Am I the only one who dislikes "Electronic toys"?

[PMJ]

I feel like such an old fart... and such a bad mom... We have a LF laptop and a few other noisy (FP) toys...and I REALLY DISLIKE THEM...

All DD does, is bang at it, press different buttons, and increase the volume.... I guess she is learning... kinda / sorta, but I feel like these electronic toys do not promote creativity or any independent thought...

I know a few of these types of toys is ok, but they seriously drive me nuts! I don't even have the LapTop out all the time; she only gets it when she is really fussing and I use it to calm her down. Luckily, she has not figured out where it hides out. :)

[ahisma]

I hate them too!

Honestly, I don't even get to the point of considering their educational value. I just can't stand the beeping and the noise! We don't have a playroom so all of the toys are in our living room. I can' handle a drum, but not beeping. No way.

[hellokitty]

I hate them too. When the batteries die, I don't replace them.

[Melanie]

Nope, MEEEE!!! I only had a very few that I could stand with Ds, then one of those favorites lived to see Dd. That's it. No annoying noisey toys here, my kids make the noises in their play.

[stillplayswithbarbies]

nope. we don't buy electronic toys. Wait, I take that back. We do have a few that play classical music.

I just don't see any redeeming value in them and they are annoying.

[niccig]

I hate them too. When the batteries die, I don't replace them.

:yeahthat: some never got batteries installed in the first place. DS didn't know there were lights or sounds.

ILs deliberately gave us noisy electronic toys as I said I didn't want any - that's their prerogative and mine is to never put batteries in them or get rid of the toy ASAP.

My house, my kid, I'll decide which toys stay.

[California]

I especially hate the ones that make spooky noises when the battery is dying. Or when my kids leave one on my bed, and I roll over and am startled out of my sleep by a stuffed animal talking to me. AAAHHH!! :)

[Uno-Mom]

Hate 'em.

Fyi - you *can* find studies that show they are harmful for the rather large percentage of kids who are vulnerable for sensory disorders. But... you can find a study to support just about any viewpoint, so I don't put a huge amount of faith in those studies. :) What I do know is there is a 100% risk they make this Mommy lose lose her everlov'in mind. Truly.

You don't have to have them in your house. You really don't! We have exactly two: each set of grandparents gifted one. We have the Mozart cube (which is actually pretty cool) and a fairly low-key soft laptop. The laptop stays in the car. Neither gets much play. When g-parents buy more toys like that, they get kept at g-parent's house! (All g-parents are ok with this rule, we're not rude about it.)

[fumofu]

We had the Tiny Love musical mobile when DS was small (we retired it when we lowered his crib at 8 months or so). We played the music when we placed him in the crib after diaper changes.

The only electronic toy that we have is the Baby Einstein Musical play and compose piano (http://www.amazon.com/Baby-Einstein-Count-Compose-Piano/dp/B0018Z8BBQ) that my IL's gave. For the first year DS was only interested in the non musical part. Now he's really into playing the classical songs and dancing. It's quite cute. We never put it at the higher volume.

IL's and other relatives have given electronic toys in the past, especially at DS's first birthday. I returned all of them.

[hoodlims]

I have one small box just for "noisy toys". The super obnoxious ones have been "accidentally" left at friend's houses. :icon_twisted:

[MommyAllison]

:yeahthat: some never got batteries installed in the first place. DS didn't know there were lights or sounds.



Yes, same here. Often, friends and cousins will come over and bring the toys to me saying "This needs new batteries", but my kids generally don't even notice. The noise drives me nuts, and batteries aren't free anyway, so skipping the batteries is a win-win, IMO. :) Agreeing with another PP too - noisy toys from the ILs, stay at the ILs.

[daisymommy]

Oh gosh no. You have LOTS of company here!
Do a search for "Simplicity Parenting". It's a book many of us have read and discussed.
But yes, anyway, we do simple, classic, open ended, often wooden toys.
I think we have 1 battery operated toy here.

I like things such as:
-Books
-Puzzles
-Blocks
-Vehicles that children push on their own
-Figure people and animals, dinosaurs
-Wooden play kitchen, dishes, food, shopping cart
-Dolls and accesssories
-Musical instruments
-Hand puppets
-Farm & animals

You get the idea, but no batteries, blinking lights, noise, etc.

[brittone2]

Not a fan. MIL sometimes buys them, and they end up in the donate bin pretty quickly. Honestly, I don't even think my kids have enjoyed them all that much.

I did buy DS2 a FP learning home and he does enjoy it.

Our most played with stuff is similar to Daisymommy's list.

[overcome]

I'm with you. 100%

[Kymberley]

Most of ours are packaged up and going to charity. There are a handful that might stick around. I was going back and forth yesterday about keeping a few, but DH talked some sense into me last night. :D

[Katigre]

We have a rule that goes like this:

Toddlers? 1 battery-operated toy
Preschool? 2 battery operated toys
Kid? 3 battery operated toys

We stick by that rule and return/get rid of any toys that go over that limit. This significantly cuts down on the pseudo-'educational' toys (b/c for some reason companies seem to believe that toddlers learning letters is the central sign of quality educational progress - nevermind all the other thought processes required for life-long success and achievement).

But as kids get older, the educational battery toys disappear in favor of more interesting battery operated toys like reading lights, electric car tracks, and walkie talkies - and I'm more ok with those (though I do hate how many batteries they use and how polluting that is. We've got a big bag to take to the recycling place so they don't dump toxins into landfills).

[lizzywednesday]

I don't like things that "do for" my LO; it makes me wonder if she's really learning how to play and keep herself engaged in play or if she's learning that the toy will do it.

We have a handful of electronic toys - a play cell phone, a light-and-music ring stacker and a singing camera - but the rest are regular, run-of-the-mill, use-your-imagination toys.

It makes my life 200% quieter!

[doberbrat]

We didnt have ANY battery op toys until dd turned 5ish. Even now, there are very very very few. She can admire them in the stores, play with them at other people's houses but I just dont want them here!

[lowrioh]

I'm not a huge fan but we have a few.
FYI- If you put masking tape over the speaker it dulls the sound :)

[MamaMolly]

I loathe and detest noisy toys. To the point that Lula's Abby Cadabby doll got a voice box-ectomy before I even gave her the doll. ;) Yep, I'm hard core. To heck with taking the batteries out!

Part of the problem is that it is just mindless noise. I'd much rather hear my kids use their imaginations and voice boxes.

[KpbS]

I'm not a huge fan but we have a few.
FYI- If you put masking tape over the speaker it dulls the sound :)

We've done something similar for the few we have. A couple were unbearably loud, like you would guess they were made for the hearing impaired, and we taped a cotton ball over the speaker(s). Problem solved :)

[brittone2]

When I was working in EI, the SLPs handed out a list every year of the highest decibel toys. Some can truly be damaging to hearing in their opinion.

http://www.asha.org/about/news/tipsheets/Watch-Out-for-Noisy-Toys.htm

This says the new and updated list is published each November:
http://www.asha.org/public/hearing/Noisy-Toys/

[Momit]

We're not fans either! We follow the Simplicity Parenting model and do mainly books, puzzles, duplos, wooden trains. I haven't purchased any of the noisy, battery operated toys but we have kept a few that we've gotten as gifts - cars that make noise, fridge phonics, those books that you push buttons to make sounds. The really obnoxious ones are given away or used without batteries if possible.

[emily]

Hate them and we have too many in the house!

One of my least favs is the Melissa & Doug puzzle with the cars/trucks etc that makes sounds. The thing drove me nuts! Every night when we turned the lights off in the family room, the ambulance sound would go off!

[MontrealMum]

We own very few electronic toys and most of those don't have batteries in them ;) Others that were gifts mysteriously disappeared. I find them noisy and annoying and would much prefer that my DS play with toys that require him to use his imagination.

[hellokitty]

:yeahthat: some never got batteries installed in the first place. DS didn't know there were lights or sounds.

ILs deliberately gave us noisy electronic toys as I said I didn't want any - that's their prerogative and mine is to never put batteries in them or get rid of the toy ASAP.

My house, my kid, I'll decide which toys stay.

Oh and yeah, the extra obnoxious electronic toys go to gma and gpa's house, most esp since they are the biggest offenders of buying the most obnoxious toys. My brother and sil also had a knack for buying obnoxious toys. Seriously, if a toy is SOOO loud, that it keeps going off during an OOS drive back for the holidays that you have to MUFFLE it with stuff, don't freakin' give it as a gift! I was so irritated to hear how annoyed they were with the toy, THEY bought, while traveling home for the holidays (kept going off in the car when they hit a bump), but they still gave it to my child??? DH says it's payback time, since they have a kid now too.

[brittone2]

Hate them and we have too many in the house!

One of my least favs is the Melissa & Doug puzzle with the cars/trucks etc that makes sounds. The thing drove me nuts! Every night when we turned the lights off in the family room, the ambulance sound would go off!
My friends had a similar M&D puzzle and used to say the exact same thing. It was possessed. ;)

[BayGirl2]

My friends had a similar M&D puzzle and used to say the exact same thing. It was possessed. ;)

We have the train version of that puzzle but it's never seen batteries. DS absolutely loves it as a puzzle.

I'm not a fan of the meaningless noise toys. My Mom seems to like to send those since she knows I won't buy them. I don't mind the ones with songs that have a reasonable volume, like the Leapfrog music table or FP Learning Home. DS really does enjoy singing along with those or making the music play. But he also has open ended instruments like drums and a xylophone. I see no need for a truck with flashing lights and sirens that drives itself. He's capable of pushing and making noises for a wooden truck.

[vludmilla]

I hate them too. I used to hide the electronic toys that I hated and not bring them out unless DD asked for them which fortunately didn't happen that often.

[MontrealMum]

My friends had a similar M&D puzzle and used to say the exact same thing. It was possessed. ;)

We have the M&D numbers one and for the longest time when you walked past it it would say "zero". But not every time, just sometimes. I took the batteries out.

[sarahsthreads]

They bother me less and less as the kids get older, but I really did hate them in the beginning. We didn't have a ton of them, and some (I'm looking at you maniacal giggling Elmo chair) disappeared or "lost" their voices rather quickly after entering the house. I did like some of the electronic toys - the leapfrog music table, the musical refrigerator letters (actually, we still have these, although most of the alphabet is under the refrigerator), and the mozart music cube thing...

Honestly, up until this past spring, I had both children convinced that only Daddy could change the batteries in a toy. But by the time he got home from work everyone usually forgot that something needed new batteries.

DD1 called me on it sometime in April and said "Mommy, you have a whole tool box, you must have a screwdriver you can use to open this and put in new batteries!" Sigh. The gig is up! But at this point I'm only ever asked to replace batteries in the Leapster, they don't have a ton of noise-just-for-the-sake-of-noise toys anymore.

(No, now they play recorders as loudly as they can, and fight over the one harmonica we have, and regularly create marching bands through the house with the toy drums and tambourine. Usually when I absolutely have to be on the phone for 5 minutes for something super important. The noisy toys were a lot quieter than that!)

Sarah :)

[AustenFan]

I hate them, and I've flat out told our families that we won't have them in the house. When DH's extended family buys battery operated junk for the kids, we leave it all at his parents' house. I've been really blunt about it. To the point that MIL just called me to say she'd gotten one of those books with buttons that make noise to help DD with potty training, but she wouldn't send it if I said no. I said yes, but she used it for five days while on the potty, and DH has already "lost" it.

[JoyNChrist]

They don't really bother me all that much. We don't typically buy them for our kids, but they've received tons of noisy stuff as gifts and they do get a lot of play. It's always so noisy at our house anyway...the toys don't even register. ;)

[SnuggleBuggles]

I don't really mind them. Some extra annoying ones find their way out of the way. Loud ones find their speakers covered up with tape.

Beth

[wimama]

Oh gosh no. You have LOTS of company here!
Do a search for "Simplicity Parenting". It's a book many of us have read and discussed.


I read the Simplicity Parenting book around the holidays last year and revamped DS toys. We had too many noisy toys and I purged most of them. I am not completely opposed to all toys that make noise. I limit them and hopefully chose those toys wisely.

DS is five now. He has a Lepster Explorer, Walkie talkies and we have a Playstation. DS gets about an hour on each on Saturday and Sundays. No electronic games on school days and none for about 2 hours before bedtime. He only plays the Playstation with DH. Other than that the only toys he has that make noise or lights are toys that those noises add to pretend play. Like the bell on the Playmobil School or lights/siren on a Firetruck. We took away the other noisy toys and added in toys/activities to boost creative play. Like easy access to art supplies, music instruments, a fort making supply basket, a bin of dress up.

I will let the newbie have a few noisy toys. I don't consider them too noisy though. Like her Symphony in Motion mobile, Bouncy seat music, Leap Frog Table, Leap Frog Frigdge Phonics. I guess toys with soft music doesn't bother me, noisy toys that limit imagination do.;)

[scriptkitten]

I hate them and I get really upset with relatives who continue to purchase them
For my kids despite my protests.

The only ones im ok with are the learning leapfrog sorts of devices, but only because my kids use them properly now. They aren't just banging on buttons.

[BebeRoo]

Agreed. Electronic toys are so annoying. I especially hate the ones that are motion sensitive. They eat up batteries like no tomorrow. Also, why do most of them require an odd number of batteries when the batteries are sold in even number? I seriously begin to think that these companies are in it with each other. Most of our toys are hand-me downs so when the batteries die we do not replace them.

[longtallsally05]

No, you're not alone. DH and I dislike any toy that requires a USB cable. We have come to a decision about it; this Christmas, if it comes with a USB cable, we're returning or donating that toy!

[KrisM]

I don't mind them totally. We liked the FP learning home a lot here. I have found they have fewer battery toys as they get older. Now, we have a couple Leapsters, a Nintendo DS, a couple Imaginext that make noise, and a play phone or two. I don't mind any of those.

[maestramommy]

We have the LF letter factory and farm animal thing. Also a couple of FP things. While I don't necessarily mind them, I find they have a very short play life. The kids get obssessed by them for a short while, then they're just forgotten. It makes me reluctant to invest in anything more advanced. I'm intrigued by the Tag books, but the stories aren't as interesting (imo) as the books that the kids read now.

Oh and FP toys are too.fricken.loud. We have tape over all the speakers.

[Indianamom2]

I don't really mind them. Some extra annoying ones find their way out of the way. Loud ones find their speakers covered up with tape.

Beth

This is pretty much us. DD had more noisy toys from us and everyone else. Only a few of them have really stayed (FP Learning Home, which I still like, Little People Farm House with Animal Sounds...DS LOVES this, toy cell phones, etc...)

Then there are some that I hate...with the Melissa and Doug Animal sounds puzzle right at the top of the list. That thing drove us nuts, cock-a-doodle-dooing late at night, meowing, barking..."ruff, ruff-ruff-ruff, Ruff, ruff-ruff-ruff"!