
Parents Revolt Over Fisher-Price Infant Seat With Face-Level iPad Mount  - davidsmith8900
http://www.digitaltrends.com/gadgets/parents-dislike-infant-seat-ipad-mount/
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PhasmaFelis
> _CCFC director Susan Linn said “Babies thrive when they are talked to,
> played with and cuddled, not when they are alone with a screen.”_

Let me guess. Two-parent household with enough money for regular day care,
right?

I know a single mother who spends literally every single waking moment with
her baby, not a moment to herself, and it's destroying her sanity. She _needs_
electronic baby distracters just to get enough downtime to remain fit to care
for her child. Fuck these sanctimonious pricks who think poor people don't
count.

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ok_craig
As someone who really doesn't know, is it _actually_ necessary to have an
adult watching a baby every moment of its existence?

~~~
sfjailbird
Just because you are not watching them, doesn't mean that they have to be
glued to a screen. They could be exploring their environment or other things
that engages their motor skills and other senses.

I wonder how many commenters here have children? A screen with moving images
and sounds is absolutely hypnotic to a small child, and they _will_ get stuck
in front of it and sit staring for hours. When it is turned off, they will
incessantly beg for it to be turned on, to the detriment of all other
activities.

~~~
LeeHunter
This. Given the choice of dealing with a world that is always shiny, bright,
cheerful, smooth, clean, and instantly responsive and a world that is
frustrating, demanding, ambiguous, unyielding etc an infant (and a helluva lot
of adults) will remain transfixed by the screen to the detriment of their
physical and mental development.

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vacri
_However, it’s important to note that the seat can be used normally without an
iPad._

I find it hard to believe any of the critics were concerned that it might not
work without an ipad.

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alrs
[http://blogs.artinfo.com/lacmonfire/files/2013/05/clockwork_...](http://blogs.artinfo.com/lacmonfire/files/2013/05/clockwork_brainwash.jpg)

This is Kubrick.

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eru
This linked product
([http://www.ctadigital.com/item.asp?item=3016](http://www.ctadigital.com/item.asp?item=3016))
is even better.

~~~
davidsmith8900
\- Nice link. Thanks for it.

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mjfisher
I can't be the only one who thinks tablets have the potential to be an
extremely positive early-stage developmental and educational aid? Of course,
abandoning your child in front of an iPad for hours on end is not good
parenting - no one is suggesting it is. Plonking your little one in front of a
TV for hours is just as bad for the same reason.

There's no reason at all why focused play on a tablet now and again shouldn't
take its place alongside books (those great ones with the thick chewable
cardboard pages), dolls, chunky plastic diggers, balls and building blocks -
and TV, now and again.

Getting in and playing with computers fairly early did me a world of good, and
allowed me to much more effectively develop my interests. I still have an
enduring love of dinosaurs thanks to an old DOS program called Burt's
Dinosaurs. I played on games that taught me basic arithmetic. I learned how
all manner of things worked. It was great! And in a world where technology
itself is getting to be so central to everyday life, it is much better to
learn how to be familiar and comfortable with it than to run away and pretend
that we can insulate our children from it forever.

Tablets are interactive, media-rich, the children that play on them develop
amazing coordination, and it's a format that can provide great material
wrapped up in a way that makes learning fun for children.

I can only guess that so many are uncomfortable with the idea of this product
because it suggests prolonged unsupervised play, rather than problems with
tablets themselves?

~~~
sentenza
What's most troubling is that it will most likely used for passive
consumption, not unsupervised play.

My kid is quite sharp, but she couldn't use the computer mouse before 3 and
touch screens before 2 years of age. Assuming that this is normal, what could
children < 2 possibly do with it except passively consume?

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zaqokm
I have a feeling many of the peopel who are complaining will end up sitting
their child in front of the TV in years to come. A product like this may be
useful as a entertainment device for the child and can be combined with
parental involement.

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maaku
As a parent, this is disgusting. I would like to hope that it fails because no
one buys it, but sadly I do not think that will be the case.

~~~
rurounijones
Did you read this :
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6893190](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6893190)

And did it affect your opinion?

~~~
maaku
No. I have _two_ little ones at home (2yo and 6 weeks), and no steady
employment. Of course I can't afford daycare. My wife and I have off-time
measured in the minutes per 24-hour period. I seriously can't remember the
last time I got a full nights sleep. But I am more resolved about this matter
than before my wife and I had kids.

Being a parent is an awesome responsibility. You more than anyone or anything
else shape who you kid becomes, and how they develop is determined by what you
allow to be brought into their lives. The damage done by passive screentime,
especially at such a young age is immense. _It alters the personality of your
child._ It kills creativity and playful inventiveness. Which, by the way, are
the core elements to success no matter what you doing in life. These parents
are - little by little - doing life-long damage to the psyche of their
children for the transitory and selfish reward of a few minutes downtime.

That is, as I said before, disgusting.

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onedev
Just don't buy it then?

~~~
a3n
Fundamentally yes, but it's worth commenting on, as we all have an interest in
discouraging the next generation coming up wit developmental problems. More
fundamentally, people have the right to protest.

If Amazon sold cigarettes specifically made for children, I wouldn't buy them
and I would protest.

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orbitingpluto
Literally, WALL-E.

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Vitaly
WTF to revolt about? You don't like it - don't buy it. Someone else wants it -
let them have it, its not your "right" to force everyone to your opinion.

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wslh
Just when I was trying to move the iPad outside of the family! Now, my 19
months toddler only wants to watch all different Gangnam Style videos in
YouTube.

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diminoten
Maybe mom's using it to monitor her baby during a nap through FaceTime!

~~~
hiharryhere
Pretty expensive way to go about it

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drill_sarge
If it was for a normal toilet and a laptop I would buy

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Super_luigi
going to the x-mas list in 3... 2...

