2yo DS suddenly "obsessed" with a cartoon-normal?

[lecach]

Our DS has never been interested in t.v. Even the baby Einstein videos didn't interest him. About a week ago I showed him a cartoon on t.v. (Bigfoot presents: Meteor) about monster trucks. Now he is obsessed with this cartoon. He'll watch the same one over and over. And constantly asks for "tractor" - his name for it. To be fair he loves to see big trucks, tractors, and buses when we are driving anywhere.

He had his birthday party Saturday and on Sunday he didn't even want to play with his new toys - he asked for tractor and watched it at least 20 times. I'm just a little worried that he is suddenly so obsessed with this cartoon when he was never interested in t.v. at all before. Should I be concerned? Is this normal?

I should also say that we have friends who have an Aspergers son and I have always been concerned that DS would have it. DS always seems to be playing independently when I pick him up at daycare - never with other kids. That worries me too.

I am sure I am just paranoid but figured my buddies on the DIS could probably tell me if there is anything to be concerned about.

 

[Information Hen]

This is completely normal. My 4-year-old goes through phases where he will only watch one video - each "phase" lasts about six weeks, and I get darn sick of whatever video it is! He would happily watch the same thing three times a day if I let him. Right now he's locked in on the "Extreme Music Fun" video of classic Disney cartoons.

I remember being the same way as a kid - I would come home from school and watch re-runs of "The Brady Bunch" every single day, even though I'd seen them all and knew them by heart.

 

[KristiKelly]

No, nothing to worry about this is completely normal. He will go through many obsessions.

I remember ds watching Angels in the Outfield over and over and over... when he was 2.

When he was 3, he believed he was Superman and would introduce himself as Clark Kent.

When he was 4 he became obsessed with Elvis , anyway, my Mom bought him the white jumpsuit and all, he knew all the words to all the songs. It was quite embarrassing at times but then suddenly POOF, he was over it.

When he was 5 he was obsessed with Steve Irwin "Crocodile Hunter", he started collecting rubber snakes and could tell you what each one was and whether or not it was venomous, etc, and he tried to speak with an Australian accent. Then POOF, he was over that. I found his Steve Irwin costume the other day . Makes me sad because he is now 9 and has outgrown all that stuff and because a huge idol of his childhood is now gone.

As worrisome as it all can be, remember, it is completely normal, it will pass, and you will miss it terribly when you look back.

 

[surfer_ed]

My Dd, now 2 went thru a stage about 3 months ago where all she wanted to do is watch movies...luckily she was hooked on "Nemo", "Lady and the Tramp" and "Home on the Range" and interchanged them allot. Thankfully no purple Dinosaurs...no offense to any fans out there.

We limited how much she could watch to an 1 or so a day but she wanted to watch them all the time. A little TV was OK but we didn't want her as obessed with a non-interactive activity.

Suddlenly a month ago, she gave it up and is back into books, which is more of what we wanted. Not interested in the tube at all. Although she did like Cars the other day.

 

[lovethattink]

My got obsessed over a year ago with Nightmare before Christmas when we got it for our older son. Then it became Nemo. Right now it's the Bear in the big blue house potty training DVD.

 

[lecach]

As always my DIS friends have made me feel better! It IS kindof cute how interested he is. When we went to tell DH bye this morning and we woke him up the first thing DS said to him was "tractor?". It could be worse - it could be the purple dinosaur or something equally dreadful.

Luckily new episodes of Bigfoot presents are on this week. So DH is taping them onto VHS so we can play them in his office (before it was on the DVR and that caused us a problem - we couldn't watch OUR shows ).

 

[NotUrsula]

Normal as can be. In DS' case, it was The Jungle Book. It actually motivated him to ask a question for the first time. DH had watched it with him the night before, and as usual he sat through it silently, not appearing to pay much attention. The next morning he started following me all over the house, tugging on my clothes and saying, "one bare tessies!" I didn't have a clue about what he meant, until I went to put the video away and he got all excited. You guessed it: "I want bare necessities!"

That was in the days of VHS, and TJB had gone back to the Vault. We were terrified that the tape would wear out and we would be stuck, so DH hunted all over town until a clerk at one of TDS found him a second copy in the back room. As it happens, he got over the phase before the tape gave out.

 

[mouseketeer_mom]

For us it was Shrek. My son played probably it 120 times. It was the ONLY thing he would watch for about a month or so. It just so happened that it was during my first trimester of pregnancy. I still get a little queasy when I hear the intro song.

As far as playing alone.... not to worry. I have B/G twins. He's a loner, she's a joiner. It really wasn't until this year (age 4) that he showed any interest whatsoever in wanting to play with others.

 

[minniebeth]

Yup, when my DS was 2 it was Aristocats and 101 Dalmations.

 

[abcboys]

My 4 year old get obsessed with stuff, too. Sometimes it only last a couple of days. Others times its a month or more. Pokemon was the worst. He would eat, sleep, and talk, everything about pokemon. It drove me crazy. Then poof, one day it was gone.

Before that he was obsessed with Disney World (he has never been) Would watch the movie over and over and over and look at disney world stuff online and carry around any kind of disney world papers that came in the mail. He would Ask a million questions about the place.

So don't worry, I'm not sure my son is "normal" but its good to know other kids are obsessed about certain things, too.

 

[Jaymie]

My DS started with Bear in the big blue house, then it was Bob the Builder, now it's the Wiggles. I swear I sing "hot potatoe" in my sleep. He loves music and guitars right now. We have the "Cars" soundtrack in my car but he won't watch the movie, because he's afraid of "Frank the Combine". Would you believe we live on a farm and have a combine? He used to love it and now he's afraid of it too.

I can't wait to see what the next phase is.

 

[MSSANDRA]

Totaly normal and a great sign that little brain is growing!!!! I still think you need to limit the time he spends watching it. Once a day or a total of 30 minutes of TV should be enough for a toddler. Take his new interest in trucks and expand it with books from the library and more pertend play with turcks. MANY twos are still very much into independent play. No worries there either. Just relax and enjoy him. CUTE pictures.

 

[marcyinPA]

Very very normal! My oldest DS(now 11) was obsessed with the Mighty Machine videos at that age, and vacuum cleaners (LOL) and he wanted to listen to the soundtrack from Mad About You all the time (he called it the M tape). My youngest DS(now 7) went through a Peter Pan phase, then Cinderella, then GI Joe, etc. etc. etc. We wore out a few of the favorite video tapes!

As for playing alone....very normal at 2. I teach 2's in a private Christian pre-school, and most of them play along side each other but alone. There's not much interaction at this age. It'll come along around the age of 3, and even then, they don't always play like best buddies!

Enjoy the 2's...it's an exhausting but very fun age!!

 

[MSSANDRA]

Hey, I had a kid obsessed with the vacuum cleaner too. That was all he wanted for Christmas that year. I think he got two and we went though so many batteries because it ran all the time!!! I think he was about two. I wish I had all the money we spent during those obsessed time. There was power rangers and GI JOe and Star Wars and I can not even remember what else!! Now a normal smart 14 year old with lots of interest!

 

[dementia412]

btw it is 100% normal for a 2 year old to not play with other kids... they may play near other kids, but interactive play really isn't a concern until they are around 3 1/2-4.

Right now my DD3 is obsessed with the Powerpuff Girls (which makes me happy because I love them). Before it was Dora and Winnie the Pooh.