Best videos for babies?

[mamahill]

Ok, I swore I would NOT be one of those parents who lets their kid watch tv, but I've been amazed at what I've actually been able to accomplish this week (laundry, vacuuming, dishes, bathrooms, etc.) since Ainsleigh received "Baby Mozart" for Christmas. I would never have believed how entranced she would be - it's AMAZING! We also have "Baby Van Gogh" but I haven't even looked at it because it says for 1 year and up (though I'm thinking of putting it on today anyway).

This morning I flipped on Sesame Street and she LOVED it. So now I'm sitting here with a $30 gift certificate for Amazon and I'm wondering what recommendations there might be for other videos (preferably on DVD). I'm considering "Baby Doolittle: Neighborhood Animals" since Ainsleigh loves any animal she sees (she likes watching the Discovery Channel!). But I've also heard good things about Wiggles and Elmo? Any particular video? (I promise to limit the amount of time she has in front of the tv!) Thanks for any advice!

[egoldber]

Sarah LOVES Baby Dolittle Neighborhood Animals. Make sure you get Neighborhood Animals, because Baby Dolittle World Animals isn't nearly as good. Baby Shakespeare is also very good. She also loves Bear in the Big Blue House, The Wiggles, Barney and Teletubbies. She is indifferent to Sesame Street.

There was a thread awhile ago about Wiggles videos. Apparently some of them are of much better quality than others. I think that "Yummy, Yummy" and "Wake Up Jeff" were considered good quality whereas "Dance Party" was of poor quality.

I would definitely try to tape a few shows and see which ones she enjoys and then get those videos. We have a PVR and record Bear and Barney for her so that we can watch it when we want to.

FYI, Target has kid videos for good prices (a couple $ cheaper than Amazon sometimes), but they have a somewhat limited DVD selection.

HTH,

[darebear]

I agree with Beth, my son love the Neighborhood Animals, but not the World Animals. He loves Barney, Clifford and Jay Jay the Jet Plane. Until I knew he really liked them, I would tape them off the tv. Another thing you can try, is renting them from Blockbuster or Hollywood Video to try a few out. If you have a Hollywood Video, they have the Baby Einstein series. And to buy I found Overstock.com has a decent selection and good prices, some of the Sesame Street videos are between $3 and $4.

Allison

[lj11]

Videos and DVDs are the only way I'm able to get any housework done! My 10 month old DD Cooper absolutely loves '123 Count With Me' from Sesame Street. It features Ernie and has lots of different songs. I've even caught Cooper dancing and singing along to her favorites!!

[mamahill]

Thanks all for the suggestions! I will definitely get the Neighborhood animals (after checking out Target!). When you say tape them off tv - are these shows all on PBS? I'm a little clueless here, but we got rid of expanded cable so the only shows we get other than network channels are the Discovery Channel and the Food Network (do you really NEED any others?!). I guess I should pull out the old Tv guide and see about these shows. Are the Wiggles on tv? Thanks!

[darebear]

The Wiggles are on Disney. Barney, Teletubbies and Sesame Street are on PBS. If you go to pbskids.org you can see what is on your local PBS station and the times.

Allison

[gour0]

They have all the Baby Einstein videos and lots of others metioned here. A good place to buy Wiggles videos is T.J. Maxx. I bought one today for $9.99 as opposed to sugg. ret. of $15.

[atlbaby]

Just wanted to add that I recently got Arielle "Sesame Street Kids Favorite Songs 2" (there must be an original '1' version but no stores had it, the woman standing next to me said this 2 version is better anyway) and she LOVES it!! She'd seen it while we were at a friends house and although she'd never seen sesame street before she loved the songs immediately. She also loves Baby Mozart (old favorite :) ) and Baby Van Gogh too. Oh, and I got her Teletubbies "Silly Songs&Dances" (I think that's the right title) at Target and she adores that as well. Teletubbies is on one of our PBS stations in the late morning so I've also taped some of those. Can't beat 20 minutes of TV to get *something* done, right? :P
-Rachel
Mom to Arielle Jill, 10/30/01

[Annette_C]

Sarah,
Sabrina likes Baby Bach and Baby Beethoven very much (in addition to Baby Mozart). They are all based on music and visual stimulation and are geared towards younger babies.
We got the whole collection (7 of them) at J and R Music World for a very reasonable price.
Barney and Sesame Street are favorites also.
HTH,
Annette :)
SAHM to Sabrina 6/24/02

[egoldber]

Just another thought. If you ever travel to visit relatives who do NOT have a DVD player, then consider having a couple VHS tapes. I NEVER travel to my parents or my in-laws without taking Baby Mozart on tape. It saved Thanksgiving got us this year when Sarah almost had a total meltdown during the meal. We actually don't use our tapes/DVDs much at home, mainly when we travel.

HTH,

[lmintzer]

Just a different opinion here--my son loved World Animals (and dh and I thought it was more creatively made). We also all like Van Gogh and Shakespeare from that series.

Jack will only watch videos with music in them--right now he is into Thomas the Tank Engine's "sing along" video.

Lisa
& Jack, 20 months

[Sandy]

Alexander really loves the Wiggles. We have several of the DVD's and his favorite seems to be Hoop de Doo it's a wiggly party.

[mamahill]

Thanks all! Good suggestion, Beth - I didn't even THINK about the DVD/video thing. Will definitely get a couple videos before our next trip if they don't have a DVD player.

My mom, who lives nearby, has digital cable with a bazillion channels, so I'll set up the VCR to tape the Wiggles. I've also checked out our TV guide and didn't even realize the great morning programming on PBS. Now I'll just have to make sure I don't abuse this new knowledge...

[megsmom]

I let my dd watch some TV and am learning not to feel guilty about it anymore since it's a limited amount and I think babies/toddlers get a lot more out of it than people give them credit for. That said, I am very careful about what she watches since Meg is a little tape recorder repeating lots of what she hears. Case in point: we were listening to a Bear in the Big Blue House CD today in the car and her favorite song appears to be "What's that Smell?" She is now repeating this phrase and one can only guess which social situations in which that will reappear...:)

The Baby Einstein series is totally loved around here and we actually had to put limits on these shows since dd was going around saying, "watch a movie, watch a video" non-stop. But she does know her colors, shapes, and animals and I can't help but think these movies helped reinforce these concepts. For variety she also likes Book of Pooh on Disney, Wiggles, Barney, Bear in the Blue House, Thomas the Tank Engine sing alongs and the Journey to Ernie and Elmo's World segments on Sesamie St. I try to only let her watch 2 little programs a day and am holding off on buying too many videos. My church has this rental program for a buck a week and all of the above favorites are there.

Jen
mom to Meghan 7/13/01