4yo can’t watch anything with any tension

[Joffmognum]

Does anyone have any recommendations?

He’s just turned 4, and can’t watch anything on telly if something seems to be going wrong or if a character is having a problem.

This usually isn’t an issue as we can just not watch the TV at all, but he’s getting a bit older now, and this has been a problem that last couple days as he’s been ill and TV would have been very handy.

It’s not just stuff like the first bit of Finding Nemo - he can’t get through an episode of Mickey Mouse’s Clubhouse or any Disney film I’ve tried as there is often a problem that needs solving and the tension is too much. What a lot of what CBeebies offers is also too risky - he cried when I left him to watch that show where Andy goes back in time to see greenscreen prehistoric animals and was chased by one.

In the Night Garden is always good, though. Has anyone got any recommendations for tv shows without any, um, problems in them, with a similar calmness to ItNG?

Needless to say, he’s an anxious child generally.

I've just spoken to my 16 year old about this OP because she was very, very similar.

We can't come up with any ideas because the very essence of story is that there's always a problem. Without a problem there's no story.

What she said was that for her, it was that she was too sensitive and (she's very intelligent by the way, in the gifted and talented area) and not only was she over sensitive but she also had a deeper understanding of humanity than you average 4 year old and tragedy (even a mouse losing it's family in a cartoon) was simply too much for her to handle.

What she wonders is whether your little boy might do better watching carefully chosen musical numbers from musicals and also pop and rock ...but as she said, even many of those have problems...so perhaps you could introduce him to some of the most uplifting numbers from famous musicals and make him a compilation if he likes them.

Songs that spring to mind include "I can Show you the World" from Alladin....he might like to watch the Lea Salonga performance from the Oscars which is on YouTube.

Others include www.theodysseyonline.com/broadway-most-inspirational-songs

@FortunesFave your daughter sounds very thoughtful and I'm sure gives much better advice than I could. My son also dislikes tension or characters being upset or angry, Disney films are an absolute no. Although he seems to be able to cope with it a bit more now, he used to enjoy the Twirlywoos which is quite relaxing (from memory). Also Moon and Me is lovely and gentle. Some of the Hey Dugee episodes are relatively tension free too, although you have to pick and choose.

Just thought of Tinpo, and the alphablocks/numberblocks, all of which are favourites with our 3.5 year old son.

My daughter is 4 and exactly the same! She likes watching the non-fiction stuff on cbeebies: maddie's do you know, vet tales, let's go for a walk, Yolanda's band jam etc. It's real life with no story therefore no tension! (We had to turn an episode of in the night garden off recently )

Your DS sounds adorable, mine isn't to the same extent but is very sensitive and doesn't like tension either. He's almost 5.

Film wise he will watch most of the Toy Story's now, although he hides his face for some bits. Inside Out has also been a big hit, and Wall-E.

Programme wise any silly cartoon on Netflix he enjoys, and also factual stuff on CBeebies like Grace's Amazing Machines.

My youngest son only watches cartoons about sharks, he doesn't like the rest. Even cartoons about superheroes he doesn't like. because there are a lot of worries. But he likes Netflix and deep stories, which I think is atypical for a child. There's nothing wrong with that, I am sure.