How old before they understand and we have to find a new Sunday afternoon activity?

galvanizersbaby

FairyElephant wrote: »

DH & I have always tried to be be very careful about what TV & video games the DSK's watch/play..... We didn't always go by the age rating but if in doubt we watched it first and decided if WE thought it was suitable. We were aware that the BM was not so careful, as she bought a 15 rated game he had asked for, for DSS#2 birthday when he was 12 - we sent it back to her with a polite note saying that we didn't think it suitable due to the age rating!

What's a BM?! - and did they ever dare buy pressie's that any of your children asked for again?

Nicki

astonsmummy wrote: »

BTW OP, why do you have to stop the activity?
There are hundreds of films you could all watch that are U and PG, just because you dont particularily like them at least your LO will be entertained?

OP has made that clear I think!

She (OP) is heavily pregnant and suffering from stress. Her doctors have ordered her to have some leisure time, but she still needs to look after her child. At the moment, she is able once a week to put on a film which she and her OH would enjoy, whilst her daughter plays with toys on the floor. It's not a question of the whole family watching together, and its not much of a therapeutic relaxation for OP if its not a film she enjoys!

Are there any films aimed at adults which aren't likely to cause problems which you might enjoy OP, or tv series. How about TV series like The West Wing which obviously won't be interesting for your child but are definitely for adult but very unlikely to have anything too unsuitable should she glance up? Or period dramas - Pride and Prejudice type thing?

Otherwise, could you and OH do crosswords, or play a board game while DD plays in the same room? How about taking it in turns to play computer games, competing one against the other, and playing with DD while not your turn? Radio? Books?

Good luck in finding something. My own view is that if you are already anxious and worry excessively about good parenting, then having noticed your DD watching something which you think was unsuitable, you are unlikely to be able to relax watching these sorts of films with her in the room in the future, so irrespective of whether strangers on the internet think it is or isn't OK, you probably need to start doing something different anyway for your own peace of mind.

Sharra

On a side note to this interesting discussion, I have a 14 1/2 yr old that I will only very occasionally let him watch 15's now. But i have to confess this is not because I'm worried about him watching them - its because it gives him something to go and rebel with.
If he goes round to a friends and watches a 15 and thinks hes big and bad - it means he doesn't have to go and do something that I'd be really worried about to rebel!

arthur_dent_2

I am 32 and horror films scare me silly. Honestly I think that I nearly peed myself when I watched the ring. I never ever watched anything until I was old enough to do so. Hubby watched anything and everything particularly horror films such as Hellraiser and Nightmare on Elm street and he is scared by nothing. I still have nightmares about finding a ghost in the toilet but he doesn't give a monkeys.

Fast forward and generally I will let my children watch most things, although I did draw the line at films like Saw and Hostel. Programmes that I used to be banned from seeing, are now daytime viewing. My 5 year old absolutly loves the League of Gentlemen. Horrors from the Eighties would now barely be 12 rated and stuff like Bones and cold case routinely show much scarier things than ever before.

I am not suggesting that you should go out of your way to watch these age inappropriate videos, just saying that in my opinion it is worse in the long run to shield them from it all.

astonsmummy

Nicki wrote: »

OP has made that clear I think!

She (OP) is heavily pregnant and suffering from stress. Her doctors have ordered her to have some leisure time, but she still needs to look after her child. At the moment, she is able once a week to put on a film which she and her OH would enjoy, whilst her daughter plays with toys on the floor. It's not a question of the whole family watching together, and its not much of a therapeutic relaxation for OP if its not a film she enjoys!

Are there any films aimed at adults which aren't likely to cause problems which you might enjoy OP, or tv series. How about TV series like The West Wing which obviously won't be interesting for your child but are definitely for adult but very unlikely to have anything too unsuitable should she glance up? Or period dramas - Pride and Prejudice type thing?

Otherwise, could you and OH do crosswords, or play a board game while DD plays in the same room? How about taking it in turns to play computer games, competing one against the other, and playing with DD while not your turn? Radio? Books?

Good luck in finding something. My own view is that if you are already anxious and worry excessively about good parenting, then having noticed your DD watching something which you think was unsuitable, you are unlikely to be able to relax watching these sorts of films with her in the room in the future, so irrespective of whether strangers on the internet think it is or isn't OK, you probably need to start doing something different anyway for your own peace of mind.

Ahh I see now!

Rachel83

ouch pretty harsh implying id damaged my daughter oldernotwiser, if she was obviously scared by it id have turned it off.... infact she goes round asking when she can watch it again not that ive got round to putting it on again but thanks for your amazing input.

Dill

Where we live the local cinema has a screening once a week especially for parents and their babies. Mums and dads can bring their baby along with them when they come to to watch a film, but the baby has to be under one year old.
I'm wondering if the reason for this is that they consider babies over a year old to be old enough to start to understand things and hence they shouldn't be watching films which might have an age-restriction certificate.

milliebear00001

I think the best way to deal with this is probably to make a judgement based on your own child. Age 'appropriate' rating are all well and good, but they are just somebody's opinion. Some 5 year olds will be perfectly able to cope with watching something like Pirates of the Caribbean, whereas others (like my daughter) would be disturbed by much of it. My own feeling is that it's usually about the emotional maturity of the child (and therefore their ability to differentiate between fact and fiction) rather than them being 'desensitised to disturbing material' in some way.

Parents are likely to know whether their children are going to be able to cope or not, but for the OP, 11 months is a tricky one! She's likely to be taking in far more than you'd think and so I would err on the side of caution til she's a tad older. As somebody else has said, unless you're a stronger parent than me, it's likely to be 24 hour CBeebies within 12 months anyway!

Kaz2904

My children watch an awful lot that I'm not comfortable with. DH looks after them when I'm in bed & doesn't really consider the age restrictions on things.
However, they are always with a parent when watching a film and if there are any issues with it it is paused and explained to them before we continue.
I'm a nurse and I think they have probably heard far worse from my mouth talking to DH after awful shifts than they could ever see on a film because (as we always point out) films aren't real.
I'm quite open with them about what I do at work and they know that I sometimes see people die. I like to think that you can explain things to them so that they can formulate a full picture of how the world works.

FairyElephant_2

galvanizersbaby wrote: »

FairyElephant wrote: »

DH & I have always tried to be be very careful about what TV & video games the DSK's watch/play..... We didn't always go by the age rating but if in doubt we watched it first and decided if WE thought it was suitable. We were aware that the BM was not so careful, as she bought a 15 rated game he had asked for, for DSS#2 birthday when he was 12 - we sent it back to her with a polite note saying that we didn't think it suitable due to the age rating!

What's a BM?! - and did they ever dare buy pressie's that any of your children asked for again?

Sorry Galvanisersbaby, I must spend too much time on boards as I'm using too many initials for things!
BM = Birth Mother, they are my StepKids (DSS= Darling Step Son).

We had them to stay with us quite a lot of the time when they were younger, and their Dad & I decided we would set our own rules for them while they were with us. DH didn't approve of a lot of his Ex's rules (or lack of) which became very slack after they split up, but we didn't say anything to the kids, just let them know the rules of our house!