too much movie for 17 months old??

[cyphercat]

I'm sure it's nothing to worry about (just being paranoid as usual) but I just wondered if it's completely normal for a 17 months to watch a whole movie and ask to watch it again and again. It's Madegascar and she loves to watch it from beginning to the end.

it depends what they like i think, could you encourage her to watch similar films? xx

DD1 was like this at a similar age, and is still a movie freak. DD2, on the other hand, is nearly three now and stil does not want to sit still for a whole film. Madagascar is quite a good film tho' (I like to move it, move it, you like to MOVE IT!)

Move it sweet and sassy...

This is a favourite with dd too but we have to switch it off before the 'meaty' bits start..

when mine was 2 she adored Madagascar. But we all loved to move it move it too!

I think it's good she has the concentration - bodes well for learning to read etc

how often does she watch it?
the trouble with too much tv is related to speech development and concentration, as tv doesnt happen in real time if exposed to it too much children can become frustrated when asked to live in'real time'

but watching a
film occassionally prob wouldnt cause that

layout courtesy of ds

Wow, I am impressed that she would sit so long, she must really love this movie. none of my DCs would have been able to. (quite glad actually!)
i do agree with littleducks about time spent in front of TV.

I'm not too worried about the speech development as she can say more than 60 words or more words at the moment and can communicate quite well. It is a great film and she likes to dance at the end with the movie credits....like to move it move it. well she is starting to watch it once a day now....I don't know if that's too much.

I would say that it's quite a long time to be watching TV at that age every day. I am suprised she isn't more interested in her surroundings/ touvhing/ reaching/ exploring rather than the TV but maybe it depends on the child. If my ds were sat still gazing at the tv for that long I would be worried... very worried that he were ill or something but he is rarely still! I would maybe limit it to every few days to be honest as too much tv has been linked to attention deficit and could affect her communication over the coming years.

ds (3) used to watch the same dvd over and over at this age. his language became very repetitive and now he sees speech therapist for language disorder. i'm absolutely NOT saying that this will be your experience, or that watching tv caused ds's difficulties... just saying that if i could go back, i would be much much more careful about the amount he was watching. just in case.

hmmm..okay I was getting a bit worried because I can't concentrate that long watching the same movie!!
We talk to each other a lot..read books..paint..go through her toys..go to park..playgroups and she is just into EVERYTHING nonstop. That's why I was a bit shocked when she watches this film and makes herself comfortable (asks for raisin, and goes and sits on the sofa.. ) . I will probably try to limit movie watching to twice a week treat..

I was thinking about other films we could watch and talk about as this is the only baby friendly one I have at the moment...any suggestions for film at this age?? Thank you very much in advance! (Lion king, Finding Nemo, Ice Age...) Rotating the movies might be good idea I thought....

Would she watch Baby einstein dvds? They move slower and can be educational rather than just entertaining. I wouldn't encourage my ds to watch a full movie at this age tbh, it is not really teaching them anything and is just one-sided communication so she may lose the will to respond and communicate back iyswim?

It is all only theory though, could be a load of rubbish and may do her non harm at all. My ds is 16 months old, rarely watches tv but still only says "'s dat?" meaning 'what's that?' so obviously they are all different and she sounds a talkative little girl. I wouldn't worry overly but just be aware if her language starts to regress or doen't continue to improve.

could you just play the songs (sometimes the feature is on dvd menu) so she is up and dancing about and then occassionally as a treat play the whole 'story' of the film (as i expect that the dancing about wouldnt give you peace, quiet or an opportunity to actually get anything doen)

yes she is a chatterbox and I wouldn't want her to regress..and I might use a whole movie as a real treat and we could dance to the song ) Baby einestein I never tried but seems so expensive... will let you know how it goes.

ebay has them cheaper

Jungle Book is a favourite in this house - in fact it's DS's only DVD . Good songs and nothing too scary.

And yes, he would watch it over and over if I let him, but I try and limit it (he is 2.4 yrs)

DS at that age didn't watch anything. But now he is 2.6 and he adores Nemo. He watches 15 minutes in the evening before bath. I think this is plenty...

Dd loves Jungle book. Nemo is too scary - she saw 5 minutes of the sharks at soemone's house over a year ago and we still have problems from it.

For something really harmless and age-appropriate in short episodes I really recommend Pocoyo. Dd actually chose this in a shop just from the cover with the main character. It's very charming, simple, not to fast and has Stephen Fry's gentle narration.

Dd can watch a whole film easily but I don't allow it unless she is ill. I think a whole film every day is a bit much - although OTOH we probably have more screen time than a lot of mners would think acceptable.

I would restrict it to once a week or fortnight TBH

I am most impressed your DD will sit still for that long- perhaps she will indeed have excellent concentration skills Like others have said perhaps watching all of it everyday is a bit much so think you're right to perhaps limit it to a couple of times a week... But saying that we watch quite a bit of TV in this house but due in a large part to DD needing 3 lots of physio each day where she has to lie still for 20 mins each time plus needs a nebuliser (~ 5mins) before each session (she's 17 months old too, and HATES sitting let alone lying still) - so I rely like others in our situation on the TV to help keep her still ( have tried singing/listening to music etc. but none of it keeps her still for long enough). Her favourites at the moment are Jungle Book, Shrek, Nemo, the Blue Planet series, Captain Pugwash (thanks mum!!), Kipper, Spot and Postman Pat. But sessions generally last half hr max (then no TV between physio sessions). Wish in a way we could watch less TV but that's life- at least she is watching a small variety of fairly age appropriate DVDs I guess..(she says hoping this makes it better!!)

Might try Pocoyo- hadn't heard of that before...

hmmm...now I think I let my DD watch too much TV...ooooops. WHAT DO YOU DO ALL DAY??? okay for example, we get up around 6am (me shattered as it used to be 7:30 till about three days ago) have breakfast. and have potter about in the house with toys, drawing, talking, imaginary play, then I'm completely shattered. So thanking cbeebies I put TV with her snacks on whenever I feel too tired to interact with DD. Then I do housework and doze off on the sofa. Then around 11am we go out grocery shopping, post office, or bank, playgroup, park, whatever, and then if I'm lucky she will have a short nap till 1pm or 2pm. We are back home and have lunch, then we play with playdough a bit, paint , and read some books. Around 4:30 pm I feel as if I've exhausted all activities then I will again put on cbeebies a bit and do some dancing together with her or for example, I would put some movie on. 5:30 is her dinner time and then she will have bath around 6:10pm and go to sleep at 6:50pm. Is this too much TV it looks like I put TV on for at least 2 hours a day......but then dd and I would always cuddle on sofa and watch it together and she puts all her animals and babies with us too and relaxes with blanket. Is this really bad??