Baby Einstein videos...

Are these videos for real? Anyone dissapointed with them? Im thinking of getting one for ds, but I really cant decide!

Any input would be greatly appreciated!

walda :)

[stella]

found baby einstein a little tedious (even though I can hum the other two from memory!). The music ones are nice and since my baby is only 5 months, I haven't tried van gogh, shakespeare or doolittle. I don't know how old your baby is, but mine is mesmerized by them and they actually allow me to get dressed every day or pay bills and all the other things that your baby doesn't want you to do!

They are just wonderful!

[TLC1994]

We have 2 of the Baby Einstein videos...Baby Mozart and Baby Doolittle. Our 4 month old loves the Baby Mozart video - it's stopped her fussing many a time! She'll hear the music from the other room and her eyes just light up! The video has colorful toys, puppets and other objects put to different Mozart pieces.

Baby Doolittle is for babies 1 year and older. It's mostly pictures of animals with music and sounds in the background. She watched it once but I can tell she enjoys Baby Mozart more, at least for now.

At first I felt guilty plopping her in front of the TV for 1/2 an hour, but it is a big help when you need to make dinner, make a phone call, etc. Hey - it's not like she's watching Jerry Springer or anything like that! :P

The videos are definitely great to have on hand.

[bjessen]

I was a bit skeptical at first when we purchased the Baby Bach, Einstein, and Mozart tapes at the recommendation of some friends. However, I have to say they are great! My 8 month old daughter literally stops in her tracks when she hears the VCR click on, hoping it is "her" tape. If the intro music follows the VCR noise, she is ear to ear grins and usually claps. We are now in the mist of packing for a move in December. I don't know what I'd do without these tapes. They allow me a chance to get a few things done here and there since they are the only thing, besides me, which holds her interest for more than 10 minutes during the day. It is one of the few things (along with PBS) I feel comfortable playing in the background while she plays.

We just purchased the rest of the collection in DVD and found a cool feature, you can play it once or repeat play. The DVD also has flashcards and puppet shows, both fun to sit with your child and explain.

The DVDs I found at Borders for $14.95. The tapes I had originally purchased range from around $15-$20. If you have a DVD player, I think Borders DVDs are a great deal. Plus Border's has a children's card, buy any 10 (or 12?) children related items and get a $5 coupon.

We have only found 2 downsides to these tapes. First, my husband and I can humm all the tunes (they are catchy, but I miss adult music). Second, we sometimes play the tape during dinner if she hasn't gone to sleep yet and is fussy, in hopes she will quietly play while we finish eating. Occassionally, we swoop her off to bed in the middle of dinner. It is kinda funny when we then find ourselves watching the tapes for 15 minutes before realizing that since we did just put her to bed we now can either turn off the tv or watch grown-up tv. The darn things just kinda suck you in.

My advice is start with the Baby Bach and/or Baby Mozart first, especially if your child is under 1, see if your child likes them, then go from there. Baby Einstein is okay (not a favorite). Since we just bought the ones for over 1, I can't rate those very well yet, but at first glimpse it seems the Baby Doolittle videos and Baby Van Gogh are the biggest hits. Baby Shakespeare and Baby Santa didn't get a whole lot of excitemtent, but that could've been her being tired or since she is not the recommended age range (for Baby Shakespeare) yet. She didn't dislike them though, so we'll see.

Our daughter loves them! She is now almost 2 and still asks for them. We have Baby Mozart and Baby Bach.

The music is well produced and the images are simple, yet hypnotic. Even her 8 year old brother will watch them and name things for his sister.The kids recognize the tunes when they hear it elsewhere. If you can imagine the look on peoples faces when our toddler hears a tune and starts shouting "Mozart!" or "Bach!". You will absolutely find yourself watching them as well- I've seen it happen with almost every adult I know!

Mabbster

These are wonderful videos! We have Baby Mozart and Baby Einstein.

I received them as shower gifts and I just adore them to pieces. Our daughter has been watching them since she was 2 months old and loves them. I usually wind up watching them with her, but she'd be happy to sit in her seat and watch them. She's almost 7 months old now and they're still holding her interest. Baby Mozart is hands down her favorite.

I want to get the entire collection. My MIL purchased hers at BJ's where you can get the whole thing in one package.

Like another poster said, it's a good video that you can be assured is good programming for kids. They're only 1/2 hour videos.

I highly recommend these videos to anyone with children. They're wonderful.

~Laura

I recently bought the Baby Bach video and we've watched it a half dozen times so far. My DH is picky about classical music, and he thinks the music is very well done (usually he thinks these things are kind of hokey). My son is almost 9 months old. He will stop and watch, but right now I'm more likely to watch the whole thing than he is. I can tell he recognizes it though--when he is watching he just stares at the screen, when he's not watching he still plays quietly. I bought him the Baby Mozart one for Christmas, so we'll see how that goes. His uncle got him Baby Shakespeare.

Someone else mentioned that the tunes stick in your head--that's true, but it is Bach we're talking about, not some silly kids tune. My DH plays classical music for my son all the time. At least this way he has something to look at.

I purchased the videos for $10 at Target. I think they had the DVD's for $15. Had I known I would end up buying a DVD player for my husband for Christmas, I probably would have gotten the DVD's. Now I figure I can always purchase them later if my son really likes the videos.

--Sue B.

Thanks for all the input. We bought baby bach, and ds was mildly entertained. I was a tiny bit disappointed that the music was computerized. I think, for the price, it should have a real performance. But it is a good idea. :0)

I have Baby Bach, Vangogh, Einstein, & Baby Mozart. My favorite is Baby Vangogh. My 2 1/2 year old still loves them and he is very interested in things that are much beyond his age group (Magic School Bus for example).

These videos were highly recommended to me by a friend that has a "difficult" to keep entertained child. She swore by them, so taking her advice I bought them before I had my daughter. I was fortunate enough to stumble upon them at Costco(4 tapes for 29.99)the set included Einstein, Mozart, Bach and the family's favorite Baby Santa! The Santa video has the most children and baby faces of the four and my daughter loves them, it is played all year... Because we were so happy with the first four, we bought, the doolittle's neighborhood and world animals. They are okay, but we like the original package better. Like the other people, we used them during dinner and other desperate times. Now that my daughter is gettting older 8.5 months we use them less and less--maybe twice a month now.
The other thing that we purchased at Costco (gotta love 'em ;) are the Baby Einstien TOYS. I believe we have the Bach (looks like little colored pipes) and the Van Gough (A wheel that has liquid in it). Both are worth their weight in gold! Especially, the Bach. It can sit on her highchair without falling off & we play it repeatedly while we are getting our daughter's meals ready. Thank goodness for us the tunes are catchy and non irratating. Like the others, I could play "name that tune" and win a ton!I hope that helps.