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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think Doctor Who and Star Wars are too scary for ds aged 2.5??

31 replies

TheBestMum · 03/01/2009 20:25

Because dh thinks they ok and wants to 'bond' with ds whilst watching.........
I think both programmes are highly unsuitable for ds age as really quite scary in places, esp Dr Who. AIBU??

OP posts:
Fillyjonk · 03/01/2009 20:26

No, I LOVE doctor who, especially as it is filmed near me (cardiff)

but would not in a million years let ds, who is 5.5, watch it

paddingtonbear1 · 03/01/2009 20:27

No. dd doesn't watch it and she is 5.5!
She wasn't allowed to watch the DW xmas special.

scifinerd · 03/01/2009 20:28

I think you are probably right. I can't see your ds being particularly interested for a few more years yet anyway, so I think your dh may be setting himself up for disappointment. I suggest you bond over something else like hunting for spiders in the park.

Nemoandthefishes · 03/01/2009 20:28

we all watch dr who as a family. One of the few things we do watch and have done since it restarted. Ds is 5,dd1 3 and dd2 is 2 on monday. However Ds is only jsut getting to the age where he might watch star wars with dh

Original poster
TheBestMum · 03/01/2009 20:33

Glad others agree as was beginning to think was being a stick-in-the-mud as he strongly feels they're ok programmes for him
I've asked what's wrong with Toy Story or Shrek as they both fab films and they can easily 'bond' watching those as ds will prob like film content better, as cartoon like.
Got friend who won't let dd (6) watch Scooby Doo as bit 'jumpy' in places......

OP posts:
stitch · 03/01/2009 20:34

i took ds1 aged two to the cinema to see episode one of star wars not once, but twice

norksinmywaistband · 03/01/2009 20:37

MY DC love star wars and DD loves Dr who( we always rpreview the episodes though) they are 4 and 2.9

ABudafulSightWereHappyTonight · 03/01/2009 20:41

DS is 7 and has gone through his Star Wars phase - lasted from around age 5 to about a year ago.

We don;t get BBC (are in Budapest) but have noticed it on other channels. I watched one and was a bit jumpy so no way am I letting him watch it. Star wars a lot less scary but def not for a 2.5 year old!

Plenty of time for that.

Heifer · 03/01/2009 20:48

I let my DD watch Star wars way before I let her watch DD, in fact she was 3 when she saw stars wars, and it was only this Christmas that I let her watch DW and she is just 5. She loved it..

so much in fact that we both watched a couple of episodes on Watch this afternoon and I must have looked at little shocked at something, as she said Mummy don't be scared , it is only people dressed up....

Desiderata · 03/01/2009 20:51

My ds was hooked on Dr Who at that age, and remains so.

Let dh do what he wants. There's no sex or swearing, after all.

I never let ds watch Eastenders though
That is scary!

MillyR · 03/01/2009 20:51

Some of them are scarier than others. The phantom menace is the least scary, so that would be the most suitable.

MollyCherry · 03/01/2009 20:54

DD is 4.3 and terrifed of Scooby Doo (which they have been known to watch at nursery ) and Numberjacks.

She has seen a few bits of Star Wars over the last few weeks though, and loves it. Darth Maul apparently reminds her of the episode of Peppa Pig where they have their faces painted like tigers, and a couple of days ago went into the sitting room to find her brandishing the cardborad tube from the turkey foil at Daddy and making light sabre noises...

That said, I wouldn't have purposely let her watch it (me cooking, Daddy in charge and by the time I got into the room she wouldn't let me turn over!), and certainly don't let her anywhere near Dr Who as it used to terrify me (until I developed a crush on Peter Davidson!)

BarrelOfMonkeys · 03/01/2009 21:38

For Doctor Who, on the BBC website, they have a panel of kids reporting on how scary each episode is. You can find the 'Fear Forecast' by clicking on the episode you're interested in and then the features button on the right: e.g www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/s4/episodes/S4_09 The youngest on the panel is 7, so 2.5 may be a bit on the young side, but you might be able to find some that aren't rated as being too scary and be selective which ones you watch.

Tigurr · 04/01/2009 03:06

DD is 5y3m and has been watching Dr Who for about 6 months now. HOWEVER, we carefully vet which ones she watches - so she's watched things like "Voyage of the Damned", "Midnight" but not "Blink" (hell, even I am scared of that one!).

She knows that the "monsters" are just people in "dress-ups", as DH has a DoctorWho or SFX mag where there's a whole bit about it.

I think DH tried her on Star Wars a year or so ago and she wasn't interested but she might like it now. Not that I'm going to suggest it to him as I can't stand the wretched movies!

Tigurr · 04/01/2009 03:10

PS - BarrelOfMonkeys - whereabouts on that site is the "Fear Forecast"? I can't see it - sorry!

SpandexIsMyEnemy · 04/01/2009 07:43

star wars no,

dr who yes, DS has always watched it -I used to have it on during the day when he was a NB, so he's sort of grown up around it. he's not a violent child in any way doesn't have any night terrors which are noticeable.

we watch it and then he goes to bed, he has a dalik bubble bath which he likes to push around the room saying 'exminate'

it's up to you. (I should say he's not watched all of them, but he only sees DT as the dr - could pose a prob)

BarrelOfMonkeys · 04/01/2009 11:08

It's a bit convoluted to find, I stumbled across it by accident.

As you go into the main BBC Doctor Who website, you need to select the series you want from the menu on the left of the screen, and then the list of episodes for that series should appear as a drop-down menu.

When you click on an episode, on the far right of the screen you should see some grey menu buttons, one of which is 'features'. If you click on that, a drop down menu appears below and the Fear Forecast is the third item on the list. HTH.

FrannyandZooey · 04/01/2009 11:18

"no sex or swearing" lol
it confuses me how people make decisions as to what is ok for their children to watch

someone saying a rude word = not ok
someone taking their clothes off = not ok
people being killed and / or tortured = ok

grumpalina · 04/01/2009 11:35

We watched Dr Who as a family. DS then aged 2 became obsessed by it and I ended up with four sonic screw drivers so we would never be without one. He is now 4.5 and his obsession is with Star Wars which I find as dull as ditch water.

Both him and his brother who is 4 years older have ended up playing either Star Wars or Dr Who with DS2 always having to play the good guy.

Depends on you what you let your child watch but some kids love that sort of thing. I have a friend whos 10 year old isn't allowed to watch Dr Who because he has nightmares about it. (Bizarrely the only thing DS2 had nightmares about was when he saw Chicken Little - he woke up screaming in the night that he was being attacked by a giant chicken!!!)

coppertop · 04/01/2009 11:51

As others have said, it depends on the child. Dd is 2 and likes to watch Dr Who with her brothers. OTOH I remember when ds2 was that age we had to record it and take turns watching it while the other one took ds2 out or upstairs because he didn't like it - until the day ds2 suddenly decided that he wanted to watch it and then became obsessed.

terramum · 04/01/2009 11:59

which star wars film is it?

worleywinterwonderland · 04/01/2009 12:00

ds2 (2.6)loves dr who and gets excited if he sees any pictures of hears any dr who music.

he hasn't seen starwars but think thats to long to hold his attention anyway. his older brother has the clone wars cartoon/film but he's not interested in that though

KayHarkerIsGlum · 04/01/2009 12:10

None of mine have a problem with most of New Doctor Who, but my youngest girl won't watch Tom Baker videos because she thinks it's too scary. Give them CGI monsters, not a problem. A man wrapped in green bubble wrap and we're in nightmare territory.

Claire236 · 04/01/2009 12:23

ds (almost 4) has just discovered Star Wars having caught the last 30 mins or so when they were showing one of them on TV. He loved it & is now totally obsessed with all things Star Wars. As I'm not interested in them at all I've had to trust dhs judgement of whether they're suitable viewing. I do worry about ds watching anything that scares him after I read an article saying children of that age can't differentiate between scary things which are fictional & those which are real. Apparently even if a parent is with the child & explains that it's not real & nothing to be scared of the childs reaction is still the same as if they'd been on their own.

Niecie · 04/01/2009 12:33

Star Wars isn't that really scary although Star Wars III (the last one) is a 12 rating so definitely not that one. I would have thought the issue with Star Wars is that they are full length feature films and therefore your DS is unlikely to sit and watch much of it anyway.

Definitely not Dr Who though - that is scarier imo and my two DSs have watched both. DS2 (5.3yrs) is still not keen on Dr Who and can be scared but is quite happy with Star Wars. DS1 is 8 and loves it all but even he is still watches bits of it from the safety of behind the door so he can duck out of sight if he doesn't like something.

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