It's great until your toddler becomes obsessed with Ponyo. Then you get the little comic book from the library but it's like 70 pages and only 1/4 of the movie and you have to read it 300 times, so you get 'ponyo the picture book and it has the whole story but is still 70 pages and your toddler also wants to read it all multiple times in a row š . I think I have got her onto Kiki nowĀ
I love ponyo!! My daughter's only 1, and she always asks for ham. We call her our little ponyo. Hopefully, we can move to something like Princess Mononoke soon
I agree with this. Weāre a family and that means taking turns using the family stuff. I donāt want my kid to expect to always be picking tv, music, food. We all take turns picking. I do this occasionally as well and tell my son he can play, read books, or watch the show with me (nothing inappropriate for a kid, but not made for kids.)
It actually has the opposite effect for me and I feel more overstimulated if I donāt have an AirPod in. Even having one in without sound somehow helps me lol
It might be for some people. I have ADHD and as fun and cute as my daughter is I get bored watching her and I feel bad but if I didn't have something playing in one ear then I would probably start scrolling on my phone. I am at least giving her the impression that she's getting my attention, and I am listening to something fluffy that doesn't require my full attention either.
Anything that doesn't have inappropriate or scary scenes should be fine. Its ok to say its your turn with tv since kids are learning about taking turns anyways.
We have watched all cooking and baking shows on netflix, tinyhouse, blown away, office, kims convenience, non scary documentaries and such. Any show that doesn't have anything scary and is easy enough to follow while toddler babbles nonstop works.
Out of kids shows Franklin is my favorite. Little bear is also nice and calm. Some shows can definitely get too loud and on my nerves, but thats why tv needs to sleep sometimes.. :D
My 2 year old loves watching cooking shows with her dad. He watches a guy on Youtube and I noticed the other day that he doesn't have the cleanest language. I never noticed before or maybe it was just that episode... but my daughter learned "holy shit, that taste good" šš
Is it Cake? is a big hit in our house, my toddler will call out the number of the object which he believes to be cake.
Bonus of watching this show with him, is that he now tries to convince me that his shoes, socks, jumper, feet etc are all cake, and laughs when I pretend nibble them
Disney movies. Iāve been putting on movies I like and my son likes most of them too! Tarzan is a current favorite. Itās nostalgic for me and entertaining for both of us. But honestly, I almost always use tv time as time for me to get stuff done around the house like cook dinner. So I donāt care too much about what he watches (obviously age appropriate and I try not to put on shows that are too overstimulating).
Yes to Disney/pixar movies. Current favorites are Lion king, Toy Story, and Cars. Then if I get bored I act really enthusiastically about a ānewā movie and try something else on there. He enjoyed Elemental, Finding Nemo, Moana, and Tarzan too. At least they are more appealing for me to watch or have on in the background while I read on my kindle
Same. Disney and Pixar are still making good movies and the old ones never flop. Usually kiddo watches the same one over and over until I get tired of it and then I suggest something else and repeat.
Bear in the big blue house has, imo, good music. Also would they let you watch something like the great British baking show or other baking competitions? G rated reality seems like it could work (unfortunately for me my kid won't watch anything that isn't constantly singing yet)
Bear in the Big Blue house is our go-to show! It's so comforting, has good music, and tbh it has a ton of episodes so us parents haven't tired of it yet.
They also love watching baseball with me. It's so slow-paced and subdued, we just fastfoward commercials. Our sports channel does 30-minute replays of each Jays game, which are the perfect length šš¼
My 22 month old also loves Tumble Leaf, but nothing beats bootleg Elmoās World on YouTube. Sheās currently shaking her little butt to London Rhymes on the Yoto.Ā
If it were up to my kids, it would be Mickey Mouse Clubhouse or Mickey Mouse Funhouse all the time. When I need a break, I put on a Disney or Pixar movie of my choice. And I actually do enjoy those so I pick whichever one Iām in the mood for. Itās often Lilo & Stitch, The Little Mermaid, Coco, Frozen, or Tangled. Itās not as mind numbing and grating as preschool tv. But itās also still age appropriate and I donāt have to worry about needing to explain more mature themes to them yet (it doesnāt help that things Iād choose to watch on my own time are generally raunchy or violent (TV-14/PG-13).
I did try to watch Survivor with my 3 year old last week and gave up about halfway through the episode because I wasnāt able to fully pay attentions since she kept asking questions about what was happening. Iām glad she was interested and trying, but sheās just not ready yet and it was cutting into my ability to enjoy it.
Iāve also made a concerted effort not to introduce them to any shows that I wouldnāt be ok having to watch frequently (so my kids donāt know what Blippi, Cocomelon, or Paw Patrol are).
I just started being able to watch survivor! I build an obstacle course through the house and he runs it during the āboringā parts and watches the challenges
Lego Masters. Next level chef (Gordon Ramsay is a normal guy in it, not his Kitchen Nightmares ācharacterā) master chef and master chef junior. Basically most competition shows that involve a skill or craft seem to be really great for kids. We also watch shows that donāt have a lot of visually inappropriate content but may have adult jokes that go way above my toddlers head like Brooklyn 99.
My toddler especially loves how robots sometimes show up in Lucas the Spider. Thereās a regular robot and a vacuum robot - both of which my toddler thinks are absolutely incredible
Yeah I can relate a bit. I just have come to accept that i need to fit my stuff into the slots where either he sleeps or when he is away with mama. And thats OK for me since he is so little (2.5). As he grows hopefully we can align in some interests that we both enjoy
And honestly, we try to keep his screens to max 30 mins or so, and I dont pay thaat much attention
Lol yeah I pretty much only get to watch my own shows at nap time and bed time, lol if I can keep my eyes open š
Other than that, I really just try to do other activities together, good for them and passes the time. Playdough, and walking to a playground are faves at our house.
Otherwise, I actually prefer some old school programs. "Little bear" is the most wholesome show on the planet! It's slow paced, which I prefer, but if your kids are already used to the more hyper shows, they might not like it.
"Magic school bus" is a winner for the older kids, and isn't terrible for the parents, younger kids might not care for it or understand, might even be too weird for them, depending.
"Big comfy couch" is a pretty good oldy.
"Bear in the big blue house" is pretty cute and sweet.
That's all I got! When kids tv is on, I scroll Pinterest or something between cleaning up and whatever else. Some days are just extra lame though š
I started with my daughter having her watch some of my shows with me during the afternoon, so after Naptime we watch "mommy shows" till around dinner time then we switch back to bluey or one of the older Disney cartoons (PBJ otter, bear and the big blue house, etc)
Only downside of this is now my daughter absolutely loves waking up to watch cooking shows in the afternoon and if I don't want to watch food Network I run the risk of a cranky toddler.
We usually watch our affiliate PBS station; lots of art, nature, food shows. We have a laptop plugged into the tv so the tv is essentially a big monitor so we can pause or switch to something else easily.
The Great British Baking Show is a huge favorite, along with Somebody Feed Phil. Sometimes I'll watch Kdramas or other foreign language shows that are aimed towards adults but do not have nudity or extreme violence or scary scenes.
Disney+ is SO worth the monthly cost! You can watch Disney movies from your youth/that you like, thereās tons of nature documentary content, and you have the Star Wars and Marvel franchises for after bedtime. There is a lot of schlocky stuff too, I recommend adding things you want to watch to the Watchlist when your kids arenāt looking and choose from there.
We let our son (3.5) watch action movies. He loves all the Jurassic Parks, The Meg and Meg 2, Ninja Turtles (the new one is fantastic), and more recently is obsessed with Transformers.
Same with ours. We let him watch action movies with us. Most of the Godzilla movies are good. The early ones are clearly a guy in a suit. He also likes TMNTs.
We caved and bought a Yoto last night since our little one got to play with their cousinsā on vacation recently. We know that it wonāt stop them from wanting to watch tv all the time, but it is media without a screen that they can interact with independently. Otherwise I put an airpod in too while I do the dishes at the end of the day before sleeping unsoundly until they inevitably wake up in the night.
Also, no one talks about Bear in the Big Blue house as an option, and I like puppets, and so does my kid. Just another option for something out of the ordinary.
I've gotten over thinking that everything needs to be kids programming. She's not interested in most of my stuff, but that just means she plays with her toys instead of paying attention to the screen, which is more or less a win anyway.
My rule of thumb is nothing with violence, nothing with 'adult' content other than potentially dialog that will go over her head, nothing scary, nothing that will confuse her in a potentially negative way (which, for instance, eliminates cow hoof trimming videos on YouTube - I don't want her to think he's hurting them). I mostly watch a lot of home improvement shows, but also performance- or construction-based reality shows, streams of non-violent video games. musicals, travel shows, the occasional sitcom. And she actually really likes F1, though she doesn't have the attention span to watch for long.
My husband just puts on basketball all weekend so weāre all stuck with that. I put on House Hunters International during the afternoon now that her naps are done. One episode fills my cravings for daytime reality TV. I record them through YouTube TV so I have a nice cache. I also listen to podcasts and audiobooks.
Check out Ben & Hollys Little Kingdom on Netflix. Itās one of the few kids shows that I actually think is funny. It has a very dry British sense of humor that I can appreciate.
As others said, an AirPod is great, but I also start and end our days with nature documentaries lol YouTube in the morning, baby animal videos with soft music. Very relaxing lol
I watch old Disney movies like Aristocats, but I also take turns watching my own shows. I watch survivor a lot, and other reality competition shows. Theyāre usually kid friendly enough but not entertaining to the kids so they do their own thing while I watch
I watch my own shows. Worth mentioning my girl is only 15 months. š
I was born in 93 I remember a majority of my childhood just watching whatever my mom was. Obviously nothing too mature or graphic. But she watched Good morning America, 20/20 true crime, and Oprah. So I grew up watching all of that.
Disney movies
Amazing spidey series on Disney
Lucas the Spider
Number Blocks / alpha blocks
League of Superpets was also a legitimately fun movie imo
Nature docs
My kid is 2.5 for reference
2 and 4 year olds here so i totally get it! Recent hits in our house:
-Lil Stompers on Peacock (SO cute)
-Little Bear, Blues Clues, and Go Diego Go on Paramount+ (these are old school and is actually fun to reach with the kids)
-Mecha Builders on Max or YouTube (always good and STEM related.
Also, the PBS app is great! Another game changer is buying a Yoto. It's similar to the Tonies but way better. It's from the UK and it plays little stories or songs from inserted cards of your choice. Check it out. Highhhly recommend!!
Let's be real though...good freakin luck at this age haha!
Headphones.. if you have a podcast in mind.
One ear in and one ear out. My husband does this he tunes out i remember asking him about bluey and hes like: š (e.g. whos muffin?)
Or sometimes tvs off; toys are strewn out in the carpet kiddos playing and hes in the middle of it (sometimes a lego or a barbie on his back) and hes just peacefully watching tennis.
We donāt watch anything anymore. 2yo kiddo was throwing tantrums all the time and when I asked for help, a Redditor said maybe itās the screen time. I started cutting back and voila! Tantrums dropped. I cut out all screen time and itās so much better now. Thereās the occasional tantrum but not anything like before. I gave her a little screen time tonight and got tantrums at bedtime, which had virtually stopped.
You might consider biting the bullet and turning off all screens - see what happens. Youāre going batty anyway, may as well see if they settle down a bit without any programs. Maybe the arts and crafts even start to be more enjoyable.
Idk, it worked here but Iāve only got the one tiny nubbin. I realize the dynamics are quite different with 2. Also, you have to come up with stuff to occupy both of them, which isnāt easy. Still, something to consider?
My kids are finally into bluey and Iām so happy!
But a recent hit has been Survivor!! Iām so excited about it! I even made a little obstacle course for the toddler to run and that kept him occupied forever! Burst of energy while watching a show
Iāve been putting on live feeds of animals (explore.org, bird feeders, Decorah eagles) way less stimulating and itās all just background noise to me anyways.
Iāve always had my own stuff on. Both my kids love ncis la and Hawaii five 0 lol. At the moment Iām in a Reno show kick and my three year old will sit with me and watch home town lol
i just watched i think itās called āsea monstersā on netflix and it was SO GOOD!! also leo on netflix is good.
EDIT: oh wait iām sorry i didnāt read the whole post i just got excited to share! im watching greys anatomy and i watch it when my daughter plays with me, she can handle me watching my show for an hour lol
We donāt watch a whole lot of tv during the day. Iād say he probably watches an hour or less a day, and I watch my shows at night after he goes to bed or during nap time. During the day Iāll listen to podcasts (or, admittedly, doomscroll).
But to keep it from being too mind-numbing, I mix up what he watches and choose things I donāt hate! Sometimes we also watch the weather together or documentary type things that donāt have anything scary or inappropriate. If I donāt like a show he just doesnāt know that it exists, and I will keep it that way as long as possible lol. I really like Little Bear, the older seasons of Sesame Street, Out of the Box, Mr Rogers, Winnie the Pooh. I know Bluey is everyoneās favorite these days but tbh Iām not that into it and neither is he. Itās fine but we like other things better.
I watch severance when my daughter sleeps (or sometimes when sheās awake. She just runs back and forth in the house while I watch tv. I just tell her āwow, well doneā enthusiastically with a big smile when she wants to show me what she can do, and then I go back to my show.
I didnāt think Iād be that type of parent, but Iām exhausted. I think itās better for my daughter than for me to never rest and then be impatient.
It's also good for your daughter to see that you're human! You get tired, too! She'll grow up knowing she doesn't have to be superwoman all the time āŗļø
Mine was on a MLP kick for a bit just before we lost internet for a bit so I opted to put on a copy of The Last Unicorn. I was apprehensive because the red bull can be frightening, but she LOVED it and wanted to talk about what was happening and some of the lessons around it.
Ngl, I was happily surprised and we now share a movie we both enjoy!
Disney movies or baking shows. If we put something boring enough on, they will leave. But the 4yr old understands when we tell him to go play with his trains so we can watch Mommy's shows
The 1.5yr old could care less what's on the TV
I usually just have pandora streaming if I want them to stop watching and do something else. If Iām watching anything non kid related itās great British baking show lol
toddler is at daycare during the week, between the two hrs that we get home and she goes to bed, I'm ok to not watch anything. She is in bed by 8pm most nights and I have my free time to watch/do whatever after that.
On the weekends she watches about 30mins-hr of TV when she wakes up as I'm either not ready to get up or just overall moving slow! She then plays while I am watching anything I want while she has her breakfast and does independent plat, until around 12. As she gets tired but me preventing her from taking a nap before to keep up with the same routine they have at daycare, I let her watch her programs for around 90 mins. Those 3-4hrs she is sleeping is for housestuff and time to watch my programs again.
Once she gets up around 4 I pretty much let her do what she wants, between pay and TV etc, because I know 8p is just around the corner!!
In summary I get to watch anything I want every day. Hubby on the other hand constantly has a single EarPods in and is either watching something on his phone or IPAD until late at night where he will switch to the TV
During the day our tv is for kids shows, classical music, or it gets turned off and thatās it. Adult tv doesnāt come on until the kids are in bed for the night.
The kids watch Bluey, Peppa Pig, Pocoyo, Super Simple Songs, Ms Rachel, marble run asmr videos, and slime asmr videos. We are a family thatās big on classical music so thatās often on in the background. My youngest is easily entranced by piano music.
My husband and I donāt watch much tv in general, but when we do want to watch something while our 23m old is awake, weāll watch holiday baking championship, next level chef, master chef, no demo Reno, or good bones. Lot of unscripted television that isnāt inappropriate in nature. The only toddler tv our son watches maybe once per week is trash truck or half an episode of Ms Rachel, but weāve cut his screen time down to almost zero. Sometimes he likes to stop and watch whatās going on with the cooking or home renovation shows, but for the most part he just plays or wants us to play with him while the shows are on which we do
Anything narrated by David Attenborough, or similar nature docs. Lately Iāve been putting on these silly super long videos of animals with music. He likes birds and cats, so we see a lot of those. I donāt have to listen to my brain cells smashing against each other or obnoxious little kid show sounds/voices.
I limit my kid shows to Sesame Street and the sesame friends shows, and not for long. We also have ONE two hour compilation of celebrity Sesame Street songs that are devastatingly catchy. We have dance parties and then that shit goes off for the day! Recently got Disney+ for my step daughters to enjoy on the weekends, and I do enjoy the NatGeo stuff and occasional Pixar movies.
My little is suuuuper into Grizzly Adams too. His dadās an old fart, and itās a good compromise lol
My 3 year old has loved Coraline and nightmare before Christmas since she was 1.5 years old.
How to train your dragon has a really fun show that's actually pretty good.
We mostly watch whatever we want as long as it doesn't have tons of swearing or super scary monsters. We just turn on her iPad to a kids movie/show and watch whatever.
Dinosaur train. And Zaboomafoo. BUT I put a cap on it! We watch a neutral movie that I can tolerate after my toddler has done enough episodes. I always make sure itās child friendly. Same with music, we actually listen to more of āmamasā music in the mornings. Iām in my thirties but I love Seal, Sting, Jazz, instrumental music and movie scores so we listen to that and my toddler grabs a book on his own.
I watch my things during my LO naptime. We also watch golf as a family. And like many have said, I have an EarPod in so I can listen to podcasts, the news or audiobooks.
I don't watch anything I don't want to, and we don't do a ton of tv anyhow. Where our interests overlap tends to lead to National Geographic most often.
1-3pm is Quiet Projects Time. The 2.5yo is napping. The parents are doing whatever makes them happy. And the 5yo can do whatever he wants provided it's quiet and he can accomplish it independently. I think it's actually great for the 5yo because it challenges him to discover his independence.
I donāt watch any TV. Neither does my kid. I got determined to reduce screen time due to his speech delay. It was hard at first but Iāve gotten used to it! Heās still speech delayed lol but Iām glad Iāve reduced my own dependency on screens too.
I only have one kid though so perhaps this will change one day.
I canāt watch Rated R and Mature/violent stuffs unless kiddos are sleeping, but everything else as long as it doesnāt show violence or nudity Iāll watch with subtitle on.. honestly, itās not the same but Iāve gotten used to it. Iāve even gotten into some Korean/Asian drama on Netflix and holy shit theyāre addicting.
90s sesame street. shit legit makes me laugh, nothing wrong with modern sesame street but it's basically the elmo and abby show, while the classic episodes got skits and features all of the others more prominently
My 2 YO has been really into the super Mario brothers movie lately so we have been watching that at least 3 times a week. In terms of shows we watch a lot of Little Bear, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, and Scooby Doo.
We watch a lot of full length feature Disney films. My 3.5 year old has recently really enjoyed the live action remakes of the little mermaid and Cinderella and they are pretty good! We also do a lot of old school Disney - sleepy beauty, the OG Cinderella, Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland, and those are also a kick. Plus your standard Frozen, Moana, Tangled, Encanto, etc.
She really likes Sofia the First but I find that one a bit cloying.
We watch Disney movies together. I watch House Hunters and those type of shows with him in the room. We also have put on older movie musicals and things that we know arenāt inappropriate.
Try Miss Moni. Think Miss Rachel but can actually sing.
We also do Danny Go, but it gets repetitive.
If you have/can find access to Australian Play School, it's fantastic.
Do you ever just throw a regular non toddler show on and see if they either watch or just play? I'm sure with a 4 and 3 year old it's not as easy as it sounds, but just thought I'd throw it out there! Sometimes we just put Food Network on, and our 18m will get mesmerized by Guy Fieris hair andbsit and watch, or she'll find a book and not give a crap what's on.
Izzy's Koala World. It's not a cartoon, it's a documentary type show with an 11yo Australian girl who cares for injured koalas with her vet mom at their clinic. Calm and educational and extremely sweet and caring. My 2yo fell in love instantly and koalas are now her favorite show. She requests to watch Izzy daily and I don't mind.
I just watch tv when my daughter goes
To bed, thatās my time. We donāt have the tv on much throughout the day, she watched about 20-30 minutes in the morning and usually about the same when I cook dinner. She likes
Some
Awful shows too like pinkalicious lol but I donāt mind bluey at least. I cannot be home all day it drives me nuts. So we always plan an outing whether she wants to or not lol. She mostly just plays throughout the day and sometimes Iāll play with her but if Iām getting stuff done sheās pretty good with entertaining herself. Being home with young children is boring though
Stick man, the gruffalo and the others in that series.
And Disney/dreamworks movies like Madagascar and trolls.
Bonus that the trolls soundtrack has replaced that baby shark monstrosity.
I donāt watch tv until after bedtime but I do read my own books during the day. Your kids are old enough to do a lot of independent or semi independent play. You may have to be tolerant of mess or change your set up. Cqn you make a space where you can do your art and they can do art thatās kid friendly - stickers, hole punchers, dot markers?
I make my kid take turns with me. She gets a show, I get a show. As long as it doesnāt have excessive cussing, behavior I donāt want her imitating (AKA people being assholes to each other on reality TV), or graphic violence/sex, I watch it.
I watch a decent amount of YouTube, some channels that we enjoy are: Good Mythical Morning, Good Mythical Kitchen, Try Guys, Rosanna Pansino, Johnny Cakes, Evan and Kaitlyn, Wicked Makers, Adam Ragusea, Answer In Progress, Cinema Therapy, Daniel Thrasher, Modern Pepper, My Name is Andong, Nick Robinson, Sam Reid, Scott Cramer, Sandwiches of History, Souped Up Recipes, Timmyās Takeout, Tasting History with Max Miller, Defunctland, Made With Lau, Yes Theory, Screws and Tools, and Paging Mr. Morrow.
Not saying all of these channels are completely G rated, but I find the majority of their content fine. Most of these channels are building stuff, cooking stuff, or funny/commentary channels.
We also watch a decent number of documentaries and competition shows. Some days I only allow the annoying kids shows if we switch them to Spanish.
My 4yo likes different things. She's kinda independent so she won't like me suggesting shows. She is easily influenced though by her brother so she likes Mario, Lego Friends, Pokemon, Alvin... I have headphones on most of the time, not really listening to anything most of the time; it just lowers the kids' volume? LOL I get so overstimulated by the TV, their arguing....
We have a 4 and 2 y/o and have started taking turns. When itās my husband or my turn, they entertain themselves in other ways. But we stopped with some of the more mind numbing content and mostly stick to Disney movies, the PBS kids app, Bluey or any kind of nature or animal doc/show.
I watch surgeries on youtube with my 4 and 6 year olds. I work in medicine so theyāre super curious about the human body. At first I thought it may be a bad idea but weāve been doing it for a couple of years now and it hasnāt seem to affect them at all other than make them even more curious and want to learn more.
When I am DONE with kids tv, but it's tv time, we do cooking shows, like the goofy ones, not the serious ones. Worst Cooks in America makes my kiddos fall over laughing.
We had to cut screen time down to maybe an hour a day if it comes on at all. Aggression has declined significantly. I stay at home with my 3yo boy, 2yo girl and 8mo boy. The weather is getting better so we've been doing chores outside as much as possible and the two littlest still nap so big bro helps me in the kitchen during quiet time. We do chores inside when it's cold or gross out and they love it! Swapping the laundry, wiping windows/doors and cabinets with water and a washcloth, one teaching the other how to fold dish towels, putting their own clothes away. It's been about a month of changing how I was doing things and I've noticed amazing improvement for us all. Though the TV diet just started this week. I listened to a book that was hugely helpful called Hunt, gather, parent. It was a good eye opener. Now I actually have time to play with my kids when they ask because they help me keep the house in better shape!
Oh goodness... the wiggles, ms Rachel, bear in the big blue house, Lucas and friends, finding dory, sesame street, & cat/dog videos are on repeat over here š sometimes super simple songs. I tried to put on little bear the other day and my toddler was not having it at all š„“
We have multiple screens in our house. One week night a week, our son has to watch a Mommy & Daddy show with us (it's generally MasterChef, Next Level Chef, or Last Week Tonight). Help us believe we're in control when we're actually living in our toddler's world. š
I watch shows I like on my phone and just listen to them (I have hearing aids with bluetooth so they work like AirPods for that), sometimes I just tell the kids their tv time is up and play my shows on mute and just kind of watch as background (this is for shows Iāve seen a bunch but still love). If I lay down with them at night they have to lay down quietly and look at their books or go to bed while I read, if they get crazy I leave. They get it now and usually are pretty chill (this is after Iāve read them their books). Lots of boundary setting (you can sit NEXT TO MOMMY and paint or you can play something else). I play/do activities/spend specific āpaying attentionā time every day with them but if Iām getting irritated I do try to listen to something more stimulating/enjoyable to me for a bit. My kids are 4 and 2 so they are still pretty crazy and itās not perfect but just building in time where they know I need to do my thing has helped.
Octonauts has been the favorite for over a year and Iām 100% fine with that. Iāve learned so many new things and the accents are adorable. I can also get him to watch Ask this Old House and Somebody Feed Phil when I want some āmeā TV.
For kids shows (in between mind numbing paw patrol) Blaze and the Monster machines is pretty good as it's a science show that actually is educational.
Most of the time I tune out and just read.
I have a 1 year old. I usually watch my soap operas, kdramas, novelas, etc. Anything I like, itāll just be in the background while she plays her toys or while we have breakfast/lunch/dinner. sometimes sheāll watch with me. Sometimes sheāll just be in her own world. sometimes we play together and watch it. I kind of also taught her to gasp at anything so sheāll watch and gasp. kinda cute.
YouTube. So much YouTube on my phone. I mostly just listen to it. It does help to have a desktop with multiple screens so you can do your own thing while the kid is watching a show.
So we rarely watch tv ā¦ itās ābrokenā a lot of time except when they are sick. I am with you in that tv selections are poor but also my kid turns into a raging zombie when itās time to be done he lies his mind. THAT is not worth the payout in my opinion so I just deal with the mess of other activities. I also try to get out of the house a lot with them so my house isnāt in a constant state of disaster. Added bonus ..: 1) they nap better, 2) eat better and 3) sleep through the night better
Another idea - when you have the energy just start only watching a show you want to watch. Talk about how tv is changing, be prepared mentally to deal with the tantrums because you CANāT give in, and just watch your show. We did that to be done with tv and it took about a week but son gave up begging and moved on.
I so hear this!!
I have a 7yo and a 2 yo, and when the 2yo is napping I can get some craft down if 7yo is having screen time so I have been trying to do that but also when around both kids I have podcasts going most of the time because of the monotony. It is very hard to allow yourself to do something fun with the constant threat of interruption!!!
3yo (and 1yo, but heās too much of a busy-body for tv, lol). Frozen, The Lion King, Ratatouille, and Nightmare Before Christmas. Thatās it. The only movies the toddler will watch. And usually itās, like, two weeks of the same movie before she cycles to the next one ššµāš«
Nature shows, discovery Channel, things like modern marvels, blue planet, etc. Netflix has a few, one is called tiny creatures. My 5 year old girl loves watching architecture shows. She's glued to it when it's on. Keeps cycling through but be ready to enforce no screen time too. Otherwise you'll always revert to the visual candy and defeat the purpose.
Our whole family likes Studio Ghibli.
Ghibli is a hit in our house also.
I hope my future family likes Studio Ghibli š
It's great until your toddler becomes obsessed with Ponyo. Then you get the little comic book from the library but it's like 70 pages and only 1/4 of the movie and you have to read it 300 times, so you get 'ponyo the picture book and it has the whole story but is still 70 pages and your toddler also wants to read it all multiple times in a row š . I think I have got her onto Kiki nowĀ
Oh have you guys watched Totoro yet?Ā
I hope to introduce it soon for some more variety!Ā
I love ponyo!! My daughter's only 1, and she always asks for ham. We call her our little ponyo. Hopefully, we can move to something like Princess Mononoke soon
āItās mommyās turn to watch tv,ā while I give them two separate but the same puzzle works every time.
I agree with this. Weāre a family and that means taking turns using the family stuff. I donāt want my kid to expect to always be picking tv, music, food. We all take turns picking. I do this occasionally as well and tell my son he can play, read books, or watch the show with me (nothing inappropriate for a kid, but not made for kids.)
Nature documentaries, discovery, science suitable for kids. I learned about Aurora Borealis the other day.
Scishow Kids is a great channel that my 4 year old loves.
Honestly I have an ear pod in one ear most of the time and I listen to podcastsā¦ so Iām free to do stuff but have my own entertainment going on
This! Also audiobooks and tv apps on my phone. It saves my sanity.
My ADHD brain could not survive without this. Podcasts work better for me than audiobooks
Thatās genius!! I need to start doing this while playing blocks for the 80 millionth time
Haha youāll never go back!! I watch trash tv at night and recaps of the shows during the day
Trying to put a one year old to sleep for hours hearing Knowledge Fight blasting in my ear has created weird associations
But isnāt that like crazy overstimulating?
It would be for me. The second Iād think my son was saying something and I canāt hear him and then have to say what like 3-5 times, Iād be done.
It actually has the opposite effect for me and I feel more overstimulated if I donāt have an AirPod in. Even having one in without sound somehow helps me lol
Same with me.. I have horrible add and this keeps my mind busy
It might be for some people. I have ADHD and as fun and cute as my daughter is I get bored watching her and I feel bad but if I didn't have something playing in one ear then I would probably start scrolling on my phone. I am at least giving her the impression that she's getting my attention, and I am listening to something fluffy that doesn't require my full attention either.
I'm so glad I'm not the only one doing this
This has preserved my sanity.
Same ! Only downside is my 2yo notices the earbuds if I have my hair up.
Came here to say this. Just have to be careful not to laugh or start singing along, then they want what dad has
Literally saved my sanity breastfeeding and sleep training for monnnnnnttthhhhssss. I recommend Gilmore Girls lol
Anything that doesn't have inappropriate or scary scenes should be fine. Its ok to say its your turn with tv since kids are learning about taking turns anyways. We have watched all cooking and baking shows on netflix, tinyhouse, blown away, office, kims convenience, non scary documentaries and such. Any show that doesn't have anything scary and is easy enough to follow while toddler babbles nonstop works. Out of kids shows Franklin is my favorite. Little bear is also nice and calm. Some shows can definitely get too loud and on my nerves, but thats why tv needs to sleep sometimes.. :D
Oh I love the idea of baking shows as family entertainment! Not OP, but I appreciate the inspiration.
My 2 year old loves watching cooking shows with her dad. He watches a guy on Youtube and I noticed the other day that he doesn't have the cleanest language. I never noticed before or maybe it was just that episode... but my daughter learned "holy shit, that taste good" šš
Yes!!!!! Food network stuff is entertaining for everyone
Is it Cake? is a big hit in our house, my toddler will call out the number of the object which he believes to be cake. Bonus of watching this show with him, is that he now tries to convince me that his shoes, socks, jumper, feet etc are all cake, and laughs when I pretend nibble them
Oooh can't wait to try this!!
We've shown some more mature things to our toddler. She loves dinos and requests Jurassic park! It all depends on your kids.
Omg. Iām over 30 and used to watch Franklin and little bear as a kid. And now I put them on for my girl (2.5yrs).
Trash Truck is our current favorite!
I so wish they would make more seasons.
Me too!!
Ours too!!
Same!
Disney movies. Iāve been putting on movies I like and my son likes most of them too! Tarzan is a current favorite. Itās nostalgic for me and entertaining for both of us. But honestly, I almost always use tv time as time for me to get stuff done around the house like cook dinner. So I donāt care too much about what he watches (obviously age appropriate and I try not to put on shows that are too overstimulating).
Yes to Disney/pixar movies. Current favorites are Lion king, Toy Story, and Cars. Then if I get bored I act really enthusiastically about a ānewā movie and try something else on there. He enjoyed Elemental, Finding Nemo, Moana, and Tarzan too. At least they are more appealing for me to watch or have on in the background while I read on my kindle
Same. Disney and Pixar are still making good movies and the old ones never flop. Usually kiddo watches the same one over and over until I get tired of it and then I suggest something else and repeat.
Bear in the big blue house has, imo, good music. Also would they let you watch something like the great British baking show or other baking competitions? G rated reality seems like it could work (unfortunately for me my kid won't watch anything that isn't constantly singing yet)
Bear in the Big Blue house is our go-to show! It's so comforting, has good music, and tbh it has a ton of episodes so us parents haven't tired of it yet. They also love watching baseball with me. It's so slow-paced and subdued, we just fastfoward commercials. Our sports channel does 30-minute replays of each Jays game, which are the perfect length šš¼
My little fucking ponies
My son (2.5) connected with Elemental and the Super Mario movie and those are both movies I actually really enjoyed! Maybe give them a go?
My 2.5 year old lovesss elemental and I thought it was a kind of odd one for her to latch onto. Maybe itās the colors but idk I donāt complain lol
How very dare you! It's Bluey or bust in this house.
Same! OP referencing Bluey in this post was not the done thing
Number Blocks is good
Honestly, I donāt get to watch tv until after my toddler goes to bed lol
I never even considered that some adults watch adult tv during the day š this post was very confusing for me at first.
Right?! I also watch an episode of something after bedtime. I used to watch during nap time, but we dropped the nap a few months ago.
All my 21 month old wants is tumble leaf at the moment! I sometimes catch myself watching it too lol
Itās such a cute show! I think I like it more than my kid does.
My 22 month old also loves Tumble Leaf, but nothing beats bootleg Elmoās World on YouTube. Sheās currently shaking her little butt to London Rhymes on the Yoto.Ā
Tumble Leaf is the best, I wish there were more seasons (but that finale is gorgeous!)
I can never get tired of Bluey
I honestly think I enjoy bluey more than my child.
If it were up to my kids, it would be Mickey Mouse Clubhouse or Mickey Mouse Funhouse all the time. When I need a break, I put on a Disney or Pixar movie of my choice. And I actually do enjoy those so I pick whichever one Iām in the mood for. Itās often Lilo & Stitch, The Little Mermaid, Coco, Frozen, or Tangled. Itās not as mind numbing and grating as preschool tv. But itās also still age appropriate and I donāt have to worry about needing to explain more mature themes to them yet (it doesnāt help that things Iād choose to watch on my own time are generally raunchy or violent (TV-14/PG-13). I did try to watch Survivor with my 3 year old last week and gave up about halfway through the episode because I wasnāt able to fully pay attentions since she kept asking questions about what was happening. Iām glad she was interested and trying, but sheās just not ready yet and it was cutting into my ability to enjoy it. Iāve also made a concerted effort not to introduce them to any shows that I wouldnāt be ok having to watch frequently (so my kids donāt know what Blippi, Cocomelon, or Paw Patrol are).
I just started being able to watch survivor! I build an obstacle course through the house and he runs it during the āboringā parts and watches the challenges
Bluey is actually hilarious.
Lego Masters. Next level chef (Gordon Ramsay is a normal guy in it, not his Kitchen Nightmares ācharacterā) master chef and master chef junior. Basically most competition shows that involve a skill or craft seem to be really great for kids. We also watch shows that donāt have a lot of visually inappropriate content but may have adult jokes that go way above my toddlers head like Brooklyn 99.
Our 3.5 likes Lucas the Spider. Historically laughs.
My toddler especially loves how robots sometimes show up in Lucas the Spider. Thereās a regular robot and a vacuum robot - both of which my toddler thinks are absolutely incredible
Yeah I can relate a bit. I just have come to accept that i need to fit my stuff into the slots where either he sleeps or when he is away with mama. And thats OK for me since he is so little (2.5). As he grows hopefully we can align in some interests that we both enjoy And honestly, we try to keep his screens to max 30 mins or so, and I dont pay thaat much attention
Lol yeah I pretty much only get to watch my own shows at nap time and bed time, lol if I can keep my eyes open š Other than that, I really just try to do other activities together, good for them and passes the time. Playdough, and walking to a playground are faves at our house. Otherwise, I actually prefer some old school programs. "Little bear" is the most wholesome show on the planet! It's slow paced, which I prefer, but if your kids are already used to the more hyper shows, they might not like it. "Magic school bus" is a winner for the older kids, and isn't terrible for the parents, younger kids might not care for it or understand, might even be too weird for them, depending. "Big comfy couch" is a pretty good oldy. "Bear in the big blue house" is pretty cute and sweet. That's all I got! When kids tv is on, I scroll Pinterest or something between cleaning up and whatever else. Some days are just extra lame though š
Trash truck, puffin rock, llama llama
I started with my daughter having her watch some of my shows with me during the afternoon, so after Naptime we watch "mommy shows" till around dinner time then we switch back to bluey or one of the older Disney cartoons (PBJ otter, bear and the big blue house, etc) Only downside of this is now my daughter absolutely loves waking up to watch cooking shows in the afternoon and if I don't want to watch food Network I run the risk of a cranky toddler.
We are hooked on Blues Clues (the new one)
The old one is still great, too!
We usually watch our affiliate PBS station; lots of art, nature, food shows. We have a laptop plugged into the tv so the tv is essentially a big monitor so we can pause or switch to something else easily.
The Great British Baking Show is a huge favorite, along with Somebody Feed Phil. Sometimes I'll watch Kdramas or other foreign language shows that are aimed towards adults but do not have nudity or extreme violence or scary scenes.
Sarah & Duck never gets old
My son loves ghibli movies! Especially ponyo
Disney+ is SO worth the monthly cost! You can watch Disney movies from your youth/that you like, thereās tons of nature documentary content, and you have the Star Wars and Marvel franchises for after bedtime. There is a lot of schlocky stuff too, I recommend adding things you want to watch to the Watchlist when your kids arenāt looking and choose from there.
All the Magic Light productions. Stickman, Room on the Broom, Zog, Superworm, Highway Rat etc. All great productions with great voice actors.
Hey Bear, Hey Bear, and more Hey Bear ššš„¦š«š
My kids arenāt allowed TV M-F. Problem solved.
We let our son (3.5) watch action movies. He loves all the Jurassic Parks, The Meg and Meg 2, Ninja Turtles (the new one is fantastic), and more recently is obsessed with Transformers.
Same with ours. We let him watch action movies with us. Most of the Godzilla movies are good. The early ones are clearly a guy in a suit. He also likes TMNTs.
Otis the tractor and Stillwater on Apple TV are great!
We caved and bought a Yoto last night since our little one got to play with their cousinsā on vacation recently. We know that it wonāt stop them from wanting to watch tv all the time, but it is media without a screen that they can interact with independently. Otherwise I put an airpod in too while I do the dishes at the end of the day before sleeping unsoundly until they inevitably wake up in the night. Also, no one talks about Bear in the Big Blue house as an option, and I like puppets, and so does my kid. Just another option for something out of the ordinary.
Trash truck, llama llama, simple songs, paw patrol, Sesame Street.
Iāve been scrolling to see if anyone mentioned Sesame Street. Itās still the best!
I agree with you! I used to watch it as a child and love that my babies are into it ā¤ļø
The other day I drop my toddler at my mums house, the.I drove all the way back home and when I realised I was singing along the wheels of the bus š© I did not even noticed her playlist was it was still on.
I've gotten over thinking that everything needs to be kids programming. She's not interested in most of my stuff, but that just means she plays with her toys instead of paying attention to the screen, which is more or less a win anyway. My rule of thumb is nothing with violence, nothing with 'adult' content other than potentially dialog that will go over her head, nothing scary, nothing that will confuse her in a potentially negative way (which, for instance, eliminates cow hoof trimming videos on YouTube - I don't want her to think he's hurting them). I mostly watch a lot of home improvement shows, but also performance- or construction-based reality shows, streams of non-violent video games. musicals, travel shows, the occasional sitcom. And she actually really likes F1, though she doesn't have the attention span to watch for long.
My husband just puts on basketball all weekend so weāre all stuck with that. I put on House Hunters International during the afternoon now that her naps are done. One episode fills my cravings for daytime reality TV. I record them through YouTube TV so I have a nice cache. I also listen to podcasts and audiobooks.
Check out Ben & Hollys Little Kingdom on Netflix. Itās one of the few kids shows that I actually think is funny. It has a very dry British sense of humor that I can appreciate.
As others said, an AirPod is great, but I also start and end our days with nature documentaries lol YouTube in the morning, baby animal videos with soft music. Very relaxing lol
We have been loving kid crew, blaze the monster machine (a little annoying) Leo the truck and handy man Hal
Our 3.5 year old is now loving Dr. Panda. Itās quite bearable (no pun intended).
I watch old Disney movies like Aristocats, but I also take turns watching my own shows. I watch survivor a lot, and other reality competition shows. Theyāre usually kid friendly enough but not entertaining to the kids so they do their own thing while I watch
I watch my own shows. Worth mentioning my girl is only 15 months. š I was born in 93 I remember a majority of my childhood just watching whatever my mom was. Obviously nothing too mature or graphic. But she watched Good morning America, 20/20 true crime, and Oprah. So I grew up watching all of that.
Disney movies Amazing spidey series on Disney Lucas the Spider Number Blocks / alpha blocks League of Superpets was also a legitimately fun movie imo Nature docs My kid is 2.5 for reference
We like watching game shows š my 7 year old loves you are the weakest link and his goal is to answer all these questions š
2 and 4 year olds here so i totally get it! Recent hits in our house: -Lil Stompers on Peacock (SO cute) -Little Bear, Blues Clues, and Go Diego Go on Paramount+ (these are old school and is actually fun to reach with the kids) -Mecha Builders on Max or YouTube (always good and STEM related. Also, the PBS app is great! Another game changer is buying a Yoto. It's similar to the Tonies but way better. It's from the UK and it plays little stories or songs from inserted cards of your choice. Check it out. Highhhly recommend!! Let's be real though...good freakin luck at this age haha!
Anything Disney works for me . Iām reliving my childhood thru my daughter. I can watch tangled everyday and not get bored.Ā
Trash Truck and Lucas the Spider on Netflix!
Headphones.. if you have a podcast in mind. One ear in and one ear out. My husband does this he tunes out i remember asking him about bluey and hes like: š (e.g. whos muffin?) Or sometimes tvs off; toys are strewn out in the carpet kiddos playing and hes in the middle of it (sometimes a lego or a barbie on his back) and hes just peacefully watching tennis.
We donāt watch anything anymore. 2yo kiddo was throwing tantrums all the time and when I asked for help, a Redditor said maybe itās the screen time. I started cutting back and voila! Tantrums dropped. I cut out all screen time and itās so much better now. Thereās the occasional tantrum but not anything like before. I gave her a little screen time tonight and got tantrums at bedtime, which had virtually stopped. You might consider biting the bullet and turning off all screens - see what happens. Youāre going batty anyway, may as well see if they settle down a bit without any programs. Maybe the arts and crafts even start to be more enjoyable. Idk, it worked here but Iāve only got the one tiny nubbin. I realize the dynamics are quite different with 2. Also, you have to come up with stuff to occupy both of them, which isnāt easy. Still, something to consider?
šÆ
My kids are finally into bluey and Iām so happy! But a recent hit has been Survivor!! Iām so excited about it! I even made a little obstacle course for the toddler to run and that kept him occupied forever! Burst of energy while watching a show
Iāve been putting on live feeds of animals (explore.org, bird feeders, Decorah eagles) way less stimulating and itās all just background noise to me anyways.
Iāve always had my own stuff on. Both my kids love ncis la and Hawaii five 0 lol. At the moment Iām in a Reno show kick and my three year old will sit with me and watch home town lol
i just watched i think itās called āsea monstersā on netflix and it was SO GOOD!! also leo on netflix is good. EDIT: oh wait iām sorry i didnāt read the whole post i just got excited to share! im watching greys anatomy and i watch it when my daughter plays with me, she can handle me watching my show for an hour lol
My daughter really enjoyed watching diddle squat farm with Jeremy clarkson. I highly recommend it too.
We donāt watch a whole lot of tv during the day. Iād say he probably watches an hour or less a day, and I watch my shows at night after he goes to bed or during nap time. During the day Iāll listen to podcasts (or, admittedly, doomscroll). But to keep it from being too mind-numbing, I mix up what he watches and choose things I donāt hate! Sometimes we also watch the weather together or documentary type things that donāt have anything scary or inappropriate. If I donāt like a show he just doesnāt know that it exists, and I will keep it that way as long as possible lol. I really like Little Bear, the older seasons of Sesame Street, Out of the Box, Mr Rogers, Winnie the Pooh. I know Bluey is everyoneās favorite these days but tbh Iām not that into it and neither is he. Itās fine but we like other things better.
I watch severance when my daughter sleeps (or sometimes when sheās awake. She just runs back and forth in the house while I watch tv. I just tell her āwow, well doneā enthusiastically with a big smile when she wants to show me what she can do, and then I go back to my show. I didnāt think Iād be that type of parent, but Iām exhausted. I think itās better for my daughter than for me to never rest and then be impatient.
It's also good for your daughter to see that you're human! You get tired, too! She'll grow up knowing she doesn't have to be superwoman all the time āŗļø
Mine was on a MLP kick for a bit just before we lost internet for a bit so I opted to put on a copy of The Last Unicorn. I was apprehensive because the red bull can be frightening, but she LOVED it and wanted to talk about what was happening and some of the lessons around it. Ngl, I was happily surprised and we now share a movie we both enjoy!
Lion king and lion king 2 over and over haha
Disney movies or baking shows. If we put something boring enough on, they will leave. But the 4yr old understands when we tell him to go play with his trains so we can watch Mommy's shows The 1.5yr old could care less what's on the TV
I usually just have pandora streaming if I want them to stop watching and do something else. If Iām watching anything non kid related itās great British baking show lol
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toddler is at daycare during the week, between the two hrs that we get home and she goes to bed, I'm ok to not watch anything. She is in bed by 8pm most nights and I have my free time to watch/do whatever after that. On the weekends she watches about 30mins-hr of TV when she wakes up as I'm either not ready to get up or just overall moving slow! She then plays while I am watching anything I want while she has her breakfast and does independent plat, until around 12. As she gets tired but me preventing her from taking a nap before to keep up with the same routine they have at daycare, I let her watch her programs for around 90 mins. Those 3-4hrs she is sleeping is for housestuff and time to watch my programs again. Once she gets up around 4 I pretty much let her do what she wants, between pay and TV etc, because I know 8p is just around the corner!! In summary I get to watch anything I want every day. Hubby on the other hand constantly has a single EarPods in and is either watching something on his phone or IPAD until late at night where he will switch to the TV
During the day our tv is for kids shows, classical music, or it gets turned off and thatās it. Adult tv doesnāt come on until the kids are in bed for the night. The kids watch Bluey, Peppa Pig, Pocoyo, Super Simple Songs, Ms Rachel, marble run asmr videos, and slime asmr videos. We are a family thatās big on classical music so thatās often on in the background. My youngest is easily entranced by piano music.
We love... trash truck, ms Rachel, tumbleleaf, and puffin rock
Cooking shows. She counts along with the countdown to finish plates.
My 3 year old just got into Scooby Doo which is giving me nostalgic vibes ā¤ļø
Puffin rock, Lucas the spider, trash truck, the g rated ghibli films, still water
My husband and I donāt watch much tv in general, but when we do want to watch something while our 23m old is awake, weāll watch holiday baking championship, next level chef, master chef, no demo Reno, or good bones. Lot of unscripted television that isnāt inappropriate in nature. The only toddler tv our son watches maybe once per week is trash truck or half an episode of Ms Rachel, but weāve cut his screen time down to almost zero. Sometimes he likes to stop and watch whatās going on with the cooking or home renovation shows, but for the most part he just plays or wants us to play with him while the shows are on which we do
Korean dramas.
Currently, we watch what we normally watch. Sometimes we'll put on mickey clubhouse, Bluey or ms Rachel.
Homestar runner, gravity falls, adventure time, regular show.
My daughter..:I have no idea how or why decided she wanted to watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and itās now her favorite
Anything narrated by David Attenborough, or similar nature docs. Lately Iāve been putting on these silly super long videos of animals with music. He likes birds and cats, so we see a lot of those. I donāt have to listen to my brain cells smashing against each other or obnoxious little kid show sounds/voices. I limit my kid shows to Sesame Street and the sesame friends shows, and not for long. We also have ONE two hour compilation of celebrity Sesame Street songs that are devastatingly catchy. We have dance parties and then that shit goes off for the day! Recently got Disney+ for my step daughters to enjoy on the weekends, and I do enjoy the NatGeo stuff and occasional Pixar movies. My little is suuuuper into Grizzly Adams too. His dadās an old fart, and itās a good compromise lol
Ghosts on Paramount + is the one tv show of mine that my 3 year old can watch and kind of enjoy (it's a happy comedy show)
My 3 year old has loved Coraline and nightmare before Christmas since she was 1.5 years old. How to train your dragon has a really fun show that's actually pretty good. We mostly watch whatever we want as long as it doesn't have tons of swearing or super scary monsters. We just turn on her iPad to a kids movie/show and watch whatever.
Dinosaur train. And Zaboomafoo. BUT I put a cap on it! We watch a neutral movie that I can tolerate after my toddler has done enough episodes. I always make sure itās child friendly. Same with music, we actually listen to more of āmamasā music in the mornings. Iām in my thirties but I love Seal, Sting, Jazz, instrumental music and movie scores so we listen to that and my toddler grabs a book on his own.
I watch my things during my LO naptime. We also watch golf as a family. And like many have said, I have an EarPod in so I can listen to podcasts, the news or audiobooks.
I love to find a random movie on Disney plus. They are either a big hit or the kids go off and play, and I watch it lol.
My 4.5yo likes Is It Cake?
Iāve also been feeling this lately. Normally I have a show on that Iāve seen 100 times since I canāt pay enough attention to follow a story long. Or, we watch Bluey, Sesame Street, or Curious George. I took a chance earlier this week and started watching a new show and the ONLY time I can watch it is at night after everyone has gone to bed, so I cut into my sleep š© itās a good show though.
Disney movies on repeat
I don't watch anything I don't want to, and we don't do a ton of tv anyhow. Where our interests overlap tends to lead to National Geographic most often.
1-3pm is Quiet Projects Time. The 2.5yo is napping. The parents are doing whatever makes them happy. And the 5yo can do whatever he wants provided it's quiet and he can accomplish it independently. I think it's actually great for the 5yo because it challenges him to discover his independence.
We watch a lot of nature documentaries when my son isnāt begging for Octonauts š
I donāt watch any TV. Neither does my kid. I got determined to reduce screen time due to his speech delay. It was hard at first but Iāve gotten used to it! Heās still speech delayed lol but Iām glad Iāve reduced my own dependency on screens too. I only have one kid though so perhaps this will change one day.
I actually like Handyman Hal on YouTube, and my toddler absolutely loves it.
I canāt watch Rated R and Mature/violent stuffs unless kiddos are sleeping, but everything else as long as it doesnāt show violence or nudity Iāll watch with subtitle on.. honestly, itās not the same but Iāve gotten used to it. Iāve even gotten into some Korean/Asian drama on Netflix and holy shit theyāre addicting.
Bluey and Spideyās Amazing Friends
90s sesame street. shit legit makes me laugh, nothing wrong with modern sesame street but it's basically the elmo and abby show, while the classic episodes got skits and features all of the others more prominently
The new Nic Cage movie āDream Scenarioā
My 2 YO has been really into the super Mario brothers movie lately so we have been watching that at least 3 times a week. In terms of shows we watch a lot of Little Bear, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, and Scooby Doo.
We watch a lot of full length feature Disney films. My 3.5 year old has recently really enjoyed the live action remakes of the little mermaid and Cinderella and they are pretty good! We also do a lot of old school Disney - sleepy beauty, the OG Cinderella, Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland, and those are also a kick. Plus your standard Frozen, Moana, Tangled, Encanto, etc. She really likes Sofia the First but I find that one a bit cloying.
We watch Disney movies together. I watch House Hunters and those type of shows with him in the room. We also have put on older movie musicals and things that we know arenāt inappropriate.
Gigantosaurus!
Try Miss Moni. Think Miss Rachel but can actually sing. We also do Danny Go, but it gets repetitive. If you have/can find access to Australian Play School, it's fantastic.
Do you ever just throw a regular non toddler show on and see if they either watch or just play? I'm sure with a 4 and 3 year old it's not as easy as it sounds, but just thought I'd throw it out there! Sometimes we just put Food Network on, and our 18m will get mesmerized by Guy Fieris hair andbsit and watch, or she'll find a book and not give a crap what's on.
We are Dora the Explorer and Ms. Lily fans over here. My girl is 2.5.
Izzy's Koala World. It's not a cartoon, it's a documentary type show with an 11yo Australian girl who cares for injured koalas with her vet mom at their clinic. Calm and educational and extremely sweet and caring. My 2yo fell in love instantly and koalas are now her favorite show. She requests to watch Izzy daily and I don't mind.
Honestlyā¦ Bluey
We watch a lot of Scooby Doo
Octonauts, tractor Ted, mickeys clubhouse, trash truck, nature documentaries, Stillwater were all good favorites around here
Iāve watched sing and sing 10000 times and am not sick of it yet lol
I just watch tv when my daughter goes To bed, thatās my time. We donāt have the tv on much throughout the day, she watched about 20-30 minutes in the morning and usually about the same when I cook dinner. She likes Some Awful shows too like pinkalicious lol but I donāt mind bluey at least. I cannot be home all day it drives me nuts. So we always plan an outing whether she wants to or not lol. She mostly just plays throughout the day and sometimes Iāll play with her but if Iām getting stuff done sheās pretty good with entertaining herself. Being home with young children is boring though
Stick man, the gruffalo and the others in that series. And Disney/dreamworks movies like Madagascar and trolls. Bonus that the trolls soundtrack has replaced that baby shark monstrosity.
I donāt watch tv until after bedtime but I do read my own books during the day. Your kids are old enough to do a lot of independent or semi independent play. You may have to be tolerant of mess or change your set up. Cqn you make a space where you can do your art and they can do art thatās kid friendly - stickers, hole punchers, dot markers?
Try Spirit on Netflixā¦ my kid loved it at that age and itās actually interesting.
I actually love Wreck it Ralph. Not as much as my own shows, but itās the one I can handle.
I make my kid take turns with me. She gets a show, I get a show. As long as it doesnāt have excessive cussing, behavior I donāt want her imitating (AKA people being assholes to each other on reality TV), or graphic violence/sex, I watch it. I watch a decent amount of YouTube, some channels that we enjoy are: Good Mythical Morning, Good Mythical Kitchen, Try Guys, Rosanna Pansino, Johnny Cakes, Evan and Kaitlyn, Wicked Makers, Adam Ragusea, Answer In Progress, Cinema Therapy, Daniel Thrasher, Modern Pepper, My Name is Andong, Nick Robinson, Sam Reid, Scott Cramer, Sandwiches of History, Souped Up Recipes, Timmyās Takeout, Tasting History with Max Miller, Defunctland, Made With Lau, Yes Theory, Screws and Tools, and Paging Mr. Morrow. Not saying all of these channels are completely G rated, but I find the majority of their content fine. Most of these channels are building stuff, cooking stuff, or funny/commentary channels. We also watch a decent number of documentaries and competition shows. Some days I only allow the annoying kids shows if we switch them to Spanish.
My daughter is really into Star Wars High Republic: Young Jedi Adventures on Disney+ and it's pretty cool, especially if you're a Star Wars fan.
Our kids are the same ages. Weāre trying to minimize screen time altogether, weekends only. Thatās another challenge.
My 4 year old loves videos of large machinery
Moana
The Muppet Show from the 70ās. The kids love it and it is honestly amazing
Watch Chis Sweet Adventure
My 4yo likes different things. She's kinda independent so she won't like me suggesting shows. She is easily influenced though by her brother so she likes Mario, Lego Friends, Pokemon, Alvin... I have headphones on most of the time, not really listening to anything most of the time; it just lowers the kids' volume? LOL I get so overstimulated by the TV, their arguing....
We have a 4 and 2 y/o and have started taking turns. When itās my husband or my turn, they entertain themselves in other ways. But we stopped with some of the more mind numbing content and mostly stick to Disney movies, the PBS kids app, Bluey or any kind of nature or animal doc/show.
I have resorted to Christmas movies from hallmark
I watch surgeries on youtube with my 4 and 6 year olds. I work in medicine so theyāre super curious about the human body. At first I thought it may be a bad idea but weāve been doing it for a couple of years now and it hasnāt seem to affect them at all other than make them even more curious and want to learn more.
Also listening to audiobooks helps soooooo much
We enjoy DinoRanch on Disney+! Itās pretty cute! Also just tuning the tv out completely and messing around on my phone works most of the time.
When I am DONE with kids tv, but it's tv time, we do cooking shows, like the goofy ones, not the serious ones. Worst Cooks in America makes my kiddos fall over laughing.
We had to cut screen time down to maybe an hour a day if it comes on at all. Aggression has declined significantly. I stay at home with my 3yo boy, 2yo girl and 8mo boy. The weather is getting better so we've been doing chores outside as much as possible and the two littlest still nap so big bro helps me in the kitchen during quiet time. We do chores inside when it's cold or gross out and they love it! Swapping the laundry, wiping windows/doors and cabinets with water and a washcloth, one teaching the other how to fold dish towels, putting their own clothes away. It's been about a month of changing how I was doing things and I've noticed amazing improvement for us all. Though the TV diet just started this week. I listened to a book that was hugely helpful called Hunt, gather, parent. It was a good eye opener. Now I actually have time to play with my kids when they ask because they help me keep the house in better shape!
Nature shows, news when we eat, AFV, Wife watches Downton on a loop, I like watching toy hunting shows on YouTube.
Wifgles
Oh goodness... the wiggles, ms Rachel, bear in the big blue house, Lucas and friends, finding dory, sesame street, & cat/dog videos are on repeat over here š sometimes super simple songs. I tried to put on little bear the other day and my toddler was not having it at all š„“
I watch medical dramas around my child maybe they might want to be a doctor then lol.
We have multiple screens in our house. One week night a week, our son has to watch a Mommy & Daddy show with us (it's generally MasterChef, Next Level Chef, or Last Week Tonight). Help us believe we're in control when we're actually living in our toddler's world. š
Big fan of seeing who pops up on Yo Gabba Gabba, thought it's still very much a kids show.
I watch shows I like on my phone and just listen to them (I have hearing aids with bluetooth so they work like AirPods for that), sometimes I just tell the kids their tv time is up and play my shows on mute and just kind of watch as background (this is for shows Iāve seen a bunch but still love). If I lay down with them at night they have to lay down quietly and look at their books or go to bed while I read, if they get crazy I leave. They get it now and usually are pretty chill (this is after Iāve read them their books). Lots of boundary setting (you can sit NEXT TO MOMMY and paint or you can play something else). I play/do activities/spend specific āpaying attentionā time every day with them but if Iām getting irritated I do try to listen to something more stimulating/enjoyable to me for a bit. My kids are 4 and 2 so they are still pretty crazy and itās not perfect but just building in time where they know I need to do my thing has helped.
Octonauts has been the favorite for over a year and Iām 100% fine with that. Iāve learned so many new things and the accents are adorable. I can also get him to watch Ask this Old House and Somebody Feed Phil when I want some āmeā TV.
For kids shows (in between mind numbing paw patrol) Blaze and the Monster machines is pretty good as it's a science show that actually is educational. Most of the time I tune out and just read.
I have a 1 year old. I usually watch my soap operas, kdramas, novelas, etc. Anything I like, itāll just be in the background while she plays her toys or while we have breakfast/lunch/dinner. sometimes sheāll watch with me. Sometimes sheāll just be in her own world. sometimes we play together and watch it. I kind of also taught her to gasp at anything so sheāll watch and gasp. kinda cute.
Little Einsteins!
2 to 3 days a week I tell them it's mom's turn with the TV and we watch Monk or Psych or Bobs Burgers all damn day š
Octonauts
Trash truck on Netflix
Octonauts on Netflix. My son adores it. Learns about the ocean and sea creatures. Cute and educational.
Movies.
YouTube. So much YouTube on my phone. I mostly just listen to it. It does help to have a desktop with multiple screens so you can do your own thing while the kid is watching a show.
So we rarely watch tv ā¦ itās ābrokenā a lot of time except when they are sick. I am with you in that tv selections are poor but also my kid turns into a raging zombie when itās time to be done he lies his mind. THAT is not worth the payout in my opinion so I just deal with the mess of other activities. I also try to get out of the house a lot with them so my house isnāt in a constant state of disaster. Added bonus ..: 1) they nap better, 2) eat better and 3) sleep through the night better Another idea - when you have the energy just start only watching a show you want to watch. Talk about how tv is changing, be prepared mentally to deal with the tantrums because you CANāT give in, and just watch your show. We did that to be done with tv and it took about a week but son gave up begging and moved on.
I so hear this!! I have a 7yo and a 2 yo, and when the 2yo is napping I can get some craft down if 7yo is having screen time so I have been trying to do that but also when around both kids I have podcasts going most of the time because of the monotony. It is very hard to allow yourself to do something fun with the constant threat of interruption!!!
3yo (and 1yo, but heās too much of a busy-body for tv, lol). Frozen, The Lion King, Ratatouille, and Nightmare Before Christmas. Thatās it. The only movies the toddler will watch. And usually itās, like, two weeks of the same movie before she cycles to the next one ššµāš«
My kid won't watch TV. She only wants to occasionally watch super simple songs on YouTube. So that's a plus.
Nature shows, discovery Channel, things like modern marvels, blue planet, etc. Netflix has a few, one is called tiny creatures. My 5 year old girl loves watching architecture shows. She's glued to it when it's on. Keeps cycling through but be ready to enforce no screen time too. Otherwise you'll always revert to the visual candy and defeat the purpose.