My 4-year-old broke 4 TVs in one month... What should I do?

[LunaDream0]

Hi all,

I'm feeling a bit frustrated and overwhelmed at the moment, and I hope someone can offer some advice or support. My 4-year-old son has somehow managed to break four TVs in the last month! I’m not even sure how it’s happening, but each time I turn around, there’s a new screen crack or malfunction. It’s honestly starting to feel like we’re living in a nightmare!

I know kids can be rough on things, but I’ve never had this happen before, and it’s really making me question if I need to be doing something differently. Should I be more proactive in teaching him how to treat electronics? Or maybe I need to find a way to limit his access to the TV altogether?

Has anyone else dealt with something similar? How do you handle a situation like this without completely losing your mind?

Any tips or reassuring words would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!

So it's the same TV? Has he actually broken it 4 times or are you just noticing existing cracks from the first time?

Should I be more proactive in teaching him how to treat electronics?

Well, yes. However our DC1 is bloody 9 years old and STILL has fucking balls in the living room 😤😤 BUT the screen has never broken so I wonder what on earth your DS is doing! I’d get a TV for your bedroom and he can go without.

How is he breaking them? What do you do/say after the break has occurred?
Once could be a genuine accident but it seems pretty odd that it’s happened 4 times because at aged 4 they usually learn much quicker than that. Unless you’re saying something along the lines of not to worry darling we’ll buy a new TV…

Should I be more proactive in teaching him how to treat electronics?

😀Yes. Yes you should be more proactive in teaching him how to treat electronics.

As you won't tell us how he broke them I'll assume he's running around with a bat or something, unsupervised, which is partly your own fault.

Move the TV out of reach would be the obvious answer.

@LunaDream0 are you not letting us know how he managed to break them??? is it a big secret???

Should I be more proactive in teaching him how to treat electronics?

No, you should be more proactive in teaching him how to behave andhow to treat anything.

Honestly this is really down to you. You clearly aren’t paying enough attention to your child. My nearly 4 year old has b never broken anything like a tv and certainly not 4 in a month.
This isn’t normal.

Oh wow!

My 3 year old broke one recently, accidently but through careless throwing.

We had the consequence of no TV including little bits she watches on our phone when doing her hair for a week.

Then once TV was replaced we implemented 3 rules - no throwing or climbing in the living room and no touching the tv. I get her to repeat them when she asks to watch TV, it goes off immediately if these aren't followed.

If another TV got broken that would be a LONG period of no screens.

My DS broke a tv years ago by throwing the remote at it in a temper. He was about 7 or 8 I think. He didn't intend to break it obviously, but learnt a hard lesson about what happens if you throw hard things. If I recall we waited a while before replacing it to underline that.

Please explain how each tv got broken.
Were you in the room at the time?
What consequences did you give your son after each one was broken?

Hi Op you can buy a Perspex protector for tvs, Amazon have them . They attach with Velcro. One of mine was a thrower and those little wooden trains are tv killers :) he grew out of it but the protector saved mine a few times x

Not sure why so many people are comparing their children with yours, different children have completely different temperaments and you haven't commented on anything like ADHD so we have no idea about that either!
Probably he thinks it's a fun game and doesn't clock the consequences for whatever reason. Or he is somehow overwhelmed by the TV being on?
But anyway given what's happening I think if you can't supervise like a hawk the answer is just no TV for a year or so until you think he might be ready. Or implement one of the child proofing measures in the thread.

"In the living room" is not enough information, OP. Is it out of the child's reach? How is it being broken?

I think this is a wind up.

Surely nobody allows their child to break a Tv 4 times!

Mount it on the wall out if reach. And teach him not to thriw things.

Is it mounted on the wall or on a stand at his level? DD drove a toy plane into a curve TV and cracked it. The next TV went on the wall. It has never happened again. He is only 4 so a level of responsibility falls to you as parents.

Well we put it on a high cabinet and moved the cabinet infront of all the plugs and wires...she can't resist button bashing and poking it.

I would not replace telly and have one in your room for now.

We put a fireplace guard around the TV stand when they were small. No access.

I would be more worried about him pulling the TV down on top of himself than breaking them.

Wow - what an expense. Does he understand how to look after other things. At 4 he should have a bit of an understanding of value of things.... is he at school yet. Does he tend to break other things too

I’d replace it with a projector for now until he’s outgrown whatever phase he’s in.

My children don’t touch the tv, they use the remote. Is he throwing things at it? Surely if he touches the buttons etc you are close enough by to stop him.

The people have to know!

(Not that we're going to copy him, or anything...)

What's he doing to break them? Pushing them over? Hitting them with something? Nerf guns?!

Don't replace it. Or maybe with a solid old fashioned CRT one if you can still get them! And don't leave him alone in the room.

The thread is reminding me of the one where the son's friend tripped over the record player cable.