The tenth episode of the fifth season of Rugrats (1991).
Babysitting Fluffy
The babies look after Fluffy at the Finsters' house.
Sleep Trouble
Tommy and Chuckie are afraid of the sandman.
"Babysitting Fluffy" provides examples of:
- Call-Back: This isn't the first time the babies have tried to put a diaper on an animal.
- Dog Food Diet: As the babies take care of Fluffy, Phil eats from Fluffy's bag of catnip.
- Hairball Humor: Phil says that he doesn't like cats, but when Fluffy coughs up a hairball on Chuckie's shirt, he says, "I think I do like cats!".
- Literal-Minded: Lil thinks that in order to "babysit" Fluffy, she must wear a diaper and drink from a bottle.
- Pet Dress-Up: The babies try to put a diaper on Fluffy, believing that she has to wear one in order to be babysat. Fluffy tears the diaper to pieces.
- Plot Allergy: It's rather ironic that Chas must care for Fluffy, since he's allergic to cats.
"Sleep Trouble" provides examples of:
- Big Storm Episode: This episode takes place on a very windy day, and in the later half of the episode, a thunderstorm happens.
- Cowardly Lion: At the beginning of the episode, Chas almost admits that he would be terrified of an upcoming thunderstorm. But once the power goes out at his house, Chas braves the storm and drives all the way to the Pickles' house to look after Chuckie. Lampshaded by Chuckie himself, who, after mistaking Chas for the Sand Man, has Tommy spray him with water, and they see Chas surrounded by bits of sand left over and believe that Chas has defeated the Sand Man.Chuckie: I always knowed he was a hero.
- Fridge Horror: In-Universe example; Chuckie stays over at Tommy's house, and Stu tells them both a story about the Sand Man. Chuckie wakes Tommy up on the realization that if the Sand Man puts too much sand in their eyes, they'd be buried alive. Even Tommy is scared of the idea of a potential intruder slipping through cracks and burying them in sleep sand.
- Getting the Baby to Sleep: Stu and Didi try many different methods of getting Tommy and Chuckie to sleep, courtesy of Dr. Lipschitz, including lullabies, bedtime stories, and even sock puppets. None of these attempts work, as Stu and Didi are asleep before Tommy and Chuckie are.
- Knight Templar: After hearing the story of the Sand Man and overthinking the potential dangers of someone dropping too much sand on them, Tommy and Chuckie ultimately come to the conclusion they must kill the Sand Man.
- Toilet Humor: Early in the episode, Tommy and Chuckie try to build a sandcastle, but the sand won't stick together because it isn't wet. Chuckie then tells Tommy that he doesn't have to go potty right now.
