Are a lot of boys into Thomas the Tank Engine

[passionsandlove]

My 2 and a half year old DS loves Thomas. We restrict his watching to two 10 min episodes a day but recently he repeatedly asks to see more. He loves the same episodes and can watch them 100 times.

ARe lots of boys this way with Thomas? His friends are much more varied in their tastes.

And how do we dampen the constant requests to watch DVDS?

er, yes, that's why it's the unbelievably successful global franchise it has become

Only way to dampen requests to watch DVDs may be to do other things with him before he can ask and try to be outside as much as possible.

My three year old was obsessed for a long time. He still likes to watch it and read/play Thomas. But less so than other stuff - now it's tree fu Tom mainly. He'll loose interest eventually!

Yes. Until they discover Pepper Pig.

My brother tortured us with his TTTA obsession when he was a kid. It was awful. When DS started I nipped it quickly in the bud and refused to have the DVDs in the house, so he had to content himself with a daily fix on Telly.

DS is 4 and is now apparently too old for Thomas, after a 2y obsession.

I wouldnt know, its banned in our house. Along with any program that has vehicles with faces.

DS loves Thomas, but DD did too. As did I (female) when little, and I am old.

If he is Thomas mad but you don't want him to watch too much TV, there are loads of ways of feeding his obsession...Thomas books, Thomas colouring, Thomas aquadraw, Thomas train sets, Thomas megabloks, Thomas magazines with crappy toys (I'm guessing), I think we even have a "learn numbers with Thomas" workbook, the list goes on...

My almost 3 yr old is obsessed with Thomas. And Percy. And James.

Thomas is the golden years, wait till you get to Pokemon.

My DS1 was obsessed with Thomas at about that age and wanted to watch nothing but.

Eventually he also became obsessed with fireman Sam.

Now he's going on 5 and isn't as keen on them and has more varied obsessions- TMNT, ben10, power rangers and so on.

Serial obsessions totally normal. If I remember rightly, my eldest had a prolonged Thomas phase followed by Scrapheap Challenge, Robot Wars, Lego.... He grew out of all of them (except Lego - still ongoing in his 20s). I don't think he suffered any la vesting damage...
Agree with the other poster who suggested Thomas books/toys as alternative to DVDs.

My ds was like this til he was about 4. I'm still scarred 8 years later!

Just let him watch what he likes. Take the path of least resistance- it will pass, I promise.

Scrap heap Challenge! I had forgotten that- we all loved it!

yes, I have 3 boys and they all have been very into Thomas. 5 yr old is only just coming out the other side now, and 2 yr old is just starting.

my ds3 is exactly the same! coming up for 3 but obsessively loved watching Thomas since 2. no harm in it for 10 mins a day, his older brothers were the same but not quite so obsessed. last weekend he ws playing quietly in the playroom while we were outside doing the garden and I realised he had been watching the same Thomas movie on a loop avidly at least 4 times!

For DC's who love Thomas I can recommend Thomas Land at Drayton Manor theme park - its a bit pricey (but aren't all theme parks) but its a really lovely place. The tickets let you in to the whole of the park, but I know my DS (4) could've spent all day just at the Thomas bit which is right near the entrance so easy to find. There are plenty of rides in that section alone to satisfy most if the family, ranging from a 'lady' merry-go-round and 'Emily' soft play area to a 'Cranky' drop/bounce tower and a 'Troublesome trucks' rollercoaster/runaway train with plenty in between.
(They also have a Ben10 rollercoaster for more daring children and adults not too far away from the Thomas bit and a Ben10 shop too.)

Girls too - Our DD is in love with Thomas the tank engine. It doesn't help that our house backs onto a train line. Everytime a train goes by she goes nuts. You would think with up to 15 trains an hour going past on a daily basis she would be bored of trains by now.

Not just boys, my DD won't go anywhere without her Gordon & Henry trains. She has got a big brother who is s Thomas superfan which probably explains a lot. She really does love them though!

My 14 yr old dd was just reading over my shoulder and said "Everyone loves Thomas" although she did qualify it by saying there are 'new ones now that aren't as good as the proper ones'.
I used to be able to recite the books off by heart for bedtime reading when ds was little. Still, at least Thomas has quite nice stories, and you can also do all sorts of playing with the trains etc. - it's not just a TV programme.

DS was addicted - he simply adored Thomas (in fact, he was pretty keen on all vehicles).

He is now nearly 14, so those days are long gone. I have to say, I didn't mind Thomas; I thought he was charming and innocent.

I'm pleased I started this threat - you've all made me smile. At least I'm in good company.

Thanks for tips on other Thomas stuff not just DVDs. I'm reluctant to buy into any 'brand' to be honest, but I know it's probably unavoidable.

My four year old adores Thomas. Our living room is an obstacle course of various track and trains.

DS2 is obsessed with Thomas, it came as a surprise to me as it's something that passed DS1 by when he was small. He preferred Bear in the Big Blue House

He watches a couple of episodes a day and sometimes one during the night if he wakes upset and won't go down again. The TTT theme has become so synonymous with 3am wakings that I instantly feel exhausted when I hear it.

We have various TTT bits around the house to occupy him when he can't watch on TV (don't buy DVD'S if you have sky+!) including a pop up tent, bedding and a ride on thingy. I think it's nice, the songs are catchy! I could listen to the fat controller song all day

Just for balance I have had 3 boys and none have paid any attention to Thomas at all. Ever.