Why do 3-4 year olds need devices?
Kids entertainment evolves with the rest of society. Parents give kids devices for all the same reasons they give them other toys.
How is a child supposed to learn how to interact with people if you leave them with a device that might in fact teach them something, like counting and stuff, but that's not the case. Until the age of 4-5 your focus should be primarily to make your kid socially acceptable so they can participate in as many activities and get a chance to join as many conversations in the future as possible, you want to help them be social. Giving them a tablet will not help them become socialized at all, in fact it will just turn this around. You don't want that for your child. You want your kid to be liked, otherwise it will end up being miserable, think about it.
Spend every minute of your spare time with your baby, that's the way to do it, help them enter the society, by showing them how to interact with people.
Just wow. Sorry for your kids if you have any, or sorry for your childhood if this is what you were taught.
Sorry to be judgemental, but in 30+ years of raising kids, never did the word "tedious" come to mind.
I came here to judge others. Don't make me feel emotions!
The 2 parents (or maybe 1 single parent) are supposed to do it mostly by themselves in what is called a nuclear family. That is a quite recent development. Earlier it was common to live in larger groups (like extended families) so the work of raising kids was spread out over more people.
The other thing is that is is no longer culturally acceptable to let kids roam by themselves. You always have to have them at arms length when they’re out. If you like to criticize parents for too much screen time, well, what are those kids supposed to do instead?
My daughter who is almost 3 is definitely exhausting.
Non stop, hyperactive at night goes to bed at midnight lately.
We play/do activities for like 12 hours a day. Plus work full-time.
She has a tablet with learning activities, very smart for her age and helped her advance (reads at "3rd grade" level). We let her play 30-60 minutes a day if she wants to, or we need a quick distraction while I make dinner or something.
Everyone I know, including my grandmother whose tended to 30+ kids agrees she is simply exhausting.
She's very interested in alot of things. Technology one of them.