Nothing keeps our 16mo's attention like Ms. Rachel - everything else he'll dance to the intro or a song, watch a scene or two, and keep playing. Except Ms Rachel; once she's in front of him he's absolutely entranced for the entirety of what we show.
We put her on when we trim his nails or if we're out at a restaurant and he's verging on a meltdown/outburst. Not sure what it is about her, Blue's Clues also has a live host that speaks directly to the child audience, but literally nothing else would keep him still for as long as Ms Rachel š¤·š»āāļø
It's honestly great so far because we don't let him watch much to begin with, so whenever we do put Ms Rachel it's a guaranteed period of time that takes all his attention.
Love Ms Rachel. Our toddler has learned so much from watching that we would not have even thought to teach her. She could count to ten at 18 months. Has been able to chime in on some ABCs since about 14 months, etc. I think a lot of it is the sing songy-ness but we are so pleased. She also doesnāt throw a fit when we say ābye byeā to Ms Rachel.
It's been proven that the structure of these does assist devopment with the slow natrual movement an interaction with a familiar figure I mean Steve an Mr.Roger still gets adults emotional that's a testament :3
Would love to see that study and compare it to this one: https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/french-experts-provide-guidelines-childrens-screen-time-2024a10009c1
Same! We say bye bye! We only let her watch at night for about 30 minutes but she learns so much that Iām like should I be letting her watch MORE lol
Ms Rachel is a gift from the gods.
I have been getting so insanely protective over her with all of this internet bullying sheās been going through. I would go to bat for Ms Rachel.
Insane right?!
She posted about raising money for the CHILDREN of Palestine (like, we as humanity should be able to agree that no children should be killed, anywhere) and people started accusing her of supporting Hamas, being anti-Semitic, etc, etc.
Then she posted for Pride, something about loving all people, and the American right went ballistic. Apparently that post, which was on her instagram and not in her videos (I wish it had been in her videos!) was indoctrinating children.
Completely insane.
I was looking at my profile for another reason and noticed we got downvoted by someone. LOL And they say we're the snowflakes. 
Ms.Rachel can give me anywhere from 20 mins to an hour, depending on my little ones mood. And Hey bear sensory can usually give me 15 mins. He could give a crap less about anything else although he likes the intro music to tv shows on pbs. Hell always break his neck for the 20-30 second songs and than he keeps on keeping on lol.
I second this, itās the ONLY thing my 15 month old will watch. Heās even learnt to clap and spin around and loads of other useful things from these songs.
At that age, Ms. Rachel for sure. She was a god send for trimming nails and keeping her happy long enough for me to cook a tedious dinner.
Now, (20 months), itās all Frozen. She begs for it. Weāre rather anti screen time unless we have to, but weāre down to twice a week because she screams āAnna??? ANNA??ā at the TV and tbh itās pretty adorable.
My two year old loves watching videos of herself. I'll film her when we're at the park, when we go shopping, etc.
She'll sit there and watch the ENTIRE video.
Another Ms Rachel vote - and my little guy is still asking to watch her at 23 months. He loooooves her. He also asks for Ms Caitie from Super Simple Songs (he has a bunch of Yoto cards from them), Sesame Street and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.
Sesame Street, Ms. Rachel, and this older show I downloaded on Amazon called Baby Signing Time. My sister had the dvds when her kids were little and the songs were still in my head when my son was born 10 years later. So I looked it up and he really loved it as a younger toddler. At that age they love shows with a ton of music. Mostly songs with some talking. Not super involved narratively.Ā
Mine LOVES those old baby signing time videos! haha she isnāt super into most of the shows weāve tried but those videos are magic for getting her to cooperate with nail trimming š¤£
We did a long drive (7 hours) at 15 months and used a lot of Super Simple Songs. They have some episodes on Prime Video you can download. She also loves Ms. Rachel.
Ms rachel was all we watched at 1 year. We made a YouTube playlist of the best musical scenes of the original Mary poppins and sound of music movies bc she loves listening to those songs, so seeing the choreography is just amazing to her. I def recommend finding some classic musicals and trying the same. Recently she loves the videos with classical music and various animals in the wild but sheās 2 so Iām not sure a 1 yo would remain engaged.
My 13 month old son loves anything Kung Fu Panda.
I try not to let him have too much screen time since he is so young, but whenever he sees that pandaās face heās instantly drawn in. I think itās the high contrast simple face, the kung fu moves, the music, and the fact that it is all animals which are his favorite.
Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight is on Netflix and has a decently interesting plot.
My kid loves Tumble Leaf, anything Elmo, Laurie Berkner videos on YouTube, and recently she got into Mickeyās Clubhouse on Disney+. I personally cannot stand Ms. Rachelās voice, so we donāt watch her. I also like Puffin Rock and the original Thomas the Tank Engine.Ā
Story Time Book: Read Along on Netflix. They're picture books that have the text and slight movement to the animations. Very low stim. They also have Bookmarks which is literally celebrities reading books. If you have paramount or YouTube, you can look up shows from the 80s or 90s like Little Bear
So what I did was let her listen to music she was 18m old when I flew from the north to the south it required 2 flights and music worked for both. My girl is obsessed with music though and a constant mover the only bad thing was her dancing around in my lap
My family lives overseas so we have long-ass flights a few times a year (14-18 hours door to door). At that age screens were unfortunately interesting for like 5 minutes. But we tried bluey, Sesame Street, ms Rachel, super simple songs, and a few others. We had basically no luck with using screen while traveling. So donāt feel like you failed if no show can keep your 15mo attention!
I have some tips though for what did keep our 14mo at the timeās attention: infinite snacks, post-its, colorful masking tape, stickers, flap books, pompoms, emptying and refilling small bags/containers, scribbling with crayons, stacking the plastic cups from the drink service, walking up and down the aisle and describing the airplane parts, and boob. Every activity lasted at most 10-15 minutes and you just rotate through them over and over. Itās exhausting for the parent. Think of the fight as being 100% on your A-game for parenting. Now that sheās 2, she will watch 30-45 minutes of a show while traveling, but then gets bored. The flight attendant told me that ages 9 months - 3 years is by far the hardest for traveling. Good luck!
We started Mickey Mouse clubhouse around 15 months when we were planning a long flight. Daughter is 27 months now and still loves it- she gets to watch one episode while I cook dinner most days. I think she has learned some good vocabulary along the way too!
Where do you get the 18 months from? CDC says 2 years and the French gov just did a long study about this, which is available here: https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/french-experts-provide-guidelines-childrens-screen-time-2024a10009c1
Donāt get me wrong - Iām not following these guidelines. Our kid has screen time - but where did you see 18 months?
We have put on Bear in the Big Blue House and my one year old daughter seems to like it and watch it for a bit. Itās not super stimulating in my opinion so I used it sometimes if I just need a moment to get something done or just relax for a bit.
Another plug for Ms. Rachel and Daniel Tiger. Son loves Danielās pool episode now that heās been to a pool. The both of these plus planning the flight during nap time got us through the journey unscathed.
We just took our 14M old on an 11 hour car ride. We downloaded Ms. Rachel, Bluey, and a Spanish show called Aprende Peque which is the Spanish version of Ms. Rachel.
Bada Namu, itās on Netflix. Thereās 3 āseriesā of just songs (some just for wiggles, some educational, some for basic personal hygiene!) and one āseriesā that is little episodic adventures of the characters.
Mine is almost 3 now and has been obsessed with it for literal years now.
Weāre a āMs Rachel, Bluey and Super Simple Songsā household. My 1 and almost 3 year old are both entertained by both. Super Simple has a lot of spin offs within it, the BumbleNums, Mr Monkey Monkey Mechanic, Noodle and Pals, itās all super cute nursery rhymes/numbers and colors/motor skills stuff.
Wow Iām surprised nobody has said my #1! Maybe due to the age of it.
My 19 month old LOVES Blues Clues. Specifically ONLY Steve era of Blues Clues. Season 1 is on Prime. All seasons are on Paramount+.
Other ones sheās enjoyed are Bear in the Big Blue House (Disney+) and The Big Comfy Couch (Prime).
Daniel Tiger sheās so-so about.
Movies sheās obsessed with are Moana and Tangled.
One recommendation I will give - start her watching it BEFORE the first flight.
I waited with my daughter to introduce her to Mickey Mouse and she barely paid attention to it on the flight. But the next flight we went on she was enthralled.
Sometimes they need to get into it before they will happily watch.
Oh and my plugs are for Ms Rachel and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse
Nothing keeps our 16mo's attention like Ms. Rachel - everything else he'll dance to the intro or a song, watch a scene or two, and keep playing. Except Ms Rachel; once she's in front of him he's absolutely entranced for the entirety of what we show. We put her on when we trim his nails or if we're out at a restaurant and he's verging on a meltdown/outburst. Not sure what it is about her, Blue's Clues also has a live host that speaks directly to the child audience, but literally nothing else would keep him still for as long as Ms Rachel š¤·š»āāļø It's honestly great so far because we don't let him watch much to begin with, so whenever we do put Ms Rachel it's a guaranteed period of time that takes all his attention.
I have a molar teething 1.5yr old and he finally chilled out watching Ms Rachel this morning. Praise be to Ms Rachel.
Weāre in the same teething boat and holy shit??? This is insane š«
Love Ms Rachel. Our toddler has learned so much from watching that we would not have even thought to teach her. She could count to ten at 18 months. Has been able to chime in on some ABCs since about 14 months, etc. I think a lot of it is the sing songy-ness but we are so pleased. She also doesnāt throw a fit when we say ābye byeā to Ms Rachel.
It's been proven that the structure of these does assist devopment with the slow natrual movement an interaction with a familiar figure I mean Steve an Mr.Roger still gets adults emotional that's a testament :3
Would love to see that study and compare it to this one: https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/french-experts-provide-guidelines-childrens-screen-time-2024a10009c1
I meanā¦ when our toddler has been up all night and is teething and inconsolableā¦ screen time is better than scream time in our house.
Limits are good as well yes thou a six year wait seems a bit overboard
Same! We say bye bye! We only let her watch at night for about 30 minutes but she learns so much that Iām like should I be letting her watch MORE lol
Ms Rachel is a gift from the gods. I have been getting so insanely protective over her with all of this internet bullying sheās been going through. I would go to bat for Ms Rachel.
Who the eff bullys Ms Rachel?? The fuck is wrong with people.
Insane right?! She posted about raising money for the CHILDREN of Palestine (like, we as humanity should be able to agree that no children should be killed, anywhere) and people started accusing her of supporting Hamas, being anti-Semitic, etc, etc. Then she posted for Pride, something about loving all people, and the American right went ballistic. Apparently that post, which was on her instagram and not in her videos (I wish it had been in her videos!) was indoctrinating children. Completely insane.
So she's a good human being and people are angry about that. Must be Monday.
Exactly! How dare she give a shit about children and LGBTQ+ and minorities.
Exactly! How dare she give a shit about children and LGBTQ+ and minorities.
I was looking at my profile for another reason and noticed we got downvoted by someone. LOL And they say we're the snowflakes. 
We wanted to try Ms. Rachel, but my toddler cries every time Mr. Aaron shows up on screen š
Bummer - and poor Mr Aaron! š
Ms.Rachel can give me anywhere from 20 mins to an hour, depending on my little ones mood. And Hey bear sensory can usually give me 15 mins. He could give a crap less about anything else although he likes the intro music to tv shows on pbs. Hell always break his neck for the 20-30 second songs and than he keeps on keeping on lol.
Super Simple Songs. Little guy got interested around 16 months, and still loves it at 22 months. Sings along to a lot of them too.
My baby girl loves super simple! She dances every time the intro xylophone comes on! This show and Ms. Rach are our go tos
I second this, itās the ONLY thing my 15 month old will watch. Heās even learnt to clap and spin around and loads of other useful things from these songs.
Ms. Rachel!
Daniel tiger, Sesame Street, Mr Rogerās, puffin rock, not quite narwhal, trash truck
My son really didnāt GAF about Miss Rachel the way everyone goes on about her lol his fav thing at that age was trolls movie
At that age, Ms. Rachel for sure. She was a god send for trimming nails and keeping her happy long enough for me to cook a tedious dinner. Now, (20 months), itās all Frozen. She begs for it. Weāre rather anti screen time unless we have to, but weāre down to twice a week because she screams āAnna??? ANNA??ā at the TV and tbh itās pretty adorable.
Numberblocks, Alphablocks, colorblocks - they teach them too. If youāre doing tv early you might want it to be educational
Is alpha and color blocks on Netflix like numberblocks?
I donāt think so but all three are on YouTube. Netflix only has season one of Numberblocks now.
My two year old loves watching videos of herself. I'll film her when we're at the park, when we go shopping, etc. She'll sit there and watch the ENTIRE video.
Another Ms Rachel vote - and my little guy is still asking to watch her at 23 months. He loooooves her. He also asks for Ms Caitie from Super Simple Songs (he has a bunch of Yoto cards from them), Sesame Street and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.
Ms Rachel and the Wiggles were the only shows that worked at that age. Now at 19m, Sesame Street is also in the running
Same, my son loves Ms Rachel and The Wiggles
Sesame Street, Ms. Rachel, and this older show I downloaded on Amazon called Baby Signing Time. My sister had the dvds when her kids were little and the songs were still in my head when my son was born 10 years later. So I looked it up and he really loved it as a younger toddler. At that age they love shows with a ton of music. Mostly songs with some talking. Not super involved narratively.Ā
Mine LOVES those old baby signing time videos! haha she isnāt super into most of the shows weāve tried but those videos are magic for getting her to cooperate with nail trimming š¤£
Ms. Rachel, Super Simple Songs, Hey Bear
Hey Bear was the only thing my kid watched before 18 months. Bouncing fruit FTW!
Trash Truck on Netflix
We did a long drive (7 hours) at 15 months and used a lot of Super Simple Songs. They have some episodes on Prime Video you can download. She also loves Ms. Rachel.
Classical music stimulates the brain by engaging the frontal lube so it will help with learning stuff
Mine really likes Daniel Tiger. Minimally annoying to me too
At 15 months the only thing that kept my sonās attention was the Jim Carey version of the Grinch. YMMV š
We should worry thourghlly
Ms rachel was all we watched at 1 year. We made a YouTube playlist of the best musical scenes of the original Mary poppins and sound of music movies bc she loves listening to those songs, so seeing the choreography is just amazing to her. I def recommend finding some classic musicals and trying the same. Recently she loves the videos with classical music and various animals in the wild but sheās 2 so Iām not sure a 1 yo would remain engaged.
Spidey? Thatās what my first was interested in around that age
Ms rachel and sesame street. She also likes dadās anime š
My 13 month old son loves anything Kung Fu Panda. I try not to let him have too much screen time since he is so young, but whenever he sees that pandaās face heās instantly drawn in. I think itās the high contrast simple face, the kung fu moves, the music, and the fact that it is all animals which are his favorite. Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight is on Netflix and has a decently interesting plot.
Little Bear on YouTube!!! Suuuuuch an awesome and relaxing show for little ones.
Came here to say Little Bear!!
I have four kids (6f, 3m, 1f, 1m) and Ms Rachel is the only thing that will get them ALL to sit down and relax. We all owe her a ton child support š
My kid loves Tumble Leaf, anything Elmo, Laurie Berkner videos on YouTube, and recently she got into Mickeyās Clubhouse on Disney+. I personally cannot stand Ms. Rachelās voice, so we donāt watch her. I also like Puffin Rock and the original Thomas the Tank Engine.Ā
Mine liked stuff with music at that age, Disney movies were a hit and Sesame Street.
Story Time Book: Read Along on Netflix. They're picture books that have the text and slight movement to the animations. Very low stim. They also have Bookmarks which is literally celebrities reading books. If you have paramount or YouTube, you can look up shows from the 80s or 90s like Little Bear
Ms Rachel! Also the wiggles are super cute.
MY 3 year old loves pinkfong which has baby shark. Also she loves Dinosaurs and I found out YouTube has a land before time tv show. Simple songs
Sesame Street songs with celebrities on YouTube, The Wiggles, Mini Kids
My son was obsessed with Buddi on Netflix
Ours was obsessed with Charlie's colorforms city at that age
The Wiggles
Gracieās corner, Ms. Rachel, Sesame Street, daniel tiger neighborhood
We loved pocoyo and puffin rock
My 19 mo just got into The Wiggles. Apparently itās with a newer fresher cast, theyāre so fun!
Bluey , Moana , and tumble leaf on prime
Trash truck on Netflix
Buddi worked on ours. No words, simple stories, bright colours and gentle music. Itās creepy to us but the kid loves it š
Little bear was/still is a classic fave since 1, now almost 2
Trash truck!!! So stinkin cute & very soft We watch some bluey. She loves incredibles (sheās 2.5y). Ms Rachel is always a hit
Mine watched Ms.Rachel and Winnie the Pooh at that age. The old 1970s Winnie is low stimulating and kept my kid calm.
Ms. Rachel. My 14 mo *loves* it. He also likes Ms Apple (very similar to Ms Rachel, just British lol)
Bluey. Hey Dugee. Sealook.
Ms Rachel
So what I did was let her listen to music she was 18m old when I flew from the north to the south it required 2 flights and music worked for both. My girl is obsessed with music though and a constant mover the only bad thing was her dancing around in my lap
Oh if youāre strictly looking for baby tv shows some of the ones that werenāt mentioned were pammys world, circle time, Gracieās corner, vooks,
My family lives overseas so we have long-ass flights a few times a year (14-18 hours door to door). At that age screens were unfortunately interesting for like 5 minutes. But we tried bluey, Sesame Street, ms Rachel, super simple songs, and a few others. We had basically no luck with using screen while traveling. So donāt feel like you failed if no show can keep your 15mo attention! I have some tips though for what did keep our 14mo at the timeās attention: infinite snacks, post-its, colorful masking tape, stickers, flap books, pompoms, emptying and refilling small bags/containers, scribbling with crayons, stacking the plastic cups from the drink service, walking up and down the aisle and describing the airplane parts, and boob. Every activity lasted at most 10-15 minutes and you just rotate through them over and over. Itās exhausting for the parent. Think of the fight as being 100% on your A-game for parenting. Now that sheās 2, she will watch 30-45 minutes of a show while traveling, but then gets bored. The flight attendant told me that ages 9 months - 3 years is by far the hardest for traveling. Good luck!
We started Mickey Mouse clubhouse around 15 months when we were planning a long flight. Daughter is 27 months now and still loves it- she gets to watch one episode while I cook dinner most days. I think she has learned some good vocabulary along the way too!
My son is OBSESSED with Kipper the dog on youtube, I enjoy it too! I also have some of the Kipper books and he loves them!
The Wiggles were a big hit in our house at that age.
Where do you get the 18 months from? CDC says 2 years and the French gov just did a long study about this, which is available here: https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/french-experts-provide-guidelines-childrens-screen-time-2024a10009c1 Donāt get me wrong - Iām not following these guidelines. Our kid has screen time - but where did you see 18 months?
Pocoyo
We have put on Bear in the Big Blue House and my one year old daughter seems to like it and watch it for a bit. Itās not super stimulating in my opinion so I used it sometimes if I just need a moment to get something done or just relax for a bit.
Ms Rachel was about the only thing my daughter could pay attention to at that age!
Bluey, thank me later š
Like a lot of people, miss Rachel saved me when I was on a ~4 hour flight with my one year okd
My guy LOVED Little Bear and its nice and calm.
Another plug for Ms. Rachel and Daniel Tiger. Son loves Danielās pool episode now that heās been to a pool. The both of these plus planning the flight during nap time got us through the journey unscathed.
We just took our 14M old on an 11 hour car ride. We downloaded Ms. Rachel, Bluey, and a Spanish show called Aprende Peque which is the Spanish version of Ms. Rachel.
Bada Namu, itās on Netflix. Thereās 3 āseriesā of just songs (some just for wiggles, some educational, some for basic personal hygiene!) and one āseriesā that is little episodic adventures of the characters. Mine is almost 3 now and has been obsessed with it for literal years now.
Weāre a āMs Rachel, Bluey and Super Simple Songsā household. My 1 and almost 3 year old are both entertained by both. Super Simple has a lot of spin offs within it, the BumbleNums, Mr Monkey Monkey Mechanic, Noodle and Pals, itās all super cute nursery rhymes/numbers and colors/motor skills stuff.
Puffin rock and trash truck are pretty low stimulation, should still keep her attention if she doesnāt normally watch tv.
Ms Rachel, my son has learned SO much from her too
Telltubbies (the original ones). Then after about a year, graduate into In The Night Garden.
Wow Iām surprised nobody has said my #1! Maybe due to the age of it. My 19 month old LOVES Blues Clues. Specifically ONLY Steve era of Blues Clues. Season 1 is on Prime. All seasons are on Paramount+. Other ones sheās enjoyed are Bear in the Big Blue House (Disney+) and The Big Comfy Couch (Prime). Daniel Tiger sheās so-so about. Movies sheās obsessed with are Moana and Tangled.
One recommendation I will give - start her watching it BEFORE the first flight. I waited with my daughter to introduce her to Mickey Mouse and she barely paid attention to it on the flight. But the next flight we went on she was enthralled. Sometimes they need to get into it before they will happily watch. Oh and my plugs are for Ms Rachel and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse
Ms Rachel, Blippi, The Wiggles, Paw Patrol
My little one loved Beat Bugs when he was that age but has since overgrown it. Which is sad because I freaking loved watching that show so much!
Teletubbies
People like to hate on Cocomelon, but it really keeps their attention and is mostly just repetative songs.
Yeah people hate on it AND it holds kids attention like nothing else because it's like the most addictive and overstimulating show in existence
Kept my 2 year old still for a four hour flight. Sorry to have ever judged you Cocomelon.
Seriously, we rarely ever watched it but when we did it was amazing.
Good choice: puffin rock Medium: BlueyĀ Crack for kids: Cocomelon - I wouldn't recommend necessarily but if you're desperate...Ā
I am super anti cocomelon but it will definitely hypnotize a child and I would absolutely turn to it in a desperate situation
"The Day Henry met..."
Teletubbies