xbox dilema

[daisydoo]

Hi x

Right so my 5 year old (6 in December) is begging us for an xbox for xmas....ages away I know!! Thing is his closest friends at school either have one or more often have an older sibling with one.
For the record I think they are extortionate!! For this reason, Ive set up a secret savings account since Jan putting £30 a month aside with the intention of buying him one for joint Xmas & Birthday present.
Thing is both me and my husband really dont want him to have one. I dont think he's old enough, I dont fancy 'losing him' to yet another gadget (he has a tablet which he'd be on 24/7 if we'd let him) and I think a lot of the games are too old for him and overpriced.

But...his friends all play on them. So we're torn. Do we get him one so he can feel 'part of it' or stick to our guns and wait til he's 7 next Xmas? Do your kids use an xbox? Are they not as bad as I think?

Thanks xxx

 

[OmarsMum]

We have one but it's not his.

We limit it's use, he doesn't have time to use it anyway but I hate the controller games, when he plays the football game he gets fixated and he gets angry if he loses. He is allowed to play the football game or racing once a week only.

His week is full even on weekends. If he miss uses it I take away the controllers for a week and if he argues about it I extend the duration to 10 days. I had to take them away once only and since then he started to follow the rules regarding the Xbox use.

He also doesn't use the iPad much. he doesn't have time

 

[LilFooshFoosh]

Our DS is turning 5 in August, he has used our Xbox (it is mine & DH's, we had it since before DS was born) a few times and it isn't so bad. We do severely limit his access to electronics though. He is only ever allowed to play with them when we are with him/playing too, he always has to ask first and he only gets 30 minutes max at a time. He would much rather play with his toys because he really isn't good at using the controls but he still gets to feel like part of the gang with the other kids at school. He can also only play cooperative games, he likes the Lego ones and Disney infinity, but as I said he isn't good at it so he ends up running in circles while DH does the actual "work". We also limit his tv access too though. We find he starts acting out when he has been watching too much and we tell him it's time to turn it off, when we limit the time of day and length of time he can watch for he is much more pleasant.

I think it depends on your child. If DS was addicted to our tablet I, personally, wouldn't introduce a new electronic. We got DS a TAG leap reader pen and books for his 3rd bday and he throughly enjoys that...much more than the Xbox and I am happy with it as it is educational- he frequently tells me trivia tidbits he has picked up from it.

(As an aside, he also isn't allowed to say "kill", we use "defeat" instead- this is a side effect of the types of games available.)

As I said, I think it depends on your child's temperament but this has been my experience.

 

[Pearls18]

Tbh my 4 year has never shown any interest in our Xbox, but if he wanted one and I decided to get one I wouldnt get him one for himself, I would say it's for the family and have it in the living room (or "public" space) and then buy the games as the present, just to avoid it being monopolised really and it would be easier to monitor length of time. It's not something that's occurred to me yet as I don't think DS would understand the controller, he hasn't got a tablet yet though, I'm considering one for this year when he's 5.

 

[Tasha]

I don't think the games on Xbox are really suitable for children that young, just my opinion though.

 

[Pearls18]

I was trying to think what games would be suitable, Disney infinity? Hubby has a Lego game he got in a bundle he's never played, I assume that's a kids game.

 

[Tasha]

Yeah they're aren't many Marine. Maybe terraria or mine craft too. My eleven year old has an Xbox and really it's only now that there are more games that are suitable. We have a family play station too and the variety for younger children is better on that IMO. I think it's because Xbox is more aimed at online gaming (not that you have to just that's the target market).

Daisy, I would stick to your guns. Peer pressure will always be part of our children's lives but we need to ensure they feel able to say no to doing things because others are.

 

[OmarsMum]

Omar plays with a Disney CD (without controllers), another adventure CD from 3+, FIFA, car racing (those with controllers) & he likes the dance CD & my exercise CD and those are also without controller. I prefer the Kinect games as they are interactive, I'm not a fan of the controller games.

 

[Wriggley]

That's a tough one because I dislike game consoles but at the same time I wouldn't want my son to feel different from all his friends

I agree with a pp about getting it as a family thing and having it in the living room for all to enjoy - kinect is fab to play as a family and that way he can still play what his friends are playing but you can limit the amount of time

My 4 year old has no interest in TV/our Xbox/ tablets he's a very out doors child who just wants to be up the skatepark on his skateboard or out in the forest exploring.

I'm really hoping school dont change that

 

[daisydoo]

Thanks for everyone's comments xx I think we'll stick to our guns and wait til he's a bit older xxxx

 

[lindseymw]

Joshua has asked for an Xbox as one of his friends has one. We have said no. We have an older Wii and he's never been interested in playing it so I am not prepared to spend that amount of money on something I know he won't use.

 

[Midnight_Fairy]

Skylanders?

My 10yr old doesnt have his in his room though,is in lounge x

 

[Moomette]

We've got an Xbox that DH bought for himself when DD1 was just a baby, and DD1 has a couple of Kinect games that she plays, but nothing with the controllers as I think she'd be too young to use them properly. She plays the Nick Jr dancing game and kinect Adventures and Sports, which I think are okay, but she only plays them very occasionally if the weather is rubbish or we're having a lazy day at home.

 

[BrittRashel]

We have a PS3 but it's not Matt's. It's actually my husband's but Matt has been playing on it since he turned 5. The only thing I like about it is that there are some games that he and I can play together so it's nice to have something to do with him that he is interested in.

 

[Rags]

My 5 year old son has been pleading with me for and Xbox or Wii for a couple of months now as he is desperate to play Skylander. I'm not a great fan of games consuls anyway and have told him that he can't have it at this age. My compromise is to allow him to upgrade the tablet we both use, with money he was given on previous birthdays which I put away. This will let him play the game he is really keen on but let us keep to the same rules he already has about the amount of time he is allowed on the tablet.

 

[RachA]

We have a wii that OH got for his birthday 7 years ago. DS now has 2 games for it (Lego Batman and Lego Harry Potter).
I'm not a big believer in buying things like games consoles for children as I just don't think they appreciate the cost of them.
I don't mind buying games that are specific for the child for them to use on a family console.

At the end of the day you are the parent and peer pressure starts so young but you get to say yes or no. I've been fairly fortunate so far in that if my 7 year old says 'I want x because y has got one' and I say no and explain why (too expensive/don't need one etc) then he actually accepts it. He's been wanting the Mibecraft books for over 2 years now and we allowed him to buy them with his pocket money last weekend. I know for a fact that had he got them two years ago he would have got bored of them after 2 days but because he's waited he's been so excited about them. I think he's taken them with him everywhere he can and has been reading them in his bed (he doesn't like reading generally!).

 

[mum140381]

mine are a bit spoilt by there dad but they love there game consoles i have 6 children but in our household we have 6 ps3 1 xbox 1 wii dsi3d it might seem a lot but 4 children are older and husband has 1 of course my son also has a ps4 that was 500.00 for christmas i think you can pick up xbox cheap now the xbox one has come out and these days its quite normal for them all to like electronic gadgets x

 

[MoonLove]

Thanks for everyone's comments xx I think we'll stick to our guns and wait til he's a bit older xxxx

When I was 10 and my sister was 6, my parents took is to buy a PS2. It was me who wanted one (I'm still a gamer now) but it was 'for both of us'. We played together, suitable games just like skateboarding etc, but my sister struggled to properly use it and got upset that she wasn't as good as me. A couple years later the PS2 went in my bedroom and my parents bought her the original Xbox, so we could have one each - I was by then playing games of 12 age ratings, so they were too old for her.

She never ever played the Xbox, it just 'became' mine. It was a novelty thing for her really, she was too young.

Me and my husband have an Xbox each and we will let my 4yo play on it soon. She has tried a racing game once before (she LOVES cars) but struggles to control different buttons. We'll allow her to try things like Minecraft when she's nearer five.

I wouldn't get her one of her own if she asked, I don't think it's about the games being unsuitable, cos there's many things to choose from, I just think its too much money for something that I fear would wind up being a novelty.