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Original poster

What age should you stop watching scary films in front of a child?

34 replies

juicychops · 10/08/2005 19:40

Me and dp sometimes watch a dvd in the day which is scary or 18 rated. ds is only 7 months so it wont affect him yet but what age should you stop them seeing scary things?

OP posts:
hermykne · 10/08/2005 19:44

juicy not til they're 18! imho, its visual, it ll catch his eye at some point soon, why let him see something thatreally isnt necessary.
i know he's 7mths but iwouldnt let my 1yr old see anyhting not appropriate for their ages.

WigWamBam · 10/08/2005 19:45

Sounds silly, but I think even the youngest of children can be affected by what's going on around them. They can hear the music and the tone of what's going on, and babies are also very sensitive to your mood and the way that you are feeling. I'm not saying it's a bad thing to do, but I certainly wouldn't have been comfortable exposing dd to scary things, even when she was tiny.

fisil · 10/08/2005 19:46

I wondered about this, but it was really obvious. One day dp had a dvd on with a scene which involved some violence and ds1 just got upset, so we quickly turned it off. He only saw a couple of seconds, but we took that as the cut off point!

MaloryTowers · 10/08/2005 19:46

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Hattie05 · 10/08/2005 19:47

Juicychops, we have done the same as you, when dd was little. She would often be playing with toys and so not looking at scream, or having sleepy cuddles, again not looking.
I'm not talking horrific scenes, i just mean films or programmes with a bit of swearing and occasional car crashes/violent bits. I talk to dd during those scenes so she is looking at me and not listening.

Hattie05 · 10/08/2005 19:47

that meant to say screen not scream

Blossomhill · 10/08/2005 19:48

I wouldn't have done it at all. sorry.

Original poster
juicychops · 10/08/2005 19:51

when we watch them he isn't sitting on the sofa staring at the screen, he is playing with toys or rolling around or eating biscuits so he isn't taking it in. But then we have films like Harry Potter which could be considered frightening if you think about it but no one really thinks about that.

OP posts:
WigWamBam · 10/08/2005 19:55

He's still taking it in, even if he's doing something else. The atmosphere is different when you have a scary film on, babies really do pick up on atmosphere.

And I hate to say it, but I wouldn't have had Harry Potter on when dd was a baby, either.

stacijc · 10/08/2005 19:55

my son had nightmares for a week after harry potter(the ginat spiders) and hes 2

imo theres a reason theres an age restriction on the box. as someone has already said its visual and unless you have the language and/or knowledge to understand what is happening or why then it can be even more frightening

oops · 10/08/2005 19:58

Message withdrawn

bobbybob · 10/08/2005 20:15

My ds's "colic" improved massively when we stopped watching the news at 6pm. Now it could be that simply not trying to do 2 things at once was the cure, but I think it was the whole atmosphere of despair that surrounds current affairs.

Ds is 2.5 and is massively upset when anything bad happens to Tigger in a Disney film.

Watch the films when he is asleep.

Heathcliffscathy · 10/08/2005 20:18

agree with wigwam. think that they take the lot in from birth (and before). actually they are more sensitive than us, they can pick up mood, when we can't imo.

nooka · 10/08/2005 20:27

I would agree with you all on the toddler/younger child front - my dd (aged maybe 3) had nightmare for weeks after watching the first two or three minutes of the Grinch (and I'm sure that was a U) and they both had nightmares after Dr Who (much to dh's disappointment as he's a life long fan). However I wouldn't worry too much about a baby, unless you are watching something scary and he is snuggled up to you, and you are stressed by it. One of those Child of our Times programmes showed some research that showed that children (these were 4/5 yr olds) took in very little from the TV, and often had some pretty strange recollections - they showed them a bit from Eastenders where one charactor pushed another over a cliff during a row - and one of the children said that they were both happy or something along those lines! The thing to watch out for is visuals, as that's what they will be more aware of. I don't think that in general having the TV on in the background is a good move with children.

I would keep any serious watching for when they are asleep - of course in my household (with a 4 and 6 yr old) we don't get much choice! The TV is most definately their property duting the day, and we are qute careful about it being child specific.

Original poster
juicychops · 10/08/2005 20:48

thanks nooka. you have made me feel less of a bad parent now!

OP posts:
jessicaandbumpsmummy · 10/08/2005 20:51

I wont watch scary things with Jess about, and never have.

DH gets told off at least twice a month for having the wrestling on while Jess is in the room - i dont want her being subjected to it. Just my opinion though.

Jess is now 12.5 months

stacijc · 10/08/2005 21:01

wasn't meaning to make you feel bad

WideWebWitch · 10/08/2005 21:06

I wouldn't have worried at 7mos, unless it was a lot of disturbing noise, so I guess I wouldn't have watched something with a lot of screaming (not that I watch horror anyway tbh) but anything else wouldn't have worried me at all with a baby. I suppose once they're up and about and want attention is the time to stop being able to watch something YOU want to watch in the day time. Dp and I watched what we wanted when dd was small and we were both at home for a while, so that would have been tv and films.

QueenOfQuotes · 10/08/2005 21:08

well I know the ratings are there for a reason, but I've watched PG's that have worried me more than some 18's!

havetodothis · 10/08/2005 21:20

i don't think anyone wants to make you feel bad, but i do think that for a little baby the background atmosphere is important and they have alot more emapthy than we know about.
In my case, I was totally unable to watch anything noisy and voilent for months after my baby was born, I couldn't cope with it myself, and certainly didn't like too much noise around him. At 7 months i think I was less worried, but why not give it the benefit of the doubt and not do it from now on?

WideWebWitch · 10/08/2005 21:22

Oh fgs, we're talking about a v small baby and a loud film! At 7mos they sleep, a lot -what are we supposed to do, sit in silence, watching them? Blimey. I do disagree, I honestly don't think it's a big deal, although I do see the argument about horror films to an extent.

dinosaur · 10/08/2005 21:25

This reply has been withdrawn

This has been withdrawn by MNHQ at the poster's request.

steffee · 10/08/2005 21:25

Dunno what rating it is, or what it's about either tbh, but dh watches Fast and the Furious and the second one with the children in the room (dd used to love it, age 2). We watch a lot of horror but I can't watch any film through the day, it just feels like a night-time thing (other than Nemo etc for the kids) and even though I agree with opinions on this thread that background tv should be avoided but our tv is always on when we're in.

QueenOfQuotes · 10/08/2005 21:26

WWW - I wanted to say the same......but figured I'd get shot down with flames....

And not sure why the TV on/off during the day issue is being brought up on this thread this isn't about that [frown]

WideWebWitch · 10/08/2005 21:29

Actually, I suppose I ought to say here that during the day only cbeebies is on in our house and there's no way we'd actually get to watch something we wanted during the day so this watch what we wanted stuff was only applicable while my children were very small, at which point I think most noise is more or less acceptable - after all, the noise of a busy street isn't exactly pleasant but it doesn't stop us taking them out in it. I suppose once they notice what's going on around then I don't even think Eastenders is suitable tbh! But I really don't care enough about this to argue with anyone about it.