Anyone elses child crap at watching TV?

[Iwanttowatchelf]

3 yr old. All my mum friends have similar aged kids and love snuggling up to watch films with them. Mine just can not manage it, doesn't matter what the film is, animated, not animated, fast, slow. She wiggles and chatters and then gets bored 5-10 minutes in.

Seeing as we were up super early I thought we could watch elf together, the constant stream of chattering has driven me insane.

Wheres Santa?
Is it Christmas mummy?
Wheres Halloween gone mummy?
Now wheres Santa?
It was Halloween now it's Christmas mummy.
There's a baby.
Baby going to sleep mummy.
Baby not asleep.
Baby see Santa mummy.
Wheres my Halloween costume?
Wheres Santa now?
I have that toy mummy.
Where is my toy?
Go get it mummy?
Mummy?
Mum?
TOY?

Anyone else have one of these?

Congrats you have a normal child!

Your child is 3 !

Her friends are all 3 and younger and they watch tons of films! 😂

A child's attention span is roughly their age in minutes until they're around 6 years old.

A 3 year old's average attention span is 3 minutes.

That's normal.

If a 3 year old can sit through an entire movie then their parents are probably plonking them in front of the TV far too often.

It's a good thing that your child isn't sitting still for 90 minutes plus!

That's interesting, looks like I'll be watching elf when she's in bed then lol

Do they watch tonnes of films or do they have a film on while the child plays? I can guarantee no one is watching a film with an under 3 without questions and chattering. My 4.5 year old couldn't sit quietly and watch a whole film!! Totally normal.

Elf is also too complicated for an average 3 year old to follow the plot, so they are going to get bored.

My 3 yr old (almost 4) can cope with the Octonauts, Thomas the Tank Engine or Paw Patrol movies - ranging from 45 mins to 1hr 15 mins because she knows the characters but not new ones. We've tried Frozen a couple of times because a couple of her friends like it and we've never got more than 20 mins in.

I think it was when she'd just turned 3 we tried the Julia Donaldson animations - The Gruffalo, Zog, Room on a Broom. They're about half an hour and again, she knew the stories.

My friends with kids a similar age range from more fidgetty like yours to sitting through whole Disney movies. My DD seems about in the middle.

I wouldn't worry about it if I were you but I do sympathise. I was quite grateful in the midst of the really poor weather last year that I could get a half hour sit down with a cuppa and the Gruffalo!

If a 3 year old can sit through an entire movie then their parents are probably plonking them in front of the TV far too often.

It's a good thing that your child isn't sitting still for 90 minutes plus!

^ yes you just know lots of lazy parents! At 3 TV should be a novelty still hence lots of questions.

@TheRookie we must just have a strange sample size of friends. To give an example, child 1 is 2.5 yrs, she watches a Disney film every day, sure she gets up and dances to the songs then sits to watch.
Child 2 is 12 months, usually sat in a swing seat so maybe that's more they have no choice and they're strapped in? But yes, sits there watching TV.
Child 3 3yrold, often glued to the TV/films but has a bottle or dummy. (Not judging but dd never had either, is that making the difference?)

My 13 year old DS struggles to watch a whole programme!!😳
He's always fidgeting, getting up, often blocking someone else's view....its painful! And these are programmes he claims to want to watch!!😂

I was going to say at least 4 to stand a chance. And that's usually the shorter, animated, ones.
You have the normal 3 yr old. Your examples show a child who has been left infront of a screen since small and got used to it. Not the best parenting, imo.

My dc would sit and watch a Disney film from age 4. I think their first cinema trip was aged 4 and they sat and watched the whole film.

Now aged 6 and they talk non stop.
I actually enjoy being able to answer questions that my dc throw at me. It makes me feel intelligent. It's like being on a quiz show with no cash prize.

My son was supposed to be watching something last night that he chose btw , he was doing headstands , feet on the wall , sofa throw on the floor along with the cushions , he is 9 .My daughter and I watch programmes /films together she sits perfectly still and behaves very well , she is 21. 😀

To be honest I think the problem is that people try to rush their kids into watching films that just aren’t age appropriate. Elf is complicated - it’s a film for older kids and adults. Would you read a Jane Green novel or the Harry Potter series to your preschooler because you enjoy them? Look at the books your child enjoys - do any of them have similar levels of narrative complexity to a film like Elf?

Although I did once get denigrated on here for saying my child (5 years old at the time) plays with paw patrol toys and watches the film. Apparently this was the height of delayed development and immaturity. As if it’s abnormal for a small child to prefer cartoons to reruns of Frasier.

And I really wouldn’t judge by a baby who is strapped into a swing in front of the telly. I could have strapped my babies in the pram and played War and Peace on audio book but it doesn’t mean my 8 month old is reading Tolstoy.

Yeah my friends are like this - always having 'movie nights' with their similar age DC! My 5yo can now watch roughly half a movie before he gets bored and wanders off - but only something very brightly coloured, noisy and usually animated. He wouldn't watch Elf, I'm pretty sure of that. Things like Moana and Cars and Toy Story are around the level where we can sit for maybe half and hour, forty minutes. I think the chatting thing is normal for any age! I have friends in their 30s who still chat all the way through films!