3 year old scared of movies!

[bananainpjs]

I’ve started introducing movies to my 3 year old.

First he watched the good dinosaur which he seemed to enjoy, however when the got stuck in the river and they parted ways, he balled his eyes out and won’t watch the movie again.

I’ve tried watching The Polar Express with him and he cried his eyes out all the way through so I had to stop the film.

He cried at the film UP too when they got stuck in the storm and when being chased by dogs.

My friends 3 year old loves the polar express apparently so I assumed he would be okay.

Is this normal? A phase? He’s sensitive? Etc

My dd had a very limited range of films she could watch at that age as she is very sensitive to anyone being told off, bad things happening to anyone or scary characters. We were able to watch most of the tinker bell movies, the Winnie the Pooh movies And stuff like Julia Donaldson. It may be a phase, but my dd is now 9 and we still have to be cautious about what we choose to watch because she can get scared or upset. She has watched few classic Disney films because they are nearly all too scary or too many unpleasant things happening to the characters!

I've had a similar experience to @Greydogs123 I'm afraid - DS is 11, and we can only watch certain films. It can be a bit frustrating!

Completely a phase, my youngest (now17) couldn't watch many films, but is fine now.

Don't worry

My DD used to be scared of the fox in the Gruffalo's Child and Edmund Elephant in Peppa Pig. (Elephants in general, oddly). She grew out of it.

Try nicer happier movies! 😂 The Good Dinosaur and Up are sad and tough going for me and I'm an adult! Just try fun age appropriate ones to start with, Paw Patrol, Cars, etc

My DD used to love Frozen and other animated films when she was 3ish, then went through a phase of being terrified of films. I must have scarred her with a really inappropriate film like Moana or Lion King. Possibly the first five minutes of the Snowdog...

When she went to Reception they let them watch a movie a few times at end of terms/rewards and she used to cry and ask to leave so they'd have to take her out to do colouring etc

I didn't make a big thing of it (hopefully) and she's gradually come out of that.
She's 7 now and we've watched loads of Pixar type films, the first Harry Potter film, and today she watched Home Alone 2 which felt like a really big step!

Turbo on Netflix is a very simple cartoon about a racing snail! I think this helped her get used to it.
He'll get there OP

I use Common Sense Media to assess whether a film is appropriate. My daughter could only cope with Winnie the Pooh, The Gruffolo, Frosty the Snowman etc at 3. Not much peril, no death. She watched The Polar Express at 6. Most Disney stuff not till 5 or 6. She watched more TV than movies at 3 and 4. Paw Patrol, Octonauts, Dora, Peppa, etc.

Ah okay! Maybe I’m expecting too much at 3 years old.

I saw a 3 year old on insta watch the polar express and Harry Potter so I’m assumed he might be okay but I shouldn’t compare really! Thankfully I haven’t broken him which I though I had and scarred him for life

I think Polar Express is bloody creepy and I’m 58!

Please, don’t be the parent who forces their child to do something they’re not ready for yet. Lost count of the number of frightened and even crying children I’ve stood behind in queues for rollercoasters, Hex at Alton Towers, etc., being told not to be “silly”, “a wuss” or worse , which I won’t repeat here. Sat through several children’s films at the cinema, listening to parents telling their small children to be quiet and stop it before, eventually, taking them out in a huff (the Little Mermaid and Shrek, particularly, spring to mind).

Some children are just more sensitive than others and need patience, not a telling off.

DD is 6 and has never watched a film. She balled her eyes out at the BBC adaptations of Gruffalo, Snail and the Whale etc. Even the Snowman was too sad and she refused to watch it. We have to stick to kids 10 min programmes or documentaries.

DD1 would scream the house down and refuse to watch a film until about this year (she's 9) - I have no idea why - longer cartoons were OK (like the Frozen short length) but immediately she twigged it was a film that was it and she would not entertain it.

We've worked through a few festive essentials over the last few days though - Home Alone, Muppets etc and she's enjoyed them now - but she'd still rather stick an episode of Bake Off on than a film (but so would I really).

The Snowman is banned in this house after it made our very very emotional DD2 sob for bloody hours!

Films tend to have more intense and sustained peril that can be harder for a sensitive child to cope with.

I tried introducing my DS to the Polar Express film at around 4/5 - we loved the book and assumed the film with be similar. But it introduces a lot of extra drama that’s not in the book and my DS was absolutely terrified, we had to switch it off.

At 8 he’s still quite sensitive to peril but he’s seen enough films now to appreciate that things are generally alright in the end.

Honestly I don’t think it’s a bad thing - it shows they are emotionally engaged in the story.

@MrsSkylerWhite

I think Polar Express is bloody creepy and I’m 58!

Please, don’t be the parent who forces their child to do something they’re not ready for yet. Lost count of the number of frightened and even crying children I’ve stood behind in queues for rollercoasters, Hex at Alton Towers, etc., being told not to be “silly”, “a wuss” or worse , which I won’t repeat here. Sat through several children’s films at the cinema, listening to parents telling their small children to be quiet and stop it before, eventually, taking them out in a huff (the Little Mermaid and Shrek, particularly, spring to mind).

Some children are just more sensitive than others and need patience, not a telling off.

Don’t worry, I didn’t tell him off. I was more worried it was something I’ve done and he was scarred from that experience. This thread has made me realise that that isn’t the case and maybe 3 years old is far to young.

He loves all of the Julian Donaldson adaptions, and The Snowman etc so it’s not all too bad!

Polar Express is terrifying. I watched it when I was 37 snd I couldn't look. It was really scary going so fast in the dark.

If you're a sensitive imaginative person then movies are so real they can be v scary. Don't force him and only show him nice stuff. What others can watch fine is irrelevant- this is him.