Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Behaviour/development

Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

Flip

Original poster

Anyone else's toddler keep turning the TV on and off? Found a solution!

15 replies

IlanaK · 01/09/2005 19:15

My 14 month old has been doing this continually and it has been causing major problems as older ds is watching TV and gets really annoyed. We have tried saying "no" and distracting him and also tried 1 minute time out in his cot each time he does it. None of this works. And although totally ignorning him would probably help, this is not possible as ds1 reacts majorly when ds2 turns tv off.

Anyway, finally found a solution today! We have a very large screen (extremely heavy) tv that sits in a wooden tv cabinet. The button to the tv is at the bottom of the TV. We took two wall brackets (the metal ones that are at a right angle)and taped them together with electrical tape. Then we put one end of the bracket under the tv (took two of us to lift it!). The other end then comes up and sits in front of the button. This stops ds from reaching it. So, how do we turn it on? Well, the brackets have holes in where the screws go. We are using the end of an allen key to poke through the hole and press the button when needed!

SOunds insane that we have gone to all this trouble, but anyone who has a toddler turning their tv on and off will understand! I hope this helps one of them too

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

compo · 01/09/2005 19:17

We sellotaped the glass cabinet doors together!

Ladymuck · 01/09/2005 19:18

Thankfully past this stage, but PMSL at the mental picture!

GeorginaA · 01/09/2005 19:25

Now that's thinking laterally - well done Ilana!

We removed the handle from the glass doors to stop little fingers getting to the DVD player (we can still change channels etc using the remotes, and careful prizing with a pinkie gets the door open) but haven't come up with a solution for the TV button yet. Might just see if a wall bracket will work on ours....

morningpaper · 01/09/2005 19:28

Or you can give them a full-on bollocking and send them to their room.

I'm so Victorian....

weesaidie · 01/09/2005 19:30

Ha ha. My dd started doing that when she was about 11 months and it was so frustrating!

I also taped cabinet doors together but that only protects dvd player.

My solution was the inside part of a match box. I sellotaped that over the button and now I just turn off TV at the plug or use the remote control!

madmarchhare · 01/09/2005 19:32

DS, 21mos (seems to have been 21mos for ages!), can work the dvd player. This morning I told him he couldnt watch his 1/2 hourly slot of Brum, as he threw his breakfast at me, and he just went and turned it on himself .

nikkie · 01/09/2005 19:47

My dd2 was like this also putting things in the video(Locks didn't fit it!) she could work tv,dvd vid etc but dd1 couldn't!

Original poster

IlanaK · 01/09/2005 19:56

This cabinet does not have glass doors. It DID have wooden doors that closed to hide the tv when we were not watching it, but these have now been removed and are stored away as aforementioned toddler would not stop shutting them when ds1 was watching tv. The dvd player and video and sky box are on a shelf at the top of the unit so he can't reach them. May I add - ds1 never did anything like this. Ds2 is sooo diffferent!

OP posts:

pesha · 01/09/2005 20:17

We had cupboard locks on the cabinet to keep ds away from the dvd etc but he pulled the door so hard he broke them off
We just stuck selotape on the button so it was taped on and then i would take it off in the evening or just use the remote. We also ended up having to stick selotape on the wall socket switches because once we'd stopped him turning it on and off at the tv it didnt take him long to work out the switches on the wall did the same thing!

bobbybob · 01/09/2005 20:24

I put the heavy footstool in front of the TV cabinet, and stragely ds has never climbed up on it.

QueenOfQuotes · 01/09/2005 20:26

I just put the toy box in front of it during the day, and used the lid to block the other 'half' off (using a box to keep it propped up), when they went to bed the stuff was moved back beside the chair and we could watch 'properly' again.

He's 21 months now and doesnt bother - so we don't use the stuff!

pixel · 02/09/2005 22:46

We had a little thing from the Great Little Trading Co. It was basically a long piece of perspex which fitted underneath the tv and up in front of the controls. There was also a non-slip mat to go under the back of the tv to stop it all moving. It was quite expensive for what it was but at least we could still use the remote control!

QueenOfQuotes · 02/09/2005 23:34

just one thing - if you've got a modern TV. We've had it about 2yrs now (a big widescreen one bought when we were still flush ) and about 5 months ago DS2 (now 21 months) "showed" us that on the back of the sticky out screen bit (you know the bit that's wider than the bit of the TV that sticks out the back???) is some buttons to control the TV with manually! We didn't know they were there - but always thought it odd that there were no manual controls (apart from the main ON/OFF button) on the TV and it all had to be remote control.

anniebear · 04/09/2005 20:20

we have a hair bobble round our cabinets doors!

The tv can still be turned on and off though!! but at least the dvd, video and sky are all safe!!!!!!!!

Enid · 04/09/2005 20:25

I used to put the (large, heavy) coffee table in front of the telly which stopped them doing it

Flip