Encourage toddler to watch TV?!

[christmasmum]

I suspect I'm going to get flamed for this but... is there any way of encouraging a toddler to watch some TV?! My DD is 2.2 and literally will not watch ANY television. I have a 3 week old DS as well and if just one more helpful person tells me to let the toddler watch TV for half an hour while I feed the baby I'm going to cry. I would do literally anything to have a free half hour or so while she is happy, quiet and entertained so I can settle the baby down.

Does anyone else have this problem?! I only ever seem to hear of parents complaining their toddler watches too much!

Find something they love? Dd2 will only watch Scooby Doo and ITNG, before that she had no interest in TV at all.

I thank God for Scooby Doo daily. We have a whole playlist loaded on the PC that I can play on loop when I need to get things done

Barney is popular with little ones. Try that.

Shiney beat me to it. My dd had no interest in the telly, we bought her tellytubbies on video then someone lent us a copy of camp wannarunaround. The most irritating thing known to adults. DD engaged with Barney, BJ and his sister. She also like fun song factory, but I doubt that is still available. We were living in Muscat at the time and there was no Cbbebies or any children's programmes. At all. I know what you mean, I was desperate for her to just sit and look at the box and I don't even have the excuse of two to car for.

Second Barney! I love that purple dinosaur . He's been a blessing to me! My LO fills in the blanks of every popular rhyme! He loves dancing and singing. All thanks to his dinosaur friend! And Barney is a life saver when I have to rush to work in the morning and DS wont let me even go to the toilet

Dont worry about people slating you! You know what is best for you and I can see that you are really tired! You dont sound like a mum who would dump her baby in front of the TV all day . Moderation is the key.

You would know best what your DD likes. If she is anything like my DS, Barney can never go wrong. I know of little girls who love Dora too. So you may want to check that out? I haven't ever watched it .. so not quite sure. To get her into it, firstly you need to have a few TV watching sessions with her. Add value to the session by singing, dancing and pointing out things of interest to her. I am sure your DD will follow your cue. And the next time you are not around, when the same DVD is playing, you would still see her dancing, singing and pointing out the same way you did! Enjoying the video all by herself

HTH.

My ds wouldn't look at it until he was about 2 and 6 mths. Now he is square eyed!

Yep, try a few DVDS. Maybe borrow fromt he library or a friend?

OOoh shudder, the mention of Barney is bringing back unpleasant memories .....

I have tried everything to no avail, even BB (Bloody Barney), she will chant "Iggle Iggle" for a bit, so I'll stick on ITNG and she won't even make it through the credits before she's off running around again. She did quite like Boogie Beebies (again for a max of about 2 minutes) but that doesn't seem to be on anymore. I don't think it's a concentration span thing as she'll happily paint or do jigsaws for a while - as long as I'm sitting with her - or mess around for ages 'washing up' in the sink (if only I could trust her with the wine glasses and plates!!) but she just will NOT watch TV. Is it wrong to consider tying her to a chair with match sticks in her eyes and brainwashing her...

The 2.6 thing has given me hope!! I can't wait until I'm posting something with a title like 'How can I limit my DD's screentime...?'

mine was the same,try reading a couple of maisy mouse books for a few day and then put the maisy mouse counting dvd on, he loves it !!!The dvd drives the rest of us crazy!

Another vote for Maisy! DVDS better than TV becasue they can watch them time and time again, and they love repetition. TV not good for that reason. MY DC did not watch TV till they ent to school, but looked at DVDS from about 2.

I have 3 DDs, all had completely different reactions to tv. DD1 loved baby TV (sky channel 623) from the day she saw it, when she was 8 months. clapping, singing, and still watching today (now she watches lots of other things but still tunes in and she's 5!)

Dd2 was completely uninterested by any tv until over age 2 and now she watches some but not all tv (likes peppa pig and some baby tv). though i 100% understand why you would encourage some tv watching!!!

DD3 is same as dd1, loves it from day one, but she is really crazy about all the songs.

anyways, keep trying. Baby tv has short episodes (5 minutes) so maybe that will be more fun for her to follow a whole story rather than get lost in a half hour dvd

peppa pig.

Something Special gets our vote. Not only is DD totally still while watching it (I can cook dinner, put laundry on etc. etc.) she's learnt so many words from it. So I can pass it off as educational.

Agree with something special many friends have commented on its spellbinding quality (for their children that is). My DD 2.7 always wants to watch Dora the explorer time after time after time after.... again it can be passed off as educational, they chuck the odd spanish word in . Maybe try sitting and cuddling for one entire episode then withdraw gradually?

Give her a book instead?

Actually reading a book to toddler whilest feeding baby is time honoured advice? Found tv much easier myself though ... bad bad mummy. Actually is there any activity she likes to do without too much hands on from you colouring or playing dolls? Explain you need to sit quietly with baby to get her to sleep but you will set up a favourite game and play for 5 mins first then withdraw to a quiet corner of the room to feed baby, explain that if it is quiet the baby will fall asleep more quickly?

Sympathise though I had a 23 month gap with my children and found the whole thing of feeding and settling the baby while looking after a toddler difficult and stressful and that is with the assistance of a toddler who loved thomas the tank dvds (cant bear to have thomas on anymore obv brings back some subconscious memory of that time!)

Playhouse Disney is the winner in our house.

And it's educational.

(I actually love 'Can you teach my alligator manners?' )

Like Shodan - Playhouse Disney it is! Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Special Agent OSO and Handy Manny are clear favourites with my DD, 20 months.

pocoyo gets my vote
the fact it's narrated by stephen fry makes it all the better!

3m

get her a bean bag chair, sit her down with fave drink and snack.
then try every channel, every dvd.
Second Barney and Peppa and Mickey Mouse.Fireman Sam?? Bit boyish maybe.
Ben and Holly has him transfixed and he has just started watching old Winnie the Pooh movies, they are kinda old fashioned.

what about different toys, have you tried blocks/lego? dolls house? they can keep them amused for a while

The oddest thing of all is that my 4 week old DS is clearly already hooked! He will lie on the rug gazing at the TV, quite content, for ages while I try all of the above to get my DD to do more than glance at the screen!!

She does have a reasonable attention span for other things like lego, happyland, books etc depending on the time of day. My main problem time is the 5-7pm slot when DS is cluster feeding and DD is getting to the tired and cranky stage which usually involves running round like a crazy loon. I was reading some toddler tips book and it said to encourage them to sit quietly at this time - ha. They have clearly not met my DD!!

Am going to buy some Maisy DVD's I think. Got to be worth a try...!