Disney's Baby Einstein Videos

[mjaclyn]

Do you let your children watch the Baby Einstein videos? I've heard so many good things about them up until a few days ago. There was an article in the New York Times that said for every hour of baby video watched, the child knew 6-8 words less than a child that watched no videos.

I usually let DD 10mos watch 1 Baby Einstein video per day so that I can take half an hour to get some things done. She LOVES the videos - laughs hysterically at them, points at the screen, yells... Now I don't know if I should let her watch them anymore. What do you think?

[DisneyDog]

My DS just turned 5 on Monday. He watched Baby Einstein videos when he was a baby. All I can say is that he has always had a huge vocabulary, talks practically non-stop, and has already started to read. :D

[IloveDisney71]

I'm not an expert. I have a masters in early childhood education and if there's one I''ve learned is this: for every piece of research that proves ONE thing, there is a piece of research that disproves it!
If you don't rely on the videos to be the basis of your child's development I just don't see that it would be harmful. Take a well-balanced approach to child rearing; talk to your child, play with your child, read to your child, interact with them as much as possible and they will grow up happy and healthy. BUT that's just my opinion! :mickey:

[JCDarzi]

I understand the concern to limit children's television viewing. I try really hard to keep DD4 and DS2's "screen time" to a minimum each day. That said, both of my children love Baby Einstein. My DD started reading at 3 1/2 years and has a very large vocabulary. I don't believe that watching Baby Einstein limited her learning abilities at all. The peaceful 1/2 hour that Baby Einstein gives me is sometimes the only "free" time I get for cleaning house and cooking dinner.

[AmberB]

Also not and expert, but as a dear friend told me, Mommy's (or Daddy's or any caretaker's) sanity is crucial to a baby's development. If that 30 minutes of TV time a day gives you the chance to stay sane, its worth it. My 3 1/2 year old has watched a limited amount of TV for quite some time, including Baby Einstien videos, and his vocabulary is fine. I would say as long as the TV is balanced with play time, reading time, and just general talking to your baby you are OK.

[FriendsofMickey]

Again not an expert; however, I let my twins watch these almost daily. I would hold them to let them take a nap and they would fall asleep to these videos.

At 16 months, their vocabulary was off the chart. At 24 months, I had people repeatedly tell me how articulate they were. They could just not believe that they were only 2 years old.

At almost 4, they were reading and signing (I can thank videos for the signing, because I only knew the alphabet). :)

However, you need moderation and you cannot use them as your only teaching tools (as far as Einstein, I never looked at them as teaching tools). Nothing can take the place of getting on your hands and knees and interacting, talking, and loving your child. As long as you play with your child more than they watch TV *(alot more) then letting them watch a little educated TV/shows will not hurt.

[Minniemouse27]

I never understood the lure of these videos. We received two as gifts when dd (now 6yo) was an infant and she wasn't interested in either. She much preferred Elmo to either of them (basically she totally ignored the television when they were on).

I pulled them out again for ds (now 21mo) and he had the same reaction.

Now Little Einsteins is a totally different animal. Both of them ADORE that show.

[Mickey'sGirl]

At almost 4, they were reading and signing (I can thank videos for the signing, because I only knew the alphabet). :)My DS3 was slow to speak (he has ASD) and used many of the signs that he learned from the Baby Einstien - Baby Wordsworth video to communicate with us. Everything in moderation! :thumbsup:

[BrerGnat]

I can't give an expert opinion on them, but I can say I'm guilty of utilizing Baby Einstein pretty frequently with both my boys.

With my first son (now 3), I pretty much resisted the urge to even have the television ON around him. He didn't watch more than maybe 30 minutes of television a week prior to his first birthday. He seemed mildly interested in Elmo, but that was it. He didn't talk at 12 months, or 18 months. However, he was FASCINATED with books, reading, letters and numbers. He had no words, so he began speech therapy at 19m.

My second son was born when my oldest was 20 months old. When the baby was about 2-3 months old, out of sheer desperation, we purchased an entire set of 20 Baby Einstein dvd's (more for the baby, who was very irritable much of the time...we wondered if they would work to calm him down). Our older son was having a very difficult time being a big brother, and I was often home alone with them, as my DH is in the military. These videos turned out to literally be a lifesaver for me. My youngest took to them immediately, and would sit and watch, laugh, wave his arms, etc. Interestingly, my OLDER son was hooked by them as well. He would watch them very intently and it was the only time all day he would stay in one place for more than 2 minutes. Amazingly, within about 2 months of having these videos, my older son's vocabulary went from three words (mama, dada, duck) to OVER 200 words! He was saying "zebra", "tambourine", "savannah", and a bunch of other completely crazy words, BEFORE he was even saying "mommy" or "daddy". He memorized most of the content of the videos, and learned a HUGE amount of words and concepts from them in a very short amount of time.

Interestingly, he (the older one) was diagnosed with autism about 3 months later. Looking back, the sings had ALWAYS been present, even well before he turned 1, and his diagnosis did not surprise me, BUT I do have to credit those Baby Einstein videos with getting him INTERESTED in talking and USING words in context. That is a huge thing for an autistic child. To this day, they are still very captivating to him. He has learned about 50 different signs from the various videos and he actually uses them. His vocabulary now is pretty advanced, although he still has a lot of difficulty with pragmatics and social functioning.

Now, my younger son is 18 months old. He has not said a word yet. However, he has no signs of being autistic or having any other serious developmental problems. Time will tell; he has begun therapy in an early intervention program, due to his brother's diagnosis. He has spent a LOT of time in front of the t.v.; more than I would have wanted, but I had to do what I had to do to get through the past year (half of which my DH has been away for...).

I can just say this on the matter, and I have had it confirmed by SEVERAL specialists (neurologists, speech language pathologists, pediatricians, therapists, etc.): if a baby is going to develop normally, he will do so, barring being closed up in a dark box for all of his waking hours.

Developmental delays are a subject of intense interest lately, seeing how the rates of autism diagnosis (and related social developmental and speech delay issues) are skyrocketing. They want to find an answer to the "why" question. It is easy to point the finger at t.v., because it's something that is very difficult to study.

However, I am a firm believer that the brain is hard wired for a specific path of development in the womb, and once a baby is born, providing that the child is cared for properly and receives social contact frequently and regularly, there is not much as far as outside influences that can radically change that developmental path.

And, from my parent's perspectives, much of what we are experiencing with our boys seems to be "in the family". My younger sister did not talk until she was FOUR (she is perfectly normal by the way). My father did not say a word until he was about 3 1/2, and he failed kindergarten because he would not talk! My older sister was pretty chatty, but my mother said I didn't talk much until I was about 5. My husband's mother said that he was a very quiet toddler as well. Back then, however, there wasn't this obsession with when babies begin talking, walking, etc. People pretty much just let kids develop on their own time. Of course, those were simpler times, and the information we have today will probably make SUCH a huge difference in identifying these developmental problems early and getting intervention as soon as possible.

I think when a baby talks/communicates has much more to do with genetics than any outside influence. The best you can do as a parent is follow your instinct to do what you think is right.

And, FYI, Baby Einstein comes in several "age formats" and some of the very early videos (Baby Bach, Mozart, Beethoven) are VERY boring to any kids over about 6 months old. If you want to get one that is actually going to teach your baby some concepts, try for one of the ones aimed at toddlers (Baby Wordsworth, Neptune, Gallileo, MacDonald, Van Gogh, Monet, First Instruments etc.) These teach concepts, words, and include LOTS of puppetwork. You can get them really cheap on Ebay!

[prprincess]

I don't believe that article one bit. Only because DS used to watch them all the time, and I think it actually increased his vocabulary. Whenever the narrator would say a word, he would repeat it. He talks a ton now, and he's 2 1/2.

[mjaclyn]

My DD is 10 months and she LOVES the Neighborhood Animals DVD. She laughs so hard when the dog puppet comes on the screen. It's really hysterical to watch her. If I come and try to give her a kiss or a hug, she'll strain to look around me! LOL I agree that as long as you use baby videos in moderation it's not bad for them. It's just very funny how conflicted 'professional' opinions are. I had read alot of information about the Baby Einstein DVDs, all saying that they were perfect for a baby's development, then I read the article in the New York Times which said the opposite! It's hard to know who to believe sometimes.

[BrerGnat]

My DD is 10 months and she LOVES the Neighborhood Animals DVD. She laughs so hard when the dog puppet comes on the screen. It's really hysterical to watch her. If I come and try to give her a kiss or a hug, she'll strain to look around me! LOL I agree that as long as you use baby videos in moderation it's not bad for them. It's just very funny how conflicted 'professional' opinions are. I had read alot of information about the Baby Einstein DVDs, all saying that they were perfect for a baby's development, then I read the article in the New York Times which said the opposite! It's hard to know who to believe sometimes.

Sounds like my younger son. He actually goes up to the screen and KISSES some of the puppets. It's hilarious. He gets SO happy when they come on the screen and then when it switches to nature footage or animal footage with music, he comes whining over to me all mad.

Awhile ago, I found that Target was carrying the Baby Einstein hand puppets and they were only $5 each! I grabbed up the dog, duck, and dragon, and since then I have not seen them. :( My boys LOVE the puppets, it's like having a celebrity in their toybox. :D Maybe you can find the dog puppet at a Target near you, if you have one.