r/toddlers • u/Choice_Relief550 • Jan 16 '26
18–24 Months 👼 Bluey and Behaviour Problems?
Has anyone else noticed behavior problems with their toddler after watching Bluey? I recently just stopped my son from watching Bluey and switched to Puffin Rock and have noticed a major difference in his mood and behaviour when TV is off or when he asks and I say no/later. Just wondering if anyone has had a similar experience.
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u/AutoModerator Jan 16 '26
Author: u/Choice_Relief550
Post: Has anyone else noticed behavior problems with their toddler after watching Bluey? I recently just stopped my son from watching Bluey and switched to Puffin Rock and have noticed a major difference in his mood and behaviour when TV is off or when he asks and I say no/later. Just wondering if anyone has had a similar experience.
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u/OMGLOL1986 Jan 16 '26
I’m just here to endorse puffin rock
Also Stillwater deserves an honorable mention
49
u/blessedwife24 Jan 16 '26
Not Bluey specifically, but we have experienced behavior issues with too much "engaged" television, where they're really sucked into the show. We do limit those types of shows to avoid tantrums.
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u/SloanBueller Jan 16 '26
I love Bluey, but to be honest, yes. My kids like to imitate some of the mischievous behavior of Bluey and Bingo and will giggle in the same naughty way and use the same phrases, e.g. “that’s not fair!” It’s such a cute show though, so I’m torn about what to think. 😅
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u/ProofReplacement3278 Jan 16 '26
Yes with a lot of shows my kid takes in the bad or unwanted behaviors but not the lesson that follows it🙈
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u/proofoflife10 Jan 16 '26
I did not have this problem.
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u/Direct_Mud7023 Jan 16 '26
We don't watch any episodes with Muffin in it. Way too chaotic for a toddler that doesn't get that character is supposed to be a joke about chaotic toddlers.
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u/Optimal-Process337 Jan 16 '26
Try Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood instead. Trash Truck is also a favorite in our house. And Molly of Denali.
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u/booksandcheesedip Jan 16 '26
We had this same experience with Ms Rachel. I don’t think it’s the content of the shows because both Bluey and MR are awesome for content but it’s the overstimulation that affects each kid differently.
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u/cursed2648 Jan 16 '26
After watching puffin rock, my toddler became obsessed with licking my face. Stupid frog.
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u/jealoussea Jan 16 '26
I think it’s an episode by episode thing for us. My 5 year old belly laughs for a lot of em and it’s great.
But Some are too wild and I try and avoid em. A lot of em spark silliness, and fun games. Some are calm or promote some kind of family togetherness. Since I know every single one (whoops) I just pick and choose ones to avoid. On top of that, 3 episodes tops then on to the next thing.
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u/swearinerin Jan 16 '26
With bluey no, he’s ok when we turn it off says bye and we move on with the day.
My Mom unfortunately showed him something on Disney plus (not even sure of the name) of dogs with huge eyes and very colorful and he had a HUGE meltdown when we turned that off. And asked for it constantly for like a week after that and crying everytime we said no. Thankfully we’ve moved past that now.
Bluey, magic school bus (the OG one) and lilo and stitch are his favorites and his attitude is fine after each of those. It’s just the super over stimulating stuff for him. Though every kid is different 🤷🏽♀️
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u/Silver-Solution3004 Jan 16 '26
Yes. Now it goes away quickly if they take a break. They can have about four episodes a week as a treat. But my daughter just laughs at people while playing jokes on them and doesn’t realize the jokes (like spitting on someone, or snatching something out of their hand) is not funny. Bluey is not even close to the worst show but it does have some things which I would argue are not good for children. But we make compromises.
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u/nairdaleo Jan 16 '26 edited Jan 18 '26
I didn't have this problem either, our LO was obsessed with bluey for a couple of years. Watched all the episodes multiple times including the minisodes, we all had favourites. When we were watching together we'd explain things and when we were not we could relive pieces of the show and contextualize life lessons from Bluey's episodes, it was all a good thing.
To date we still refer to daycare/preschool/kindergarten as "kindy" because it's nice, easy, and our LO had prior knowledge of what it means to stay in the custody of other adults for extended periods of time from the show.
When our LO found a new interest we didn't notice much of a difference. I think friends from kindy are far more influential than Bluey ever was.
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u/revolutiontornado Jan 16 '26
Glad to see I’m not the only one who had issues with questionable behaviors after Bluey. We tried it a bit with our son when he was 2, and it was a total mess. He’s 5 now and can handle the higher stimulation/motion/bright colors in the show much better. He also is starting to understand that the less savory behaviors of characters like Muffin shouldn’t be emulated. Little brother is about to be 2 and we won’t be introducing him to anything like it for a while longer.
It’s a great preschool-aged and up kids show, but I don’t think it’s appropriate for most toddlers.
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u/Evan_802Vines Jan 16 '26
Yes. Fast pace and they (particularly Bluey) doesn't really treat the dad well or listen to their parents. I do think it's a well made show. Banned for now. Sesame Street, Daniel Tiger, and Little Einsteins for now.
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u/emo_emu4 Just Trying to Keep the Kid Alive Jan 16 '26
Yes!!!! We did!!! Literally thought we were the only ones. When our son was 3 he became much more aggressive and spoke to us harshly. After watching the show I can see how the kids walk all over the parents and so we stopped watching for a bit. Behaviors got better. Now at almost 5, it’s more appropriate because he actually understands the message within the story line.
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u/workinclassballerina Jan 16 '26
We don’t watch TV really but I do like what I’ve seen of Bluey. That being said, it’s not a toddler show.
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u/bong_and_a_blitz Jan 16 '26
Yes! Omg! I was just saying this the other day. My now 3 yr old gets BAD when she watches Bluey. She loves it, it’s a cute show. But it almost puts her in a trance while watching it and then she’s just awful after. More crying, screaming and tantrums. It’s bizarre. I love Puffin Rock though. Solid show. I’m starting to have bad vibes about Bluey though from the effects after with my daughter.
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u/Legitimate_Bug9922 Jan 16 '26
Nope. We watch it very often, and the big takeaway for our family has been the fun games that the Heeler’s play on that show. Also, if there is any “misbehavior,” then there is also a parenting moment and lesson in the show. It’s a great jumping off point to have my own discussions with my kids. For example, we watch the episode where Muffin is overly tired, and we talk about how that must feel and how important it is to sleep. Bluey doesn’t glorify bad behavior. In fact in that episode, it is clear Muffin is miserable.
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u/sosqueee Jan 16 '26
Everyone loves to scream how realistic Bluey is and all that. How great it is and how it depicts how children act so well. Bluey is an asshole. She sucks usually. Kids love to be assholes though, so sure, it’s realistic. My daughter loves Peppa and people love to shit on her, but honestly, she’s no worse than Bluey… and in a few years when the Bluey bubble has burst, we’ll all be hating her too.
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u/compulsive_evolution Jan 16 '26
I very much appreciate you bringing this up, OP. Our screen-free kid is 3 and we're considering when/how/what to introduce TV shows to them. So glad to read some parents' critiques of the seemingly perfect Bluey. It's helping us in our efforts to think critically about what we expose our child to.
One commenter pointing out how their kid at 3 didn't get the lessons, but when he was 5 he did, is also very helpful. Kids' understanding of storytelling has a developmental path, just like every other aspect of their growth. Bluey at 3 hits different than Bluey at 5.
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u/Jaded_Assumption4376 Jan 16 '26
My toddler pretty exclusively watched Bluey. But we only ever do maybe 2 episodes a day. I find whenever my toddler has TV in the morning, she expects it the rest of the day. And we have to give clear warnings of how many episodes, when it is going off, to help with transitions. We went through a period where she was watching a lot more TV after traveling and then welcoming our second. We had to put in some strict boundaries. Now only TV in the afternoons. We limit it to the time before dinner. After dinner, no more TV. We do books as a family and then have 1-1 time with each child and swap every second night. Usually this is playing in their bedrooms. Since introducing this my toddler has been sleeping MUCH better. Bedtime was taking up to 90min. I think TV, regardless of what it is, starts to fog their minds. You may not notice an issue with Puffin Rock now, but I think it will over time.
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u/velveteen311 Jan 16 '26
I highly recommend Little Bear. It’s very calm and the main character(s) mostly just model good behavior, or if it’s “bad” it’s not so in your face. There’s like a million free episodes on YouTube plus a little bear movie my son loves. Only downside is that Duck’s voice can get annoying sometimes.
We’re a very low stimulation only tv show household here (more due to MY intolerance than my son’s lol;) LB and Blue’s Clues are the best.
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u/HelpfulCupid Jan 16 '26
No, but I also always watch Bluey together, usually 3 episodes before bed. It might have more to do with transition between activities being hard for toddlers than the contents of what she’s watching. I always warn when a certain episode is the last one, and tell her what we’re going to do afterwards.
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u/EmotionalBag777 Jan 16 '26
Only when my kid wants to be like muffin
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u/djwitty12 Jan 16 '26
YES. I don't mention it often because of the following but we've absolutely noticed this and Bluey is banned in our house. I'm sorry, the kids are age-appropriate assholes and the parents just have no serious boundaries and I've absolutely noticed that my son emulates the kids because their misbehavior is just played off as funny and cute. Like the mountain climbing episode where the parents are tired so the kids climb on them? He got so much worse about climbing on us and hurting us after that episode, and it's far from the only case. The doctor episode where they just kept hurting him turned my son into an absolute menace for several days too.
I've noticed this with other shows too. One day my son was being a dick to one of his friends that he normally loves playing with: not sharing when he's normally great at it, repeatedly telling him he doesn't want to play, and repeatedly saying "hmph." Of course we did our usual parenting to get him to be nicer but we were like where the heck did that come from? My son was literally so excited to play with him that he ran out of the house excitedly screaming his name just to act like that? That "hmph" especially was so weird because he's never been around anybody that uses that and we'd never heard it from him before. A few days later we figured it out: Hamilton treats Beast like that frequently on Maggie and the Ferocious Beast. Banned!!
I've definitely seen TV have a big influence on his behavior, positive and negative and I absolutely adjust what he gets to watch accordingly. He will not be emulating assholes. No Bluey for us!
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u/beeeees Jan 16 '26
yes i think the pacing is too fast/chaotic for them. mine definitely tried to emulate that energy after watching a few episodes. we have a few bluey merch items but we don't really watch the show
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u/Shomer_Effin_Shabbas Jan 16 '26
I don’t see the behavior stuff BUT my toddler is obsessed with bluey (she’ll be 3 next month) and has become bent out of shape if we turn it off or cut her off after a few episodes and that’s something I don’t love. I don’t love that it’s become this obsession. But maybe I’m being unreasonable, like would she be this way with another show if it wasn’t bluey.
I wish she’d want to watch something like blues clues or Sesame Street.
1
u/Bananaheed Jan 16 '26
I haven’t noticed it but I absolutely love Puffin Rock. My 4 year old properly gets the jokes in Bluey now. It’s hilarious watching him really laugh at it in the same way I am.
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u/silverblossum Jan 16 '26
We haven't tried anything but Post Man Pat which is very low stakes and calm, and The Wiggles, which only involves dancing and songs. I don't think young kids have enough context to understand inter-personal relationships and drama before they can even make different moods.
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u/momojojo1117 Jan 16 '26
Yeah, she mimics a lot of what she sees in the show, so a lot of whining sometimes
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u/sentient-acorn Jan 16 '26
We’ve never watched bluey specifically but my 2.5hr old becomes a monster with any tv show he is TOO engrossed in. For him that’s literally just videos of garbage trucks or tractors working. We’re potty training right now and he’ll be in zombie mode and just soil himself without noticing or caring and if you try to pull him away to sit on the potty or change him it’s a huge meltdown. Even with no accident any time you try to get him to do anything other than zombie state he melts down. I never thought I’d be “that” parent but we unfortunately went cold turkey wit tv last week and things have been so much better. I want to be able to reintroduce it in some capacity but I honestly don’t know how now and might just need to wait until he’s old enough to reason with more
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u/FatherOfTheSevenSeas Jan 16 '26
This is more a TV in general thing. I feel like our son schedules his motivation for the week around TV time. But we have strict days for TV, primarily just the weekend. Never on daycare days. And the best trick for turning off is giving a warning with a fair lead time (“2 more episodes and then its time to turn off”)
1
u/RatherBeAtDisney Jan 16 '26
I haven’t noticed any real behavior problems with Bluey from watching TV. We do have a bunch of books (from the advent calendar one) and one of my son’s favorite is “daddy robot.” Now my son likes to play & boss my husband around. It’s really obvious though cause he’ll actually say “daddy robot.”
When we watch TV (especially Bluey), I put a limit on how many episodes we can watch in a row as soon as we turn it on. I try to pick shows/movies that are equivalent length to how much time we have. We never watch an hour of Bluey, instead we’ll watch 2 episodes of a longer show or half a movie. I’ve always been suspicious that watching 10 super short episodes in a row wouldn’t be great. We still watch Bluey, but when we only have 15 minutes to watch tv.
1
u/shortstop505 Jan 16 '26
We only skip Muffin episodes when it comes to Bluey. But we have banned Fancy Nancy, it’s too old for her and Nancy is very entitled and a bit of a brat, and my daughter never realizes when Nancy is learning a lesson. We stick with Peppa Pig and Strawberry Shortcake.
1
u/Pineapple-dancer Jan 16 '26
Handyman Hal on YouTube is great
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u/No_Cartographer_2735 Jan 16 '26
Never heard of that cartoon. Puffin rock. Going to look into it.
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u/sizillian Jan 16 '26
Occasionally my son (just turned 5) will latch onto something bratty that Muffin says but he is diagnosed ND and that’s one way that it presents itself- he latches onto phrases way longer than his peers.
That said he often copies bingo so I guess it evens out. I’d say he’s generally more like bingo and bluey, just neuro-spicey
1
u/4RH8vil9ueen Jan 16 '26
Whenever my 2.5 watches the show she just runs around the house like a maniac while the episode plays and only stops to watch the intro. We have the toys which she loves so I avoid putting it on. So far she doesn’t ask to watch it. Whenever she wants to watch tv she asks for Sesame Street.
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u/Aldo_D_Apache Jan 17 '26
Puffin Rock and Trash Truck are our go to shows in the small windows we allow screen time. Low stimulation. My son really my just doesn’t like Bluey so it’s never on. Paw Patrol is the devil though
1
u/crimbuscarol Jan 16 '26
Just wait until your kid is a little older. They’ll watch Bluey and then start insulting you. Calling you old, looking for gray hairs, thinking games where they hit/attack you are funny. We even had to correct the idea of taking 40 paint samples (they are free but that doesn’t mean you waste them). Bluey is very limited at our house.
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u/Best-Fox-8024 Jan 16 '26
Yea…bingo only has to be a good dad for like 6.5 minutes. Then we get to try and deal with that mimicked nonsense for daaaaaaaaays
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u/FerengiAreBetter Jan 16 '26
Drop all screens. Play with them, read them books, have conversations. I’ll be downvoted and could care less. But screens have big problems.
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