Do you let your Baby watch Baby Einstein?

[ha98ed14]

Do any of you ladies let your DC under 1 year watch Baby Einstein?

Someone gave us 3 Baby Einstein DVDs at my baby shower. One said it was age-appropriate for a 3 mo old. I kinda doubted it, but I put it in for my almost 4 month old and she LOVED it. I tried it because I noticed the other night when DH and I were watching a documentary, the baby was watching too! DH was holding her.

Its the "Baby Bach" one if any of you have them. Its mostly a few seconds of a spinning top or other moving object set to classical music. The picture changes every 30 second or maybe a minute for a total playing time of a half hour.

Just wondered if anyone else ever let their kids watch. So far she has only watched it twice, but she seems to realy like it. It certainly holds her attention.

[KBecks]

I had Baby Einstein videos that I didn't like. I felt there was way too much motion going on in a lot of them. I like a slower pace.

I do like Signing Time and I like that the Teletubbies are more gentle / slow. Those are my recommendations if you do any TV at all.

[JoyNChrist]

Baby Einstein is the only reason I get to eat breakfast every day. :-)

I know it's not educational, nor is it recommended to let kids under 2 watch TV at all, but I figure 30 minutes a day is worth my sanity. His favorite one seems to be the signing one, so maybe I'll pick up some Signing Times in the future.

[sweetpea]

I tried them with dd when she was around that age. They freaked her out, there were too many close-ups and fast moving weird stuff for her. My cats, on the other hand, loved them.

[schums]

Both DC LOVED them, and are certainly no worse for watching them. My DC really like Mozart, Santa, Baby McDonald and the Art one when they were a little older.

Sarah
Mom to Alex (3/2002) and Catherine (8/2003)

[thomma]

Twins and one of them was colicky...you bet we did! :) They still like to watch them from time to time.

Kim
ds&dd 5/03

[bubbaray]

DD#1 was not interested. DD#2 loves all things TV, including BE. Though, I think she preferred the Tour de France, LOL!


Melissa

DD#1: 04/2004

DD#2: 01/2007

[cvanbrunt]

Nope. We followed the no TV rule until DD turned two. Now she watches the BE DVDs that we were given when she was born. She likes them. Not sure how easy it will be to keep DD #2 arriving next month away from the TV for that long, though. We will try. The recent study showing language/vocabulary development is slowed in children who watch TV (BE DVDs included) prior to 18 or 19 months of age is what I'll to keep in mind.

[pb&j]

We have a whole set, still in the plastic. I'm not crazy about the idea of letting a baby watch TV, and DS has never been interested anyway.


-Ry,
mom to Max, age 1.5
and my girl in heaven

http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/user_files/37124.gif

[Clarity]

We have some BE, but dd doesn't watch them. BE is a Disney product and I have serious reservations about the "educational" nature of these videos. Besides, the AAP says no TV until they're two years old - I imagine they have pretty good reasons for making such a declaration.

I recently read the book BUY BUY BABY and I highly recommend it for more reasons why our children should be watching less TV.

[linsei]

I did use some of their videos (some were good, some horrible). But it was just so I could get a shower.

Linda

http://b3.lilypie.com/64MSm4/.png[/img][/url]

And a new little Valentine to debut in February!

[ajmom]

I let DS1 and DS2 watch them. If the ONLY reason some children showed slower language development was strictly b/c of TV, then I'd hate to see what DS1 would be like if he never had watched TV before 2. If it slowed down his speech, then I'm thankful- we barely get a respite from his chatter as it is!

IMO watching 30 mins. of TV here and there is not going to do any damage- at least to my children. If your baby likes it and it gives you a 30 minute break, I say go for it! As long as baby is getting plenty of interaction with you throughout the rest of the day, I'm sure your fine. :)

[ett]

I'm personally not a fan of them and they also scared DS1. I have no plans of showing them to DS2.

[Happy 2B mommy]

We have 2 BE, the Farm one and one of the music ones. I swore DD would never watch TV before she was 2, but I broke down when she was about 3 or 4 months. She also loves them. However, we don't let her watch them everyday, maybe 2 times a week, and absolutely no 'repeat play'. Great for when you need to make dinner, pay bills or realize that smell is due to the fact you haven't showered in days.

[Nooknookmom]

I have to agree! DD 1 is 12 - is in the Honor Society, has a 3.5 GPA, is an awesome writer/reader, etc.

She watched the evil purple dinosaur from the time she could sit up in her Excersaucer. Bad Mommy. But I kept my sanity back in the day that way. :)

It's much more than just letting them watch some tv. Parent interaction, exposing them to language constantly, reading to them, etc. It's all encompasing.

ETA: much to my dismay, DD2 has NO patience to sit more than 5 min in front of Spongebob, sigh.....

[glbb35]

I was the same way. I swore no TV before 2 and then reality hits! Just have some common sense I say. A 1/2 an hour a day to pay bills, do laundry, shower, work (I work from home) isn't going to do your child any harm. We all grew up with Saturday morning cartons (and even after school) and we weren't "ruined" from them. From School House Rocks my husband learned the Bill of Rights and can still recite it! I can still sing the good nutrition and fitness jingles. We turned out just fine. Our first DS loved the Einstein DVDs and learned all his musical instruments by like 2 1/2 from the orchestra dvd. He learned basic sign language as well from the sign lang. dvd and his seasons from the art/seasons (I forget the name)one. Our second DS has never gotten into them and that is just fine as well. As with anything and this goes for adults too, everything in moderation! TV time will be a discussion board topic as long as there are televisions at any age. Do what is right for you!

B

DS 03 & 06

[June Mommy]

My DS started watching Baby Einstein (the early ones like Mozart and Bach) when he was about 2 months old. It was the only way I could get a shower :) He still loves them and asks to watch them at now 3 years old. He had a 50+ word vocabulary by 14 months old and talks up a storm now, so it surely didn't hurt his vocabulary skills. If you don't want to let your baby watch them that's certainly fine, but don't feel guilty or feel like you are harming your child if you do (in moderation of course.) JMHO.

[2girlsandalab]

We let dd#1 watch BE Baby Bach for a few weeks (got BE BB DVD as a gift) until AAP came out with their guidelines. Yep she liked it and yep it was tough turning off the TV for a couple years. It doesn't matter to me if my children's vocab is lower by a couple words at whatever age whether thru TV or another mechanism. It does matter to me that as soon as we turned off the TV for good, I started noticing many 'teachable moments' when the baby looks super alert, wants to interact or be taught something. Those are the best moments. Those moments would have been lost with alotta TV taking up the space.

[maestramommy]

we got baby neptune as a gift before dora was born. She watched it for the first time at 1ish, but really didn't start watching it until a couple of months ago. She really liked it, along with Baby Babble, and the vol. 1 of Signing Times. Then recently she started watching Dora the Explorer (we got a triple DVD set as a gift when she was born), and she loves that too. Dora is speech delayed, and I will say that she really opened up with sign language and just general personality ever since she started speech therapy AND watching the videos.

There's a very interesting interview/article in the latest issue of Parents by a mom who researched the recommendation by the AAP (no TV until 2). Kind of puts everything into perspective.

I also thought I'd never let Dora watch TV until she was 2. Even when I started letting her out of desperation (preggo and exhausted), she never watched for more than 5-10 minutes. Then Arwyn was born, and it was a like a switch went off in her head. She was entranced. These days she sorta watches and plays at the same time. But she's learning all the dances, the sequence of all the shows, and REMEMBERS things. Pretty amazing. I don't think it's making her smarter. I do think it's giving her some needed stimulation she might not otherwise have. Dh and I are rather stick-in-the-muds and it's always library quiet in our house.

[egoldber]

My older DD watched them and liked them. She was very easy going so I never really felt like I "needed" them. Along came Amy, aka Miss Fussy Pants, and now add me to the "BE is the only way I get to take a shower" camp. She loves them. But she loves any show with lots of music. Her other favs are Jack's Big Music Show and The Backyardigans, so much so that her first birthday party has a Backyardigans theme LOL!!

My older DD had expressive language delay, but talking to her now you'd never know. She just started first grade, and she's reading at third grade level. Amy is already more verbal than her older sister was at the same age. So your experience may vary.

[brittone2]

Nope, but my 3.5 year old is still TV free (other than catching the occasional snippet of a sporting event or similar) and DD is as well.

I think the flickering lights, movement, etc. entrances them and entertains them no doubt, but I'm not really comfy with that personally. I also think once you start down the road of TV it is hard to step back, and I'm not sure that I'd want my infant introduced to the idea at such a young age. I'd rather my DC play than watch someone else play, kwim?

I understand the need for a shower though too, and I'm sure in moderation most kids do fine with them. It just isn't something we use in our family. Our only (very small) TV is in an upstairs bedroom, so it is out of sight and out of mind 95% of the day.

[hillview]

Nope -- we had them (gift) and gave them away. DS is 2 and still no tv other then the occasional inning in a red sox game. Then again DH and I don't watch much tv. You may want to google for some studies on the videos. My pov is that if you need something to occupy your child while you shower etc it might be an option you'd consider but they aren't educational. I didn't read other posts.
/hillary