Webkinz Addiction - I Don't like It

I have a 5yr old boy that has 15 webkinz. He loves them too. and he told me they cant die. Once there at 100% if you dont play with them they stay that way, only if you play witht hem do them need to be fed and taken care of. He goes through times where he goes on all the time and then he forgets for a while, he does lots of other things and still loves them and has to get the pet of the month, but its fun. When he got his first one it was much more crazy than it is now.
Hope this helps
K.

It will pass. My 6 year old received two webkins as Christmas gifts. Life was all about the webkins for maybe two months. As with most toys the "newness" soon wore off and she has not been on webkinz world for months.(she still cuddles with the animals from time to time)

They don't die. My daughters both play with their webkinz online and have often not gone online for weeks if not a month with nothing wrong with their pets. I hope her addiction gets better for you.

Oh mom, the webkinz can't die but if your daughter stays logged in to her account all day long (but doesn't actually use the computer)her webkin can be sent to the hospital. Then you have to feed them and play with them to get them healthy. But...If you log out and don't use the computer for days at a time your webkinz will just stay as they were untill you log in again. I only let my kids use their account once or twice a week because it is so addicting. good luck

They wont die...hee hee. But my son only has certain times where he is allowed on the computer, and its only a half hour. So I would just let her know that her pet is sleeping and will wait for her visit. good luck!

First of all, they won't die. My son has a few and I've played on the site too. They can go months without being checked and they will be fine. My niece got out of control with her webkinz too. My sister took the computer away from her. Sounds like that might be what she needs right now. Webkinz is addicting(I've found myself playing games for hours!)...so limiting the time spent on it will probably help.

Hi C., We are webkinzs house too, no worries they don't die, but your daughter does have to log out. We do limit computer use for our little guy (7) to a half hour a few times a week. What is kind of cool about these little scourges though, is he can "play" with his cousins and friends from other states. We make a quick call, log on simultaneously and go to the group play area. Good luck! (hee! hee!) :)

I understand completely about the webkinz addiction. My son is 6, LOVES webkinz, owns 8 of them! One of his classmates owns 20 of them! The kids loves this website. My son has shed many tears about webkinz, when he accidently gets logged off, loses a game, loses money, etc. But I just rub his back and tell him its ok, sometimes you lose, sometimes you win. A hug usually helps him get through this. Here's what I do know. Your webkinz pal cannot die. He can get sick, and then you have to take him to the Dr and purchase medicine or food to get him well. I actually love the site, its very safe, the games are age appropriate, my son has learned some lessons from it, like losing and being a good sport, and caring for another is a good age appropriate responsibility. His usage was averaging about 1 hour a day, too much, so we set a time limit of 30 minutes a day. He wasn't happy about it, but we've stuck to it explaining that that is our rules, he doesn't have to like but he has to follow it. When he is logged on, we set a timer and he now has become pretty good about logging off when the timer goes off. You might try that and see if that helps. Also we don't allow him to play webkinz until after breakfast. Again he doen't like this, but that's the rules. One last thing. My son LOVES to get and send mail from webkinz to his online buddies. This too is very safe, you can only choose from a predetermined list of sentences like, "Your my best friend". So I have allowed him to check his mail once in the afternoon (he usually plays webkinz in the morning). Then he has to log back off. You might try playing some of the games with your daughter like Quizzy's Word Challenge, its a great way to increase spelling skills and I bet she'll just love playing it with you.

Hope this helps!

Hello C.!
Sadly, in a way, I think all parents can relate to this somehow. My almost 12 year old daughter is constantly on the computer, instant messaging her friends. What I do is I reward my daughter *Computer Time* for every chore or task she completes, along with good behavior. Also, I don't believe the Webkinz die because my daughter also was obsessed with Webkinz for a while, but soon lost interest. It just so happens that today, after about 2 months, she decided to check her Webkinz, and they were not dead, just *Sick*. My daughter does tell me though that she thinks they can run away. Your best solution: Limit your daughter's computer time, so that she not only can check on her penguin and have enough time to feed it and play games, but she will also be more assured that her penguin is safe, and she can go on to do a larger variety of activities. I hope this helps, and the best of luck for you and your daughter!

Cheers,
L.

NO the webkinz can NOT die. My children are webkinz crazy too, but I have had to remove computer priviledges once or twice and when my child returned to webkinz world the little pet was exactly as they had left them...even jumping on a trampoline for a week ; )

I suggest you place some limits on your childs time in Webkinz world. For example not until she has gotten dressed, brushed teeth and had breakfast, after homework is done or only for 1/2 hour a day. If you think that is too restrictive can also allow her to earn more computer time, by having her do an extra chore or kind deed for someone. We do this in our family and it has worked well, goodluck...remember this is a fad and it too will pass.

Have you tried setting a time limit per day for Webkinz? We n eeded to do it for our son and i worked. He was able to go on for 30 minutes a day. He eventually tired of going online. Good luck. There was alot of yelling and crying but it worked for us.

I agree that Webkinz can be an addiction, my 8 year old has about 20. I have bought him maybe 1 of those and the rest came from grandparents, aunts and uncles, and friends. My kids are not allowed on the computer all the time, especially not every day. One of the rules I have found that works is telling my son that he needs to give me 15-20 minutes of reading, regardless of the time of day, if he wants to go on the computer. If it is that important to him, then he will be willing to give me the reading time. If it's not, then he won't.

The Webkinz will not die if you don't feed them every day. My son is on maybe once every 3-6 days and none of his have died yet. My other son is on even less then my oldest and none of his have died either.

Just remember that you are the parent and it's YOUR computer, not hers. I certainly would never cut an outing short so that my child could go on the computer. That behavior constitutes privileges being taken away, and usually the computer and the Wii are the first to go. And when the computer is taken away, it is usually for the whole weekend or until the end of the week.

I hope things get better soon.

C.,

No, the webkinz pets cannot "die" this is a rumor. If you check out the webkinz site yourself there is a section where you can ask questions and they addressed this issue of pets "dying" if you went to the doctor with them or something like that, they reassured players that their pet cannot be hurt in webkinz world.

Beyond that you will have to be very concrete with your daughter about exactly how much time she is allowed to play on the site and then set aside a specific time when she can play. We allow our daughters 30 minutes each evening after homework is done (bribery) (We do not watch any TV on weekdays). We set the oven timer for twenty minutes so they get a 10 minute warning and then again when there are 5 minutes left so they can feed, and put their pet to bed. Hope this helps.

J. L.

My children all have Webkinz....they were very excited when they first received them and wanted to go on the website all the time. That wore off pretty quickly. Now they play maybe once a month.....the Webkinzs can go at least that long and not even get hungry! They will not DIE, that is a school rumor.

I actually own a store that sells Webkinz... after two years of resisting the fad. Webkinz don't die if they are not fed. If they go many days without being fed or played with, their health and happiness meter will go down, but that will not affect the account's status at all. The account will become inactive after a year, unless another Webkinz pet is registered on the site under the same user.

I resisted carrying Webkinz for a long time partly because of my concerns that they would promote excessive computer use by young children. Many parents use the Webkinz to teach time management by restricting time on the site on a daily or weekly basis. This forces children to plan and prioritize what they want to do on the site each visit. There is so much to do and explore, some of it more enriching and some just purely for fun. As a mom, I believe that moderation is the key, and it is important for young children to have the healthy perspective that Webkinz are just toys and that it's not okay for them get in the way of their time playing with friends, spending time with family, or accomplishing homework and chores.

You can use a timer to count down how much time is left in a Webkinz visit, or let younger children pick 2 or 3 things to do each visit and then be done. If parents visit the site along with their children, it is possible to find some great activities that get children thinking, planning, using memory and math skills, and learning.

Hi C.,

I know how you feel! When my three children first received webkinz, we couldn't get them off the computer!! After I understood better how they worked, we set some rules. My children are only allowed to log on to Webkinz World on the weekends. They will not die after a week. As long as they are fed to 100% and they are put to bed before you logging off each time, they will be fine. Reassure your daughter that her pet will be fine with only weekend care. Maybe you can make a deal with her that if she doesn't log on all week and waits till Friday night or Saturday morning and her pet is still okay, that the new rule would be weekends only. Tell her if her pet dies (which it won't), you will buy her a new one. I hope this helps!

Yes, as others mentioned, they don't die, although they do expire in a year, and, as you might've guessed, the only way to keep them "active" is to buy a new webkin. Ugh. I don't like them very much either, but, with my two kids, ages 6 & 8, the webkinz thing was a passing phase, similar to the tamagatchi. And, from what I hear from most parents, that's the way it typically is. They were big into it for about a month, then they moved onto other things. Good luck!

C.,
I understand about the webkinz addiction, I have 3 children ages 6, 9 and 10, and they have all jumped on the webkinz bandwagon. The short answer to your question is "NO, they cannot die." As long as you remember to "put them to sleep" before you log out, they will be fine no matter how long you leave them for. You can put them to sleep and not long on again for months, and they will be just fine when you return. There is really no reason to clothe the animals online either, other than just for the fun factor. Once the pet is at 100 for Health, Happiness and whatever the other one is, there isn't any need to feed it anymore. Hope this has helped!

Beyond the webkinz issue, this is setting you up for other problems:

"We've been out as a family and she'll get the urge to "check on her penguin" and whine until we agree to cut the outting short to go home."

Giving in to whining only sets you up for more whining. I learned a trick from a friend years ago, which is to ask the child: "What does whining get you?" and the child knows the answer "Nothing".

Good luck!

My 3 kids love there webkinz to death. They do not die, only time will run out on your account within a year.. My 2 year old just loves on the animal itself. My kids were big on the computer in the beginning. I have to admit I loveto play the games onthere myself...shhhh I haven't been on since last Sept. & I got on last week & it was still as I left it. She is young & just a caring, loveing sweet thing. I wish ya luck. I would say: somehow convince her that the more she loves her stuffed animal the better it is online.. If she does sway from the computer, you should at least give it a check, and maybe earn her some cash so she is not on it all the time. Some games are tougher for small ones. They may need an adults help for lots of quick cash. So when she is on it is quick & to the point, & she is off playing.. Have a great day.. T.

Same with my 8-year-old daughter. She has about 10 webkinz now. I got one for myself so I could relate to her since that's all she talked about. Her teacher said she needed a new subject for her writing assignments. We use this as her currency when trying to get her to behave. I don't visit my webkinz every day and it hasn't died, but once it was sick and I had to take it to the doctors:) My daughter was worried about her vegetable garden at one point. Yes, they die, but then start over. The drawback to not caring for them daily is that you may never get to harvest them. She's not as obsessed about them any more, but that's because my husband has her hooked on Warcraft. Not age appropriate in my book, but he and I differ on these things.

Webkinz do not die, nothing happens if you do not play with them for an extended period. They only get hungry and need food if you play with them online and do not feed them. Also you should put them to bed when you are logging out...that will keep them perfectly healthy until the next time you go back, even weeks latter. Good luck!

They don't die!! :) Maybe you can tell your daughter that as part of taking good care of her penguin, she needs to let it rest and sleep, and spend some time in webkinz world alone. Just a thought:)
Good luck!

Hi C. --

It's a shame that you are having problems with your child and Webkinz. My daughter has over 70 (she saves her allowance to buy them), and I find it great interaction for my daughter. She has to be sure to care for her pet, and she also has plants in her garden that have to be checked (watered, raked) in order to grow produce for harvesting. Its mild, but its a good form of teaching children to be responsible for something.

My daughter went over-the-top with Webkinz World after she got her first one -- she too was told that her Webkinz would die if she didn't feed it and play with it every day. The truth is -- it won't. In fact, you can leave it alone for over a week and come back to find it only mildly unhealthy (easily fixed with some exercise, food, a bath, or a trip to the doctor). We got a timer and set it to 30 minutes each morning - whenever she went online we would start the timer. Once the timer counted down to zero that was it for the day -- no more time on Webkinz World.

Good luck dealing with this -- I hope that you can find a compromise with your daughter that will satisfy her 'addiction' without driving you crazy!!

N.

The same thing happened to my five year old. If you put the pet to sleep in the bed before you log out they won't lose any happiness/health etc. and will be fine. You can leave them in bed indefinitely! Luckily my daughter only was obsessed for a few months,and we don't even log on anymore. Good luck! I understand!!!

Hi,
My son got one when he was 6 too (now he is 7). He was OBSESSED with the silly tiger. He took it everywhere- to thepoint that the 6th graders in his school knew the Webkinz name! It will get better- I limited the amount of time on the computer to once a day (must admit I lie the games too!) and my husband limited the places that Tiggo the Tiger could come. In answer to your question.. webkinz CANNOT die. They get hungry and sick of you ignore them for a long time (like several weeks) but they will not die. If she does not beleive you, go to the site with her and read the FAQs and rumors- "Mrs. Birdie" expalins the whole thing for them. After a year, your account expiresand you need to buy another wenbkin to keep it activated (then both animals live in the same house together)
Also, ifshe puts her webkin to sleep before she logs out- he won't even know that she is gone! Good luck- with the summer coming I bet she'll easy up soon.

no they can not die!!! my 5 and 7 year old were obsessed for a little while. not as bad as having to get home early...but the obsession is only a small interest now. make sure she knows that what her friend told her is definately not true. you should check out the website to see what its all about.

Been through it all! Nope They can NOT die! unless you don't renew your subscription after a year that is. ( a webkinz subscription is good 1 year from the date of the most recent new pet login date. So, when you get close to the end of the year for this first penquin, just buy another creature and it will extend another year from the login date of the new pet) Just tell her that if her penquin is in bed sleeping he will wait for her until she comes back. JUST FINE! Lord, we're kind of out of the webkinz addiction at the moment and it will be months between visits. Even the animal sitting on the bench awake is fine! Just the plants in our garden die. Oh well... good luck! YOu could also read the manual with her together to reinforce that you know what you're talking about. Good luck!

My children have had Webkinz for 2 1/2 years and go through fazes when they don't go on for weeks and they are fine! They may get sick and have to go to Dr. Quack but it should be fine!

My children are only aloud on Webkinz if they ask our permission first and then they are limited to 1/2 hour a day. On school days homework must be done first and whenever they get grounded it is taken away! Use it a reward system for her!

Hope this helps!

The pet won't 'die' -- It can get 'sick' if you don't make sure it put to bed before logging out.
See Webkinz FAQ at http://www.webkinz.com/us_en/faq_parents.html

My daughter (8-years old) now has 12 webkinz in her account and has left them for weeks at a time and they've all been perfectly fine.

J.

Webkinz - very addictive for adults as well. But rest easy, they WILL NOT DIE! That would be quite cruel on the part of the gamemakers part, considering they are geared for young children. They can get "sick" and have to go to the vets... but you really have to ignore them and not play for awhile before this happens. I don't know about deactivating....

I found out the best way to deal with my webkinz addicted daughter was to take control over the situation. I told her that she has a designated time when she can check on her webkinz. Other than that, she isnt going to. She feared it would die too but I assured her that if she put it in its bed before she signed out, he would be fine. It wouldnt "die" if she didnt but it made her feel better. There is also a parents section where it states that webkinz do not die. Maybe if you show it to her it will convince her the penguin wont die.
Every generation has some sort of toy obsession. Like the tickle me elmos,pokemon,and cabbage patches of the 80's and 90's. I think its absolutely rediculous to cut an outing short in order for her to go home to check on her webkin. If I were you I wouldnt allow that to happen anymore. Your just feeding into her obsession. If my children complain or whine about their webkin, I warn them that if it continues they will miss out on thier webkin time and not check on them at all. It only took once for them to realize mom means business.
If you take control of the situation and give her a specific webkin time, she will become less crazy about it. Once you explain it cant die of course. It isnt healthy for them to be on the computer all the time anyways. There are much better things to do. Especially first thing in the morning.

My daughter (who just turned 7)has three of these little demons also. BUT, there has to point of moderation. They do not die, as we have learned. My daughter didn't attend to hers for a week, and it was fine. It's like playing a game. It saves where you left off. My daughter got obsessed as well. Have you been on the site? There are some games in the arcade that are educational, but fun also. They are only active for a year as well. I don't know what happens at the end of that year, but you may want to start preparing her for that. As far as the "urges" she gets to check on her pet, and her behavior, my daughter did the same thing. I took them away from her and she didn't get them back until her behavior changed (which was a few days). My strongest advice: set up a time when she can get on the computer to check on her pet, and give her a time limit. Like 45 minutes. I always tell my daughter: You either get t.v. time, or webkinz time. I hope this helps!

Webkinz can't die. May have to visit the doctor but won't die. After a couple of weeks, my kids weren't as obsessive and now maybe only check in once a week.

My son (who is 7) has 3 webkinz - we went through a phase where he always wanted to go online to check on his webkinz - so I feel your anxiety. Here's what I can tell you... They will not die! We have left that phase, and now he'll go for a few weeks (one time it was even a couple of months) and the lowest I've ever seen the health, hunger, thirst, etc. was 80% - not bad for complete neglect! Just make sure she always puts it to bed before she logs off.

Reassure your daughter her Webkinz will not die, and set specific limits on when she can go online and when she can't. It's just like everything, moderation is key.

Best of luck,
Cathy

My daughter has a Webkinz pet, and says it only needs care when you're online. Once you log out, the pet stays the same until you log in again... so there is no need to care for it all the time. It sounds like your daughter may have gotten some bad information.

We also have a Webkinz connection here. My kids are 10 and 12 and each have more than 10 of them. They DO NOT die. Ever, not even if you ignore them for months. I have 4 of my own and play for stress relief when I have the chance, which is never more than once or twice a week. The absolute worst that will happen is the pet will get sick and she'll have to take him to the vet. I suggest that you set specific times when she can play with her penguin pal. Set a time limit. Explain that the pet will not die and will be there the next time it's her time to play. At 6 you might also want to tell her that if she plays all the time, other kids don't have the chance to play with their pets, which is true because the site at times is so busy things are ridiculously slow or you can't log in at all. You can't deactivate her account but you can deactivate her access by setting firm rules. Good luck.

I'm pretty sure their pet doesn't die but they can get sick and you have to buy medicine for them. The gardens do die and you have to dig them up and start over. My 2 daughters sometimes go a week without tending to their pets and besides the garden dying nothing else seems to me affected. It's a phase the newness will fade out just like all their other toys. My daughters have gone from asking to go on webkinz as soon as they get up to going days without.

I believe that there is a FAQ on the webkinz site under the parents section. In there I read that they get sick but do not die. Three of my children have a total of 8 webkinz between them . None of them have died, they have gotten sick. Here we limit time on the computer to 30mins.

All of my 3 kids, 10, 6, 5 have webkinz, 10 yo got his first for his bday last summer and it started out gangbusters but it has gone the way of everything else for us, down to a few times a week they remember to go to webkinz world. You can go right to webkinz.com and there is a parent area that you don't have to log in for and I just checked they can't die, they can get sick and we have had many trips to Dr. Quack.
The account will no longer be active after a year if you don't put in another webkinz code. Overall I am impressed with how much even my younger two are able to do and the level of safety that has been put into the site.

So I hope it dies down soon for you. Good Luck!!

A.
www.southernnhfamilyfun.com

I have 2 daughters that absolutely love the webkinz. I cut there time on the computer as so they dont get addicted. my 10 yr old does play on it alot but my 8 year old is totally opposite. my lil one goes on to buy things but dont care for the pets as much. to answer your question, do they die? i have to say no. if they did i would of had 8 lil funerals for these furry friends. i have made it clear to both girl that there are plenty of fun and educational to go to. as long as its fun they dont realize they are learning something. you need to make her go a day without it to show her that the penguin will live.

thank you
D. W

I went through the same thing! It was just a phase... it lasted a few months and then she got bored with it and hasn't asked to login in to webkinz in months.

my daughter is the same age and got 5 wekbinz for her birthday. Luckily she has not taken to it like yours has. Her's has not died yet and it's lucky if we check on it once a week. We have only one going at a time. I told her that maybe we can activate another during the summer, but luckily she hasn't asked about it in a while.
When she does play on webkinz, she gets only 1/2 hour per day. (and like I said it's not every day). It's difficult with the computer, because we can all get sucked into it and lose hours just looking around on the internet or playing games or checking e-mail... I put on a kitchen timer and when it goes off, she has to get off the computer. At times it is a real fight, but there's more to life than virtual pets!

I have two boys that were also addicted to webkinz, however I stopped letting them use it every day and they soon lost interest. as long as you make sure your pet is in bed, and at 100 0/0 you can leave it alone for months and it will stay that way. The only thing that needs eveyday care in webkinz world is if you plant a garden that will die, however it can be dug up and replanted. good luck

Just to let you know - Webkinz won't let your pet die! (Why would they, you'd never sign back on!) When my daughters got their first Webkinz, it was about a year ago and we had a dial-up connection - VERY painful for using the Webkinz site. My girls got so sick of it that they didn't go on for about 4 months - later when we did get back on, their pets were still alive and well and happy (although supposedly somewhat hungry, according to the happiness chart). I bet you could leave it alone for a year and it would be all right.

Hi C.,
I hear you on this one. My kids are starting to love these websites and games as well. I'm not real up on all the specifics of everything, but I can tell you this. My 10-year-old daughter has had a Webkinz since Christmas, and she's lucky if she gets a half hour a day to play. She sometimes doesn't play for days at a time. Her pet has never died. She told me that if you're on the site playing, and you don't pay attention to your pet's needs, then the pet can die, but if you don't play for a period of time, it won't. She said when she goes on she makes sure to check on its food, etc. and then again before she leaves. Also, I'm sure if it ever did, you could just type in the code again that came with the Webkinz, to reactivate. There is also another site called Club Penguin, which I am not so sure about, but I believe that the penguins can have pets called puffles that can die if not fed. I don't know the particulars on this, though, but I'm sure you could find out by going on the site and checking it out. I struggle, too, with the addictive nature of computers and video games, which it seems all my 6 children love, with the exception of my almost 2-yr-old. But ultimately, I am the one in control, and there's nothing wrong with enforcing limited time. My kids are only allowed a half hour a day, max., and then only if they have done all their schoolwork and chores. And if they are acting up, that is the first privilege to get taken away. this may not be a real peaceful solution at first, but when you stand your ground, they learn you mean business, and eventually just accept it, and are better off for it in the long run. Good luck.

they don't die. You can leave them for weeks and they are fine. After a year they don't work any more unless you pay money.

If Webkinz can die, it would take a VERY long period of activity. My boys (almost 10 and 6) have not logged on for weeks at a time and there is no problem. Each Webkinz has a 'health meter' affected by sleep, food and attention, with 100 being the max. Ours have never dropped below the 80's. As long as you remember to put them to bed before logging off, everything should be fine.
FYI--we have a 60 minute rule in our house. They get 60 minutes of screen time and can choose any combination of computer, TV, WII or game boy, for a total of 60 minutes. (Homework USUALLY comes first.) When the Webkinz were new, they spent most (if not all) of the 60 minutes on Webkinz, but the fascination does wear off after a while.