7 Yr Old Wants an Ipod Touch .... Ugh!

Try a nintendo DS. At half the price and with many game options it's more appropriate for a kid. It has a touchscreen as well and you can get somewhat educational games for it too.
And don't be afraid to say NO. No way I would ever get a 7 year old a $200+ i-pod touch because they are "fascinated" by the touch screen. That's ridiculous.
Even a DS is a stretch in my book. Not that they wouldn't enjoy it, I just think it way to "grown up" of a "toy" for a child that young. I want my kid to be a kid, not a tween at just 7! That includes going for age appropriate toys, even if they are asking for something else.

Good luck!

Your daughter wants what she wants and is digging her heels in. You don't want to get her that item, which is perfectly reasonable. Do find something appropriate for her and console yourself by checking out Mama's On Call's latest post in the Mamas to Mamas section called "The Spoiler". You'll be so happy you aren't One of Them...

I have worked with families who let their children have technology at inappropriate ages and have seen the fallout. Kids who get what they want, when they want it often have no idea of what it means to wait for something. Anticipation and desire is a good thing. An ipod touch at ten years old might seem long to wait, but if kids never have to wait for anything they want, where do we draw the line? The kids who had palm pilots to play with in early school ages (5 and 7, egad) are the ones demanding Nintendo DSs and personal handheld devices Right Now as soon as they come out. What then?

I'm also not a fan of the youngsters with headphones on phenomenon I see happening.:( We need more connected children, not less.

I don't have any suggestions in regard to toys (I'm very conservative and am a preschool teacher with a three year old) but just wanted to say "yeay" to see smart parenting in action!

My 4 & 6 yo enjoy theirs and have taken great care of them. Try finding one used to purchase, it makes it a little less expensive. Though they're not super expensive to begin with. And they can watch TV, play games, listen to music, etc with it. GL!

It really just depends on WHY she wants one.

Is she a music buff - then you can find a much less expensive MP3 player for her and pre-load it with appropriate music.

Does she want to play games? Then get an DXi - they have touch screens, and cameras built in. You can check Game Stop for used ones and for used games to keep the cost down.

You know the bottom line is you are the Mom and can say now and purchase her an alternative present.

My husband got one last year, and my son, who is almost 7, loves it. It is not his, but he plays it, and you can download games and things, but only after putting in a password, so you can pretty well monitor what they are playing. A DS might be an option also, my son asked for a ds last year (when he truned 6, and for christmas last year) we made him wait, and he is getting one this year for his birthday, it is still the main thing he asks for, and he handled it very well when he didn't get one last year, so I feel he is ready for it. Good luck!

hey girl. I feel you on that! my son is 8 and wants a laptop! i am an avid bargain shopper and have good luck finding awesome deals. i buy n sell on ebay and i get a lot of stuff there for way less than in stores. There are copycat devices similar to the ipod touch, touchscreen and all, i have seen them for like $50. $50 for one of those isnt so bad, i dont think. i think i have seen them on buy dot com also. if you sign up for their emails they will send you their specials for the day, lots of good deals there too! i am gonna get my son a used netbook for christmas, of course for cheap!

Maybe it's because I am a younger monther (had my first at 20 and now she is 7) but I don't really see the benefit in holding kids back from technology. Technology is what rules our world now. And an IPod Touch would be for her to listen to music, correct? So what's the big deal? Maybe it's just me like I said, but if my daughter asked for one, and I wasn't done Christmas shopping - haha, I'd get her one. It's not like she is asking for a car. :o).

We won't get our son, who's 10, an iPod touch despite his repeated requests. There are a few reasons: One, it's darn expensive and a little too nice for him. Two, it allows Internet use, and we don't want him using the Internet unsupervised. Sorry, I can't answer your question about alternatives because I don't know of any. We did get him an Ipod nano. Sometimes I regret it, because it gives him a great way to isolate from the family, but oh well.

Sorry but I would just say no! Maybe one of these?
http://www.amazon.com/Kidz-Delight-Datamax-Touchscreen-Le...

If you don't want to get her one, tell her no and stick with it, she will be fine. :)

I have an iPod touch that I bought when my Nano was messing up (figured it out, works fine now) but I bought the Touch so we could take it whe nwe traveled for our adoption, to have movies, music, games, etc all in one spot and to entertain our new 3yr old on the airplanes coming home.

*I* love my iPod touch. My 8yr old son, 5yr old son, and 3yr old daughter love my iPod touch. They all get limited useo f it, my 8yr old can play all the games and uses it for the calculator, looking up things for school, etc with the wifi. He's very smart and mature and does well with it. My 5yr old loves the games and has lots of learning games on it. My 3yr old... she has no idea how to play it but when push comes to shove I will turn on a kids TV show for her. At restaurants we play tic tac toe, solitaire, bowling, etc and its fun.

BUT a 7yr old having her own.... no. Its expensive, its not really delicate but 7yr olds aren't really easy handling either. At this point I would just tell her no and stick with it. She will get over it.

My son also loves it (also 7). Yesterday I took the day off from work to spend with him and told him that we could do whatever he wanted. All he wanted was to hang out at the Apple store. The Ipod touch is really cool, but I can't bring myself to spend the money. I am looking on craigslist/ebay for a used on. There are lots of other knock-off styles if you go to any chain store, but they can't all use the downloadable games and apps.
Let us know if you find a reasonable alternative.
Thanks,
C.

You should get it for her. She'd love it.

We have one that my 2 year old uses and she loves it. We have educational games and video apps for her. Although we limit how much she uses it (prob 10 minutes/day), it is a lifesaver when we're at restaurants and the food is taking too long to arrive. IMO as long as you set limits for how much she can use it and what she can use it for, then go for it!!!