At what age did your child start to watch tv?

[Hogu]

My ds is almost 3 years old yet refuses tv. He will happily watch little clips of all sorts & peppa pig on an iPad but won't watch tv.
I'm desperate for Disney films with popcorn and hot chocolate ina Sunday afternoon.
When does this start???🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

I don't think they can handle a proper movie until closer to 4ish, they just don't have the attention span. Some kids can do it at 3 but I think that's a minority.

DD was 3 days old. I was sleep deprived after 24 hour induction followed by swift labour and then sleepless 2 nights in hospital and sat her in bouncy chair. She liked the bright colours. It was the start of my brill parenting skills 👌

No iPads back then so teletubbies or videos of Winnie the Pooh were favourites from around 18 months

I reckon don't start with Disney. They are actually surprisingly complicated, both visually and in terms of the script. Try something on TV that has a building narrative over several episodes. In the Night Garden is good, or Twirlywoos. IME the little breaks help them process what is happening. Then maybe move on to films?

I agree with a PP that they do take a while to sit through a whole film.

Straight away, don’t know how people stop their children watching tv if they have older kids tbh so there was never a restriction however films she wouldn’t want to watch properly till about 3/4

DD was 17 months, I was overtired from her coughing all night long so we started with things like ITNG or Timmy Time and similar things.

I don't think she ever watched a full length movie before she was 5. Even then, it wasn't the relaxed movie afternoon with cuddles and her idea of a nice story is not matching mine. I personally don't like lots of Disney movies at all.

When she was 7/8 we could have decent sessions.

Strangley enough, she was more than happy to sit through a live theatre/musical performance than watching a movie at home.

DS has regularly (each evening for 1hour, sometimes more) watched TV since being about 2 1/2.

Before that he watched Toy Story 3 all the way through at about 2yo during lockdown and it was bliss! No other film has kept him so still.

When I say watch TV, it's usually kiddie shows on Cbeebies or the iPlayer. It was the semi-interactive ones that caught his attention best (e.g Yaka Dee, Something Special)

Three. We didn’t have a TV until she was that age and only got one then so OH could watch the World Cup! She didn’t watch anything on iPads either. We were off to Disney so she watched some Disney films before we went.

Mine are 10 and 6 and I have had the tv on in background since they were babies . They will watch bits and pieces on tv but have much better attention watching tablets / phones for some reason . I try and watch films with them but they get distracted .

I remember watching the first episode of 'In the Night Garden' with one of my children sat on my lap when he was under 2, and that definitely held his interest. I took the same son to see Wall-E at the cinema when he must have been 3, and he watched it without getting fidgety. My other children wouldn't have been able to do that at the same age, they were too active. This son is still my film buddy

Think my son is unusual, he is autistic and has always loved full length Disney films and the live action lion king and jungle book.

Frozen have a sweet short film that's not too long.

Also the gruffalo, room on a broom series are not too long... So might be of interest?

For sitting nicely throughout a whole movie and enjoying it properly/understanding the plot I would say 4/5 years old. Before that I think it’s best to stick with short episodes of things.

Also I think if you start with movies too early they don’t really ‘get’ them so it just becomes an exercise in annoyance because they’re getting bored and wandering off half way through.

Straight away really, always had it on in the background and CBeebies as soon as they started taking interest at around 6 months.

I'd say they were around 18 months when they sat through a film. Disney mostly.

And I think for sitting through a whole Disney film you’re looking at closer to 5/6 for the good ones. Maybe I’m looking at it through an adult lens but I think Disney films go on and on for soooo long.

I do remember watching meet the robinsons with ds & dd ages about 4 & 6 at the time and thinking they would have enjoyed it a lot more if they were a bit older because I enjoyed jt more than them!

@KurtWilde

Straight away really, always had it on in the background and CBeebies as soon as they started taking interest at around 6 months.

I'd say they were around 18 months when they sat through a film. Disney mostly.

Surely at 18 months they had absolutely no clue what was going on in the average Disney movie though? I think op is asking more what age can they cuddle up and enjoy a movie together. An 18 month old isn’t able to really enjoy it in that way.

@Kanaloa my DC absolutely loved Toy Story and got loads out of watching it. Some of my DSs first words were quotes from that film! Can we accept that every child processes things at a different age?

My daughter is nearly 5 and only in the last few months has been able to watch a whole film. She would get bored halfway through and/or not have a clue what was going on.

@SarahAndQuack

I reckon don't start with Disney. They are actually surprisingly complicated, both visually and in terms of the script. Try something on TV that has a building narrative over several episodes. In the Night Garden is good, or Twirlywoos. IME the little breaks help them process what is happening. Then maybe move on to films?

I agree with a PP that they do take a while to sit through a whole film.

I agree with this. Netflix and Disney Plus have short films. My daughter loved the octonauts ones which are about 30-45 minutes and much more simple plot.

If you think about your average Disney film, they are actually really complicated. The Lion King for example - understanding Scars motivation, understanding what happens to Mufasa and why, understanding why the hyenas do what he asks, understanding the time jump and that adult simba and nala are the same characters from earlier. Sure they probably like the bright colours and jazzy music but they wouldn't have a clue what was actually going on beyond a surface level "the lion and bird are singing and dancing"

DD will be 3 in Feb. She loves Moana but we usually have to split it across a couple of days or watch it all at once but she'll be playing with toys for some of it.

She will sit and watch the whole of one of the Julia Donaldson ones on iPlayer.

My eldest would only really watch short cbeebie type shows until about three and a half.

My youngest would watch some Disney films from about 2.

I would say you have to wait until about 5 for proper movie afternoons when you all sit down for the entire film.

[quote KurtWilde]@Kanaloa my DC absolutely loved Toy Story and got loads out of watching it. Some of my DSs first words were quotes from that film! Can we accept that every child processes things at a different age? [/quote]
I’m not saying children can’t process things at different ages but I don’t think an 18 month old can get much from a Disney film - not in the way op is talking about. I think op is asking about when you can really enjoy a film evening/afternoon with your child and at 18 months most children (all children I know) wouldn’t be able to really understand what was going on in Toy Story. It’s actually quite a complex plot which the average 18 month old would have no concept of. Obviously fine to put on for them anyway but I don’t think it’s what op was thinking of.

I’m quite relaxed about TV, the first thing we ever watched was Mr Tumble when DD was about 12 months old, I think?! BUT, we only really watch Cbeebies (so I’m familiar with all the programmes and most of them are pretty good) and I don’t give her a tablet or anything. She’s 3.5 now and haven’t really tried to get her to watch a film yet, but the one thing that did really grab her was The Sound of Music when it was on last Christmas! Had to try and remember where the “peril” was and distract/fast forward accordingly!