[ellairiesmom]

Wasn't sure where to post this one...

DD is almost 19 mos & loves, loves, loves music. We do a music class together once a week & she has a basket of great instruments as well as my real shakers & such from when I was in a local band before she was born. But she is also showing so much interest in playing with CDs, turning on the radio & such.

At first, I was thinking of grabbing one of the old Fisher Price pretend record players from ebay, but I really worry about the safety of the plastics from the 70's & also-how long will the same 6 plastic nursery/lullaby type 'cds' of songs hold her interest? Same thing with some of the current pretend cd players that are out there.

Z Rec had some nice suggestions for toddler mp3 players and protective cases with speakers for a parents ipod so your kids can listen without using headphones (http://www.zrecommends.com/category/...-media-players) but I feel like that is lacking in the hand/eye action an actual or pretend cd & player would give her...which she craves. Plus she will get to play with devices like that when she is older & for the rest of her life. I like the idea of something more 'old school'.

So in doing all this poking around, I was thinking...what about getting a cheap little cd player for a toddler to be able to carry around, but burning copies of cds for her so if she scratches them, it's ok. We could also download & burn some stories for her to listen to from some of those free websites out there. (and maybe I could then get caught up on laundry & really clean these floors once in awhile!

)

Any thoughts, ideas? Does anyone's toddlers use a real cd player? What about any other of these type devices? WWYTD (what would your toddler do?)

Thanks!

 

[LuckyTrish]

I LOVE how cute the little record players from the 70's are, but I do think they tend to get boring pretty quickly. The little girl I nanny for is 2.5, and her mom has one of those nice BOSE cd players. The little girl is easily able to select a cd, open the case, put the CD in, turn it on, and put the other CD back. She is a bit older then your DD, but I think that a cheap little CD player with burned CDs would be just the thing!! Try the local Goodwill or thrift store...the ones around where I live usually have some older ones that still work for a few bucks.

Good luck!

 

[camahdavi]

Hi,
My 2.5 DD loves music and dancing too. Her grandma recently got her one of these:
http://www.amazon.com/Imagination-En...0747979&sr=8-2

(There are much cheaper ones out there - not sure why this one is so expensive!)

But it's a great size and the buttons are pretty easy. My DD loves it and carries it around the house and garden. She hasn't quite figured out which button is the PLAY button but she's on her way there. We have the same approach that you've already suggested - let the CDs be hers so we don't freak out when they get scratched ect. We've also gotten her alot of books-on-cd which she hasn't shown that much interest in (except for Charlie and Lola Stories).

 

[flower01]

I wouldn't recommend a "real" cd player...and this is why. We had one in our bedroom on the floor for nighttime music. Once she started noticing it, problaby around 18 months, we let her play with it. She loved to open and close it, put cds and hit the buttons, etc. However, because it wasn't geared towards little ones, she would hit random buttons and then get really frustrated when the CD wouldn't play. Of course, she learned pretty quickly what the "Play" button was, but all of the skips, pause, etc were a little too much. Personally, I don't like toys that cause that much frustration and require that much help. Then after a couple months, the thing finally broke - i don't know what she did, but it just doesn't work anymore. It was relatively new and cheap, so who knows.

A better optio, I think, and what we are planning on getting her is a toddler geared MP3 player. Our friends have one and it really easy to use because there are only 4 buttons - and you get to pick what songs go in it!

 

[mamadelbosque]

We have one of those old record players and DS plays with occasionally, but not too much. I think a 'real' cd player would be pretty far beyond him at this point tbh... And CDs *can* brake and have very sharp edges when they do, which could be worrysome if you aren't watching them 100% of the time they're playing with them.

 

[Mama Shifra]

Well, there are some advantages to older plastic toys:

1. You are recycling the toy as opposed to having it be thrown away.

2. Any "offgassing" of the plastic has been done already (new plastics offgas the most).

3. It was probably made in the United States, where there were stricter safety policies (by the 1970s, the dangers of lead were well known in the United States and it's likely that the plastic would have been lead free from that period) as opposed to China where lead laden toys are still being made!

 

[LiLStar]

I found a kids CD player at goodwill for $2. Its mostly used for bedtime music but there's been times dd's played with it. she figured out pretty quick how to turn it on and switch between songs. She really likes switching which CD is in it too.