Parents Say This Show Is Like ‘Crack’ for Toddlers—in a Bad Way

Some parents say no to late bedtimes. Others say no to fast food. But, right now, the real parenting panic is CoComelon.

The candy-colored, big-eyed cartoon juggernaut has racked up nearly 200 billion YouTube views and wormed its way into households across the globe. But many parents are officially over it, calling the show overstimulating, tantrum-inducing, and, in the words of one viral post, “crack for kids.”

Kids Are Obsessed With This “Crack Cartoon”— and It’s Freaking Parents Out

Virginia mom and former teacher Isler, who shares parenting content as @MamasandMesses, told The New York Post that her 4-year-old became hooked. “He would sit there glued to the TV and he never wanted us to turn it off,” she said. Meltdowns were routine, especially during transitions. “It was a no-brainer—we banned it.”

New York beauty writer Hillian agrees. “It’s too fast-paced, it’s too aggressive, and I don’t like how big their eyes are. It’s scary,” she told the Post. Her daughter only watched it once—at a friend’s house—and was instantly obsessed. Now, Hillian thumbs down the show on Netflix to keep it off their feed. “It plays into the short attention span, I think kids already have,” she said.

Online, frustrated parents are sharing war stories of “CoComelon meltdowns” and comparing the show to digital narcotics. “Once you have a taste of the COCO, it’s hard to break the addiction,” one Reddit dad wrote. Another described an “epic meltdown” over turning it off before bath time, after which the show was permanently banned.

Why Kids Are Addicted to This Cartoon?

Some are fighting back with nostalgia. Instead of letting their toddlers get zapped by nonstop EDM nursery rhymes, parents are queuing up retro classics like Care Bears, Barney & Friends, Arthur, and The Magic School Bus—slower, quieter shows that still come with lessons but way less chaos. 

Experts are mixed on whether this freak-out is fully warranted. In one 2011 study, kids who watched nine minutes of fast-paced programming showed dips in executive function. But in a follow-up study, the same researcher found that the problem may lie more with “fantastical content” than speed. And the effects? Temporary.

Pediatrician Dr. Mona, known as @pedsdoctalk on Instagram, has weighed in too. She says CoComelon isn’t necessarily harmful—just best in moderation. The real issue, she says, is screen time in general.

But for many parents, moderation hasn’t worked. They’re done negotiating with toddlers over TV, and they’re trading digital dopamine hits for retro slow burns—and maybe a little peace and quiet.

Because if your kid’s first full-blown addiction is a wide-eyed watermelon baby who sings on loop, it might be time to bring back Reading Rainbow.