Baby Einstein Videos - Are they worth it?

[MrsPinecone]

my son likes them but I believe I have read some studies about too much TV too young can lead to ADD problems, so I try to not let him watch them too often as he is less than a year.

I didn't want to be the first to post that, but now that you have, teacher-mode is kicking in! LOL

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that a child not watch ANY TV before the age of 2 (actually 3, but they are somewhat realistic). Long story short, they have seen that TV at a young age has implications in attention deficit problems, childhood obesity and exposure to violence (even Disney is pretty violent these days), among other issues.

If you are getting them to keep the baby occupied while you get stuff done, think of this: even an infant is able to learn to entertain himself. Constant external stimulation creates a child who needs constant entertainment to function. This is a BAD thing. Kids need to learn that not everything is fun and entertaining all the time. There needs to be down time. Trust me-- it only gets worse when they hit school.

[kurlisola]

OT, but Larissa, you know, I wish I could just unplug the tv. I remember at my kids ages, I was running around & playing & make believe & everything. I can't even get my kids outside much. Sure for a few minutes at a time & then its back inside. Neither of my kids are overweight & they do play alot...I just wished they played more.

But, I have to say, that I do see value in what they are watching. My kids watch PBS in the mornings-Dragon Tails, Caillou (sp?) Sesame Street, Mr Rogers). The rest of the time it is either Animal Planet or Food Network. They love to learn about animals & my son is becoming quiet the experimenter in the kitchen. I'd say they watch tv for about 4-5 hours a day. Which, imho is too much (at least more than I watched as a child). But again, they are watching educational channels. They both love Backyard Habit, love Jeff Corwin, ask tons of questions about animals & incorporate what they've learned into their makebelieve playtime. So, I'm at a loss as to how to justify cutting back.

If I decide to homeschool them this year, I'll definately cut back because I'll have more planned activities. But I'll still limit it to the 3 channels.

[Jusk]

I agree with Mrs. Pinecone for the most part...........my children were babies during the height of the "Barney" craze...........I would put that show on for my son when he was about 2..........he engaged for about 20 minutes of that 30 minute show..........sometimes that was the saving grace that I needed to be able to take a shower or use the potty (alone.....).........I think that there is a balance between letting them watch 20 minutes a day......vs .....parking them in front of the set for 3-4 hours so you can so something else.........actually the things that were on PBS that my kids watched helped me to launch real life conversations and actions with my kids.........it provided teaching moments if you will.

I guess that my kids did not become video robots because today they are 16 and almost 14 and they are both Honor Students and one tested out as "Gifted"...

IMHO......I would be more concerned about video games and computer access when they become older than I would exposing them to childrens videos when they are younger...........we were the mean parents that said no to video game systems for a really long time...........DS was the only boy in his 4th grade class that did not have a game system.......we relented when he was in 8th grade............by then he was entrenched in other activites and the novelty soon wore off.....now he picks it up and plays probably a total of 1-2 hours per month..........(rarely).....as opposed to those boys he hung out with in 4th grade..........they are all video game geeks....no social skills....pasty faced, overweight and addicted to hours and hours of gaming together............(ICCCKKKKKKK!!!!!)

[Siageah]

We only had a Baby Einstein sampler and my daughter never cared for it. Now Blues Clues she loved! She was, oh, a year old? And I discovered Blue quite by accident with her. She was enthralled! And it was 18 minutes in which I could take a quiet cup of coffee or a moment to myself!

[Jusk]

OT, but Larissa, you know, I wish I could just unplug the tv. I remember at my kids ages, I was running around & playing & make believe & everything. I can't even get my kids outside much. Sure for a few minutes at a time & then its back inside. Neither of my kids are overweight & they do play alot...I just wished they played more.

But, I have to say, that I do see value in what they are watching. My kids watch PBS in the mornings-Dragon Tails, Caillou (sp?) Sesame Street, Mr Rogers). The rest of the time it is either Animal Planet or Food Network. They love to learn about animals & my son is becoming quiet the experimenter in the kitchen. I'd say they watch tv for about 4-5 hours a day. Which, imho is too much (at least more than I watched as a child). But again, they are watching educational channels. They both love Backyard Habit, love Jeff Corwin, ask tons of questions about animals & incorporate what they've learned into their makebelieve playtime. So, I'm at a loss as to how to justify cutting back.

If I decide to homeschool them this year, I'll definately cut back because I'll have more planned activities. But I'll still limit it to the 3 channels.

Another thing that I think is important to point out...........we live in different times...........when we were kids, we got to go outside to play......with whatever we could find to do or with whichever other neighborhood kids were outside playing...........It is not that way anymore...........didnt they just find the body of a little girl that was snatched by her next door neighbor from her fenced back yard?????? I mean....really how are we supposed to let our kids go out and play these days????? They are going to watch TV....no 2 ways about it.........but it is up to the parents to control the content of what they watch.......(believe me you dont want your 6 year old watching MTV.) and also the amount they watch and to offer other choices: books, puzzles, games, trips to the park etc..

I know sooooooooo many people that proclaimed their children would not watch very much TV........ummm....most of them changed their minds. I think every family finds something that works for them.


And most importantly..........if little kids didnt watch TV....what would they be getting into while we spend "just a few minutes" on HCW about 20 times a day?????

[ASweetHeart]

Buy 3 baby einstein get 1 free ( +S&H)

[niftyneon99]

I bought the box set off of ebay, and I hate to say we've only watched like 2 of them.

My kids don't seem to be really interested in them. I think I might yard sale them next year (since they are in a pile of our stuff somewhere in the garage right now)

[berlinsmommy]

Every library should have them for check out. We had quite a few of them, but I bought them used off ebay, so I didn't pay much. My favorite was the original with all the foreign languages. Berlin was saying her ABCs before she was 18 months old and can count in French, German, and Spanish, and picked up a lot of Spanish and German vocabulary. From all that, it sounds like she watched them a lot, but she really didn't. DH and I speak some Spanish, and my mom and one of Berlin's teachers speak German, so we reinforced what she had picked up from the videos, which is what really facilitated her learning. No one speaks Japanese or French (however, I can count to 10 in French), so since those languages were not reinforced, she didn't pick it up. That's how I recommend using the videos, watch them with your child, then reinforce the things that your child picks up from the videos (generally some things will interest your kid, others will not). Another very interesting phenomenon that we saw and encouraged was that all the videos were set to music. The subjects taught during that specific music or song were the subjects Berlin would recall and talk about if she heard the songs, does that make sense? She is four now and hasn't watched the videos in a long time, but this still holds true. They play the music at her preschool during their "free activity" time, where the children can choose their activity, and its amazing how her activity choices correspond with the music, like getting out animal flashcards when they play the music that accompanied the Baby Doolittle videos. For that reason, I really love the videos and think they were a valuable tool for teaching Berlin when she was young, but since we got all the music and her school uses all the music, and the things she learned have been continually reinforced, we had a little advantage and I don't think the videos alone would have produced the learning we saw (and continue to see, she is fascinated by foreign language)!!!

[MaryMary]

I believe in golden medium in "TV or not TV" discussion. TV, computer, etc. are tools which we, parents, need to know how to use in order not harm our children. Lets face it, many of us have TV on for babies to free up our own hands for some time. The major thing is to limit TV time and content according to age, if we do not, the short term relief may turn to big problems later, as Mrs. P. said.
Very young kids, up to 10 mo. may not have any TV, should be enough listening to music including classical, books, toys, interaction with people and nature. I like Baby Einstein audio tapes or similar programs on cassettes (Duh, antiques, LOL) and CD. Then TV/videos can be started in strict moderation: very limited amount and very selected programs/videos. Interactive videos are the best, whatever activities can be reinforced during or after watching: flashcards, books, cardboard games, etc. TV should supplement other forms of learning, not other way around. The same "policy" should be continued later on. History, Discovery, PBH channels doing good job educating kids and adults, parents need to be picky in what videos kids are watching. Just make sure TV time will be supervised and balanced with other activities. BTW, kids will eventually pick up parents TV habits, if you watch lots of action movies or WWW Raw, your kids will too. My 16 y.o. as addicted to Monk and House as I'm, like Mythbusters as her dad does. LOL. One more point. If your preschooler or younger likes certain broadcasts, you might be better off recording it and later on watching it without commercials. Young brains are very receptive to whatever has been pitched, IMO this has be one of the major reasons of restricting TV time.
What I'm totally against is war-type video games. We never owned a single electronic game, no playstations, gameboy, etc. Sometimes kids go online to play games with vocabulary builder, math, visual concepts or logic, but not just action games. My youngest has to "buy" game time with reading and music practices. Since she is a tomboy, the only girl on the block among few families with boys her age, I do not worry about lack of outside activities. ;)
As a dual language family I've read various studies about introducing infants to different languages. It was proven that the earlier child is exposed, the easier she/he can pick it up. If your babysitter speaks other language do not discourage her to speak it among your kids. But the main language should be very clear identified in infancy, otherwise the kid might start talking much later then peers, the brain might be too confused on priorities. I was learning English along with my 1-st baby, at the age less then 2 y.o. often she amazed me with words yet unknown to us. Not the ones what you think, good words, but not in our vocabulary at that time. :rolleyes:
sorry for the long and may be not very readable. Hope the main ideas I wanted to express are understood. :BigHandWave:

[VivaciousJewelz]

This is an old topic, but I love bringing back old topics! LOL

Anyway, I had a question that is similar to this topic- Have any of you parents ever used the Baby Mozart cds? I've seen them on babiesrus.com and I registered for a couple of them, to maybe play in the baby's room like at night when she's asleep, and I was wondering if anyone had any opinions on that.