Cell Phone for 6 Year Old

I don't understand .... why can't she use the home phone, or your phone? If she has her own phone to call whenever she wants...why can she just use your phone or home phone to call whenever she wants. I guess the extra expense doesn't make sense to me, to give a 6yr old a cell phone when she's not going to be anywhere you aren't where she can use your phone or the home phone to make a call to her father.

7 moms found this helpful

Hi

My husband has also deployed overseas and I understand the connection that children must keep. Let me ask you this, can you daughter not call anytime from home? If this phones is not going to school with her than she will be home when she calls him/has the phone. If you have a cell and you are out he can call your phone. Are you thinking about when she is at play dates?

5 moms found this helpful

You say "Thanks for your help" but it doesn't appear that you are asking for help on this issue. Is there a question you wanted to ask us or are you just telling us you're getting your daughter a cell phone?

3 moms found this helpful

I have heard of the Firefly phone that one mom suggested. I think that's a great idea.
I don't care if people are wondering why she can't use your phone. Of course she can, but I think you know what's best for your family and if this will be a special way for her to communicate with her dad, then go for it.
Blessings on your family and thank you for your family's sacrifices!

2 moms found this helpful

I don't see the point. Why can't the child use Mommy's phone when she feels like calling Daddy?

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AT &T has a family plan where you add another phone and share minutes. Under these circumstances, I think it would be ok for her to have a cell phone. I think I would just program his number into it. One thing you should think about is the schedule that your husband will be working so that she is calling at appropriate times. How much flexibility will he have in his job to take personal phone calls? I would not want her to be disappointed that he could not take her call. Another thing to consider is that there is a 2 hour time change between Texas and San Diego. Maybe make her a chart of when it is a good time to call.

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There is a great one out there, I think it is called firefly. It is specifically made for young kids. A couple of great features that it has: You can program it to only call certain numbers. It also has a great big button (red) for fire emergency's and a big button (blue) for the police. They are extremely sturdy as they are made especially for your little ones. God bless your husband while he is away and please thank him for his service to our country. God bless you and your daughter for supporting him, you 2 are heroes too!!!

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I think the general idea is not to incur long distance charges by calling from the home phone.

I want to second the firefly and the MiGo phones for your daughter. My two had their own fireflies (a long time ago AT&T carried them, I don't know if they still do) and they were a Godsend. Scouting events, if they let out early, I was a phone call away. If they walked to a friend's house down the street and they weren't home, a phone call to let me know they were on their way back was also a gift. It gave them a small sense of independence and knowledge that I trusted them to use the phone wisely. They didn't let me down.

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I can't help you with the cost. My cell phone bill is insane.. I just wanted to say thank you to your husband, you and your family. I know what a sacrafice serving is to all of you.
and, I think getting her a phone is a great idea to keep the two of them connected.

Good Luck and God Bless You All

1 mom found this helpful

My son got his cell phone at age 7 and it was for the very same reason. My husbands job wanted him to start traveling and they needed to stay in contact without my being the "middle man." We dont have a home phone only cell phones so it was only logical. Now almost 4 years later, he has done a wonderful job at not abusing his cell phone itself, or the priviledges that come with it. I am not really certain what your question is but for me tmobile offered to add an additonal line was only $10 per month and we share all the minutes between us.

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I remember seeing a commercial for a Disney phone that allowed you to program numbers in to specific people and it only allowed those numbers to call in. Might want to check it out.

You might want to look into getting her an iphone, not a new one, but a refurbished one. Why? She could picture text. The plan isn't super great so it might not match with what you want. Just be careful with the pay as you go plans, we had one and it actually ended up costing us over $35 a month because they charged a daily fee.

I bought my (6/7) yr old daughter one too last year. Her father and I divorced two years ago and while I get the (2) kids wed-fri (every week) and every other weekend, I feel and sleep much better with her having it. I even let her turn it off and keep it in her backpack while at school (she is mature enough to know when she's allowed to use it, etc) in case of some CRAZY strange emergency were to arise, or she misses her bus, etc. I use T-moble, which allows me to block any numbers I want to, I can track her minutes/calls/texts, i can block certain times of the days she's allowed to use it or not. There's endless "family allowances" that I can track- and LOVE those features! Trust your gut instincts- and may God bless your family situation- it's hard!

My husband was born at the Naval base in San Diego and grew up in Poway and Burmuda. It's too bad you guys can't just go for a couple of months and stay with him, or at least some long weekends and Spring Break. California is beautiful. I think the idea for a cell phone is pretty cool. I don't know any 6yr olds with their own phone. What a special idea.

Honestly, I think this is a great idea. I know she could easily use the home phone or your cell phone, but having her very own special phone to call daddy while he is away would definitely make her feel like she has more control over when she talks to him and help her feel more connected.

I'd like to suggest MetroPCS. There is no credit check, no contract. Boost Mobile is another one, but I'm not familiar with their particular company. I have MetroPCS for my teenage daughter and myself and we pay a total of 75 a month for unlimited local, long distance, texting, and internet. You can get a reasonably inexpensive phone and set her up with just local and long distance calling for a very minimal monthly cost and cancel the service when he comes back home.

Good luck!

With AT&T you can add a line for $9.99 a month and usually when your adding a line you will have to sign a new contract. Alot of stores are now offering free phones with a new line and contract. Go check it out. With the added line you can then get a family plan and share the minutes. Its alot cheaper than the pay as you go phones.

Something else you might want to do is get a web cam and use Skype to talk to him. My husband works in California for weeks at a time and the only way our kids (6 and 4 year old twins) can see him is via Skype. It makes their day when they get to talk to him. They even play games with him like hide and seek.

As for a phone, check on line and see if you can find a child's cell phone. I remember reading an article about phones that were made for young children. They had limited buttons, such as 911, but also had buttons that could be programmed for certain numbers. I found a few articles about cell phones for kids (http://pediatrics.about.com/od/otherparentingissues/i/kid...) but some of them are out of date. I'm sure someone still sells them.

I think the pay as you go phone might be your best bet. I got my kid a track phone( sp?) , you can but them anywhere, they are the green and blue cards/packaging...I got the cheapest phone ($20) and it came with free double the minutes for the life of the phone. It is $40 for 200 minutes, which is really 400 minutes and usually lasts about 2 months for my teenager...texting only uses 1/3 of a minute:)

Might be the cheapest route...and no biggie if she looses it. I think you have a sweet and wonderful idea...I am sure her and daddy will enjoy being able to chat/text whenever they want.

Have you considered using Skype on the computer? It's free, AND you get the added advantage of seeing each other using your web cam. My husband used to travel quite a bit to Asia, and we used Skype to help him and our boys keep connected. They could show Dad things , and get a tour of Dad's hotel rooms. Sometimes he would get them souvenirs and show them to them on the computer, getting them excited about what was coming home with him. Then if they did just want to call him sometime when we or he were not near a computer they just used my cell. Something to consider!

Pay as you go phones work great. That is the only cell my hubby and I carry. It will teach her how to budget her time when she talks with her daddy. You choose how much you put on the phone. I think it will be a great idea!

I have att to get another line added on your family plan it is only 9.99 but a 2 year contract.

We just got my oldest daughter her own phone with ATT and we added a line on our family plan. It is about 16.00 a month with taxes. She was able to pick, what I thought, was a pretty current type phone as the free phone. We did have to sign another two year contract. Both me and my husband have a phone and now she has hers. We have unlimited texting, our internet, and house phone and our bill runs about $150.00. I do believe there are too many younger kids with phones for no reason, but this sounds like a good reason to me. A girl needs to stay connected with her daddy and vice versa. Good luck.

If you think she will call a lot, I don't think a pay-as-you go is worth it. Try Metro PCS- the have plans (no contracts) for 30 bucks or so a month as long as you don't add texting and web stuff.

We did this when we moved away from the kid's grandparents a couple of years ago. We were able to get a free phone (2 yrs service) @ $10 a month through Sprint. It wasn't a Firefly or Disney phone but we were still able to call the phone company and block all but a few phone numbers (both incoming and outgoing). This helped alot with the separation as they were used to seeing thier grandparents all the time. We also have done Skye but actually the kids preferred the phone.

We have ATT plan and my daughter is on my plan. We both have IPhones so my plan runs about $190 a month by the time you add in the data plans, unlimited texting plan, etc.

I think having a text option is nice. We use that a LOT. Sometimes it is not a good time to "call" and a text connects you.

Good luck.

i think in your circumstances that is a great idea!pay-as-you-go phones are great, we have them! but if you already have ATT, it might be a better idea to add a phone line (if you don't mind signing another contract)...that way you do not have to worry about minutes.she can call him as often as she wants and no worries! (of course this depends on your plan...)

good luck!let us know what you come up with!

What a nice idea she will always know her Daddy is just a phone call away even when she can't call she will view that phone as her very own connection to him. I got my grand daughter a phone when she was 9. It was great when she or her sister missed the bus at school and she was able to call us. She keeps it in her back pack with the ringer off. We have never had any problems with her over using the phone. I got hers from Verizon. They have a phone especially designed for kids so they have limited use. Thank you too for your sacrafice I know it is hard when your husband is away.

I gave my niece a prepaid cell phone when she was about 10 years old. She learned to manage her minutes well and was put onto a regular plan. I think cell phones for kids are great. Alot of phone companies offer plans that let you put a minute allowance on your childs phone. att even offers a service that lets you track you child. This is a great idea. when my niece was 14 she had a friend that was walking home from school and a conviced child molester starting chasing her. the little girl lived in the same neighborhood as the school and she ran to a trusted neighbor. If that little girl had a cell phone she could have called 911. The neighbor call the police and they caught the guy. I think the cell phone would be great for her. It provides a way for her to speak to her dad and contact u or the police in a emergency at school. I would like to thank your husband for protecting this country and your whole family for making the sacrifices you do everyday by having your family seprated. I lived in california for 36 years and the weather was great most of the time. Just look out for jelly fish.