Toddler obsessed with cuckoo clocks

My 3 year old toddler is OBSESSED WITH CUCKOO CLOCKS TOO!!! So glad I found this post, even though it is from a few years ago. Good to know there are others out there lol.

Also, the cuckoo clock rabbit hole goes so deep. The nice ones are expensive!

OP show your child a youtube video of the Astronomical clock in Prague, it’s a amazing and definitely worth the trip there just for that.

Lovely and great that you support his interest. My son has had several interests over years one of them when he was two was watching the neighbours van incase it moved 😂 currently it's top trumps we play many times a day.
He is asd but special interests are common in nt and nd children. If your ds is happy and developmentally on track it's likely a phase. If there's other signs - sensory/social/emotional etc then you could speak to school or health visitor if concerned?

I love it when children are interested in unusual things. My eldest (now 13) loved windmills. He used to ask me to draw them - poor child, my drawing skills are non existent. We would look at YouTube videos and he had a Thomas the Tank Engine windmill for his wooden railway. Then it was car engines! His brother has just liked the usual dinosaurs, superheroes etc.

@Pbbananabagel

Yep totally normal, mine of same age is currently obsessed with Whales. Started with the snail and the whale book, he will watch hours of blue planet and whale watching vids on YouTube and has to have a toy whale in his hand at all times. Just bloody annoying this started after I’d bought Christmas presents all featuring zog as this was his previous obsession

I love this thread.

Aw they all go through phases like this

DS loved level crossings and would steal my phone to watch compilations of them across the UK

@OnlyAFleshWound

Also recheck the OP- she says “playing with clocks for hours and hours and watching videos over and over”.

She doesn’t say how long the videos are watched for- they might be 30sec videos watched 10x. That’s still only 5 mins.

@OnlyAFleshWound

I think you’re being a bit mean. Nobody asked for a debate or your opinion on the optimum amount of screen time for children, did they?

I think (and am hoping!) it's completely normal.

Mine is obsessed with umbrellas, and has been for the last 6 months at least. He was more excited when he opened his children's umbrella present than any of the other cool toys he received

We went to a folk festival when my son was the same age. He came back obsessed with clog dancing snf and Morris dancing.
After a trip to he Isle of Man and week of lovely days out to wilde life parks and beach walks, man was sick on the ferry on the way home and that was the highlight of his holiday.
Totally normal OP, be prepared for more obsessions.

[quote VaguelyInteresting]@OnlyAFleshWound

But online content can be a great jumping off point for real world experiences.

From seeing a video of a steam train sparking his interest, I’ve taken my son to the national railway museum, on a range of real steam rail trips, to an industrial museum, amassed a huge wooden train track set, bought age appropriate books about engineering, etc etc. It’s been an interest that’s endured for 3 years, and brought both of us lots of fun and joy- sparked by a 5 min YouTube video.

There is absolutely a place for online engagement- it’s not a bad thing.[/quote]
Op describes her toddler watching YouTube videos "over and over again" for hours. That's not good for any child, and especially not a 2 year old.

That sounds so cute OP .Amazon have a range starting at about £13.99.Although the novelty will probably wear off for you at least!

@OnlyAFleshWound

But online content can be a great jumping off point for real world experiences.

From seeing a video of a steam train sparking his interest, I’ve taken my son to the national railway museum, on a range of real steam rail trips, to an industrial museum, amassed a huge wooden train track set, bought age appropriate books about engineering, etc etc. It’s been an interest that’s endured for 3 years, and brought both of us lots of fun and joy- sparked by a 5 min YouTube video.

There is absolutely a place for online engagement- it’s not a bad thing.

That's so cute! My 19 month old is completely obsessed with wheels. Will upend any toy and start spinning the wheels shouting "wheel wheel"! Same with books too.

If you live in or near London, do take him to see the fabulous clock at Fortnum and Mason's - I had no idea it was there until friend pointed it out a few years ago.

Oh my 5yo has had phases (from about 2) of:

• space craft launch videos (Apollo etc)
• steam train videos
• squid/octopus videos
• crab videos
• back to space for videos about the space station

It’s very very normal. You become expert in niche subjects really quickly. Nothing I can’t tell you about squid and octopi.

My 3yo niece is obsessed with rubbish trucks

My 6 year old is obsessed with google maps. He has the entire map of our area memorised, he knows what's down every street!

Oh mine also really loves post vans/post men. The local ones all wave now because she's yelled POST at them so many times!

I was obsessed with dustbins as a small child. Utterly obsessed. When my parents found brightly coloured ones for me, I thought I’d died and gone to heaven. Kids are weird.

That's very sweet that he loves cuckoo clocks 😁 my toddler has been through all kinds of unusual interests. My friend bought him a funny picture book all about weird animals and he's now highly interested in leeches. Which isn't a sentence I thought I'd ever type. He likes to pretend to be a leech and suck people's blood. I hope he doesn't ask me to find YouTube videos for that particular niche enthusiasm.

My DS is obsessed with buses and watches bus-spotter videos on YouTube haha.

I don't know if you're anywhere near London but he'd probably really enjoy a trip to see the clock at the Swiss Centre in Leicester Square

@Normski67 oh god yes - the little bits of ripped up paper for the toy dustbin lorry to collect! We actually played that game today! "Look mummy, let's do another tip-tip!"