randomly chosen number every day. What about days when they don't make their goal? Have they failed? Plus it undermines a practice that is incredibly important for athletes, to listen to their bodies when determining exercise levels. Finally, if its all about the numbers it just robs children of the joy of moving. I didn't think there were any more ways to rob them of their childhoods but this seems to be a new one.

Children are not mini-adults.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have no idea how much it costs, but would not buy one for my DD who is 12. The purpose of it is to track how much you move, how many calories you burn, etc., right?

I simply don't want my kid to focus on numbers in relation to movement and health in that way. She's not the obsessive type, but I want her to focus on how good and strong and capable her body feels when she runs or does gymnastics or ice skating.

(I don't know of any of her friends who have one.)

This is why we got rid of our scale. My DD (who was still quite young at the time) was OBSESSED with weighing herself. I know that she just thought it was fun to see the numbers, but it made me uncomfortable and so we got rid of it. I think even a nonobsessive kid can easily get caught up in the numbers rather than on having a healthy relationship with her body and doing activities because it makes her feel good.

+1 to this. Its why I won't get one for myself (I'm pretty capable of judging my own activity levels by how I feel/look/my clothing fits without being a slave to another device, and I try to model that sort of moderation for my kids. I'm a very active and healthy fit person/teach yoga and just really don't want to a. introduce a device to young kids that centers around calories/obsession with "steps" or competition etc and b. introduce the idea that wellness is so single-faceted. It isn't. Wellness is so much more than some number on your wrist.

Anonymous wrote:We got the Garmin Vivofit for our 8y old last Christmas. He wears it everyday and never takes it off - except for showers. He just looks at it for the number of steps he gets (he gets far more in school that I do at work!) and is always trying to beat his 'record.' And he competes with his sitter for the number of steps they get.

It has worked great for my kid.

This. My 7 year old begged for a month straight and also offered to use his savings. Bought it in January and he is still very much in love with it. In fact, there has not been one toy/item that has kept his interest like his Fitbit. We have daily challenges with DS, DH, cousins and aunts/uncles. My DS usually beats us all every day. He has been very responsible with it. Takes it off before showering (even though it's resistant). He got bummed last sat when we had to leave for baseball game and it was still charging. Equally bummed when I told him it would be best to leave it home this summer during camp as they will be swimming/lake most days. I never thought I'd say it has been the best purchase we've made for him to date.

I usually don't buy devices that have been recalled by the Consumer Products Safety Commission.

Anonymous wrote:I didn't read any of the posts b/c i am in a hurry so sorry if this is repetitive but i just wanted to post that my Fitbit Flex gave me a terrible rash (deem said maybe a latent nickel allergy?). I haven't worn it in over a year and I still have this very itchy rashy spot on my hand/wrist!

let me know if you want to sell it

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They will forget and it will end up in the washer or they will jump in the pool with it... Fair warning.

The Fitbit flex is water resistant up to 10 meters, so it's fine for them to be submerged in the pool. They're just not good for accurately tracking swim activity, and the impact of swimming laps isn't great for them. I think I might make it a point to have them take it off for swim team, But wouldn't worry about it when we go to the pool recreationally, as my kids aren't usually doing high impact strokes then.

I think my biggest concern with getting one for kids is that they'll be more likely to take it off and on while fidgeting with it and end up losing it. Maybe start by getting a few extra Fitbit bands and making the kids wear just the bands for a couple weeks. If they don't lose it then they've proven that they're responsible enough.

Not OP but that is a great idea. You can get bands quite cheaply at amazon. tell them they need to prove they won't loose it and if they don't they can get one (if you are inclined to get them one which I would).
I have let my 6 year old borrow mine for the day. It is amazing ow much these kids MOVE!

I didn't read any of the posts b/c i am in a hurry so sorry if this is repetitive but i just wanted to post that my Fitbit Flex gave me a terrible rash (deem said maybe a latent nickel allergy?). I haven't worn it in over a year and I still have this very itchy rashy spot on my hand/wrist!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: He told me yesterday that we couldn't have pizza for lunch, go paddle boarding, then have cupcakes because it wasn't healthy. We could have either pizza or cupcakes in one day.

And what did you say in response? Are you worried about orthorexia or healthism?

I asked what he'd rather have instead. We ended up having pizza, paddle boarding, and having frozen yogurt. He also considered having a chicken Caesar salad and cupcake. I'm not concerned with it. He still has treats fairly regularly, he just looks at the bigger picture. if he really wanted a cupcake with buttercream frosting, that's what he would have had. i was a D1 athlete and have competed in Olympic Weightlifing for the past 6 years and I don't diet. I've always emphasized that my food choices are part of my lifestyle and not a diet. Some days I eat a lot of fat because my shoulders hurt, some days I eat a ton of carbs because I'm just worn out and need the glycogen. I would rather he sees from an early age that food is fuel and uses it to his advantage. He swims competitively and has figured out how to eat around his practice and meet times to get the best performance. It's actually very cool to see.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have no idea how much it costs, but would not buy one for my DD who is 12. The purpose of it is to track how much you move, how many calories you burn, etc., right?

I simply don't want my kid to focus on numbers in relation to movement and health in that way. She's not the obsessive type, but I want her to focus on how good and strong and capable her body feels when she runs or does gymnastics or ice skating.

(I don't know of any of her friends who have one.)

This is why we got rid of our scale. My DD (who was still quite young at the time) was OBSESSED with weighing herself. I know that she just thought it was fun to see the numbers, but it made me uncomfortable and so we got rid of it. I think even a nonobsessive kid can easily get caught up in the numbers rather than on having a healthy relationship with her body and doing activities because it makes her feel good.

I'm with these two.

We got the Garmin Vivofit for our 8y old last Christmas. He wears it everyday and never takes it off - except for showers. He just looks at it for the number of steps he gets (he gets far more in school that I do at work!) and is always trying to beat his 'record.' And he competes with his sitter for the number of steps they get.

It has worked great for my kid.

Anonymous wrote: He told me yesterday that we couldn't have pizza for lunch, go paddle boarding, then have cupcakes because it wasn't healthy. We could have either pizza or cupcakes in one day.

And what did you say in response? Are you worried about orthorexia or healthism?

I got my 7 yr old son the most inexpensive pedometer I could find on Amazon. It was under $10. He was happy counting steps and he wore it every day for a week or two. Every now and then he puts it on again but has mostly lost interest. He wasn't interested in all of the options that the fitbits and expensive ones could do anyway.

Anonymous wrote:I have no idea how much it costs, but would not buy one for my DD who is 12. The purpose of it is to track how much you move, how many calories you burn, etc., right?

I simply don't want my kid to focus on numbers in relation to movement and health in that way. She's not the obsessive type, but I want her to focus on how good and strong and capable her body feels when she runs or does gymnastics or ice skating.

(I don't know of any of her friends who have one.)

+1 to this.

I'd say no for sure.

Also agree that it's possible the kids just lose interest in a month or so anyway and it'll just be something that ends up in a drawer.