Cinema with 2 1/2 year old?

[RockinMumma]

I want to take my daughter to the cinema soon , just her & I. She's two and a half. Has a good concentration span. Has anyone taken their kid(s) this young to the cinema?

I took DS1 to see postman pat at this age. He was absolutely fine - wanted to sit on my knee for half the film and I had to carry him out halfway through to the toilet (didn't like walking down the stairs in the dark!) but he sat still and was totally engrossed. Barely even touched his pick and mix!

I would try with the movies for juniors first, its only a couple of quid to take them and then you know that if you have to get up and leave you won't have paid for a full price ticket.

Yes, but only to a kids screening (costing £1.50 each) so I didn't mind if I needed to leave early (which happened the first 3-4 times).

Don't expect a child that age to sit still for the duration without needing the loo/nappy change/being bored etc.

We go to the saturday/sunday mornng kids cinema. It's only £1.75 each.

The first time was a flop but ever since he's really enjoyed it - a great wet weekend trip out.

Tip would be to get there after the advertised start time as they do loads of adverts. The first time, DS sat through the ads but was then bored about 30 minutes into the film.

I do the cheap one as then it's not a huge waste of money if we have to leave because he's being a pain.

We've taken dd for a while and she's 3.3 now. We often go to Movies for Juniors screenings as she really enjoys it. Sometimes she asks loud questions but nobody cares in the kid screenings. The one time I've taken her to a normal screening it was to see Cinderella and she was so entranced she didn't fuss at all.

If you have an Odeon nearby, we prefer to go there as they don't show adverts before the junior screening, they just go straight into the film.

I think that's quite young. Remember cinemas are loud, very loud. DH took DS at 3.5 which went fine but I would have preferred to wait til 4.

Lots of cinemas do 'toddler time' on a weekday morning, usually a couple of episodes of a children's programme so just a half hour programme. It's a good way to introduce them to the cinema experience.

Alternatively there will be lots of children's stuff on in the holidays. Check out your nearest independent for something a bit less mainstream