I am a pretty anti-TV type of mom. My husband and I try not to watch too
much; in fact, we don't even have cable. I mean, we do watch TV here and there, usually only for "The Office" and "Scrubs", but TV for my kid..... no no. I see so many children these days being glued to the TV set and that is something I refuse to let happen to my kids. Don't get me wrong, I am alllll up for letting them watch stuff here and there, but I have a limit. I am okay with our children (when they are old enough) to watch a Disney movie here and there, because who doesn't love watching "Aladdin" or "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang"? But since Lucy is only 9 months old TV is not really something I want on while she is in the room.... well... except for Baby Einsteins..
I am sure most of you have seen these, but for those of you who haven't heard of them, they are shows designed for children 3 months to about 2 years old to help teach them anything from, shapes, colors, animals, Bach, Beethoven, Shakespeare, to sign language. The DVDs use puppets, actors, toys, children, and cartoons to help teach. They even will teach things is several languages. Lucy has the "Baby da Vinci" and they help show and teach body parts in English, French, and Spanish. Lucy loves it, especially when they show the cute little puppets. I just recently got her one that plays music by Bach and one that teaches sign language. Besides feeling that they are a nice way to show baby something new, since most of the time 
they see the inside of the house, they are a nice break for mom. I'm not saying put baby in front of Baby Einsteins as a babysitting tool, even though they are educational, but I do save them for when Lucy is acting up. If there is a certain day where she is just fussy and I can't help the situation, then the Baby Einsteins will help to educate and to calm her down. Since they are only 20 mins long, that is just enough time to settle her down and to give me a chance to finish what I was doing, whether it be dishes, cleaning, crafts, or blogging.
they see the inside of the house, they are a nice break for mom. I'm not saying put baby in front of Baby Einsteins as a babysitting tool, even though they are educational, but I do save them for when Lucy is acting up. If there is a certain day where she is just fussy and I can't help the situation, then the Baby Einsteins will help to educate and to calm her down. Since they are only 20 mins long, that is just enough time to settle her down and to give me a chance to finish what I was doing, whether it be dishes, cleaning, crafts, or blogging.
And if you don't have a baby in the house right now, but small children, then you will LOOOOOVE the Little Einsteins. This show is truly amazing! It is four sweet little kids running around trying to help someone or something with SOME kind of problem, but on the way they teach art, history, and music. There is always an artist and musician of the day. They are really enjoyable to watch, even as an adult, and I even learned a few things. These are really good, they air on the Disney channel and on the Sprouts channel sometimes. These shows are really fun for kids and infants, plus I don't feel guilty about letting my Lucy
watch them either... I am actually really excited for when she is old enough to watch Little Einsteins and learn about Von Gogh, Monet, and Chopin! They are also a little pricey; new they go for $19.99, but I have found them on Craigslist, Amazon, or at second hand stores for as low as 3-5 bucks. I did buy one brand new and have not regretted it, but I wouldn't go out and buy the whole collection for the original; having just one or two is good enough until they out grow them, which takes a while.
watch them either... I am actually really excited for when she is old enough to watch Little Einsteins and learn about Von Gogh, Monet, and Chopin! They are also a little pricey; new they go for $19.99, but I have found them on Craigslist, Amazon, or at second hand stores for as low as 3-5 bucks. I did buy one brand new and have not regretted it, but I wouldn't go out and buy the whole collection for the original; having just one or two is good enough until they out grow them, which takes a while. So, help your baby learn and experience something new and let them try out a Baby Einstein. (plus what mom doesn't enjoy a nice 20 min break)
My 4-year-old LOVES Little Einsteins! One day he was being SUPER bouncy and extra loud and I asked him to be quiet. He looked at me and said, "Oh, you mean pianissimo?" :o)
ReplyDeleteI hate to say it but the Baby Einstein makers are actually being sued because of false claims. There have been no studies that have proven that they are educational in any way. There have been studies that have shown that they cause ADHD in children though. The outcome of this study was that they are too stimulating for babies.
ReplyDeleteSorry, I know they are a mom saver but they really aren't that good for children to watch on a regular basis.
I saw Dr. Perry (www.childtrauma.org) speak on a few occasions and he always stressed that babies should never even see the tv screen until they are two and then after that is should be very rare. It sort of hard wires them to expect massive amounts of stimulation and then they can't cope with the real world which has very little.
we love baby einstein in our house! my 21 month old has taken to grabbing one of the dvd's off of the shelf and bringing it to and she says, "wash" (watch). she has even learned how to open the dvd drive of the computer and put the dvd in. we don't have a tv anywhere in our house! so, the computer is where she watches her baby einstein!
ReplyDeletewe think they are great!
I know what everyone says about how dangerous tv is, but just like everything else, it's all about moderation. My son loved Baby Einstein, esp. World Animals. It got us through some tough times when he was 18-months old and in a cast for six weeks. My three-month old discovered the tv recently and we are trying to keep her away, but I don't think an occasional glance will do any harm. Great tip for moms!
ReplyDelete20min to myself? How about 2 hours please!
ReplyDeleteMy kids LOVE little Einsteins and watch it on cable at my parents house everytime we visit there - it's probably the coolest thing about my parents house for them - the great kids' TV shows on cable that they have.
I'm all about this type of thing. There was no Baby Einstein when mine were little, but I would have totally plunked them down in front of the tube with this on. If they're going to watch TV, I say give 'em something worth watching!
ReplyDeleteEthan loves Little Einsteins. Cameron has no interest in TV whatsoever. He loves books. I don't mind that one bit. lol.
ReplyDeleteHere is a link that explains it much better than I could!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.whitedot.org/issue/iss_story.asp?slug=ADHD%20Toddlers
We loved baby einstein movies and now we are into little einsteins. It comes on while I am getting ready in the morning so the girls watch that while I finish getting ready for work.
ReplyDeleteEveryone i know who has these, raves about them. A very novel idea.
ReplyDeleteWhen Karys was younger, Baby Einstein allowed me to fold her clothes and cook dinner. I am a firm believer. Though I think I've worn myself out on any and every thing Beethoven.
ReplyDeleteWe love Baby Eisenstein and the Brainy Baby DVD's. I am bad about the T.V. with the kids. I think now is a good time to limit T.V in our house...I'm scared.
ReplyDeleteWe love Little Einsteins at our house. Cavett's favorite painter is Van Gogh and he can even recognize different paintings of his. Instead of slow, he says Adagio, etc. I'm a music teacher so I eat this up! LOVE IT!!!!
ReplyDeleteWe don't like the Baby Einsteins as much though.
Baby Einstein is most awesome. My little ones are too big for it ~I guess~ but B.E. always makes for a great gift!
ReplyDelete:-)
Happy Wednesday!
My kids love Baby Einstein AND Little Einsteins. I LOVE the extra's on the Baby Einstein DVD's. We can go through and learn all the words and talk about what each does for my four year old. It helps guide me in teaching them sometimes. Not that I rely on the DVD's to teach, but it gets me thinking of what to introduce to my children... which is great when your the one responsible to teaching so much to your little ones!
ReplyDeletePoltzie, I have heard that some schools are going to be doing studies too on these DVDs, but the ones they had done previously before was a study where they had babies watch Baby Einsteins for 2 HOURS a day. Which is way tooooo much. I am sure there might be some people out there that let theri kids watch it like that, but I am only suggesting that you let them watch it once in a while.
ReplyDeleteI have set a limit for myself that I can only let her watch it 3 times a week max. So some weeks she doesn't even watch it. I don't want to get dependent on having the DVD take care of her.
Thanks for the link and the comment. It is always good for people too see boths sides, especially when it is something like this... easy to show a lot and a lot isn't good.
hey we dont have cable either...actually we dont even have our tv hooked up to register any channels, there is just tooo much crap out there...and our location, long story. but we do love baby/little einsteins. i saw the comment about the ADHD and my little one watches it more than 3 times a week for sure, but she is also GREAT about entertaining herself and playing pretend. i think it is an abundance of mechanical and electronic stimulation. so many toys can only do one thing and cant be used for anything pretend. so we go towards baby dolls and kitchen stuff...you know old school toys, she even has her own little girl mop and broom. but mommy likes some down time so we watch movies. she loves baby macdonald!!!
ReplyDeleteYou know what.... sometimes you have to do what you have to do. I think a little bit of Baby Einstein is pretty benign in the big scheme of things.
ReplyDeleteMy nephew watches them a little bit and I think they are pretty comforting and soothing. I see nothing wrong.
I would have to say I agree with you on the TV thing for kiddos.
ReplyDeleteWe loved baby enstein and are now on Veggie-tales. Just 30 minute quick shows that teach morals without commercials!
we call it back "crack" in our house.
ReplyDeleteshe hardly ever gets to watch it, but once in awhile, i break and she enjoys 20 minutes of pure fun!!
and so does mommy :)
None of my kids were all that interested in the Baby Einstein videos, but all three of my kids will sit and watch Little Einsteins (Emily not as willingly, but she'll watch and participate in the movements for the sake of her brothers).
ReplyDeleteokay that photo is great. supa cute.
ReplyDeletemy youngest loves Little Einsteins. will he did...right know he really likes Handy Manny. But it's all good.
I loooove Scrubs. I have this habit of watching it at night time on WGN right before going to bed. It cracks me up...just a funny show.
We get these at the library whenever they have one available. My son loves them. They were the first movies that my son was actually interested in. It does make for a nice break when I need to get dinner on, or whatever. We don't watch that much TV, either, but these are great for when we do.
ReplyDeleteAs a mom who is currently single while hubby is in Iraq, I never thought I'd be one of "those moms" who uses the TV as a babysitter. But, well, I DO have to use the bathroom once in a while ... and bathe ... and prepare food. So - um - yeah, the TV is my friend.
ReplyDeletethanks for the tips about baby einstein! i'll file it away in the noggin till i finally get preggo. I have head good things before about baby einstein.
ReplyDeleteWhile my husband isn't in Iraq like Tranny, he does work another shift and I agree. But we are stuck on blues clues here. I don't let it consume her, but she watches.
ReplyDeleteI don't have little ones anymore who watch this, but I think it's great! Very fun and educational.
ReplyDeleteWe don't have cable (too much garbage) but we have one L.E. DVD. My 4 year old son loves it! I see nothing wrong with letting my kids watch TV for a little while. Even as hard as I try, I can't be supermom 24/7. I need breaks. I need twenty to thirty minutes when my kids aren't running around screaming. And they need time to chill out and wind down. So it's a win-win for both of us.
ReplyDeleteWe don't have TV either. Not even basic channels. We have a television set and a DVD player and VCR. My sister gave us a set of 4 Baby Einstein DVDs when the Queen was born. Neither of my kids was at all interested until they were nearly 2. Now they enjoy them, but they have a variety of things to watch (although we haven't discovered Little Einsteins yet). They LOVE CHitty Chitty Bang Bang, but I haven't let them watch Aladdin yet (that snake is TOO scary) or the Lion King (the father dies on screen - worse than Bambi). And they will never watch the Hunchback of Notre Dame (your sister and I had quite the back and forth email about how appalled we were over THAT movie). I probably let mine watch too much, but it keeps them from fighting while I'm reading blogs. I can hear you all saying "SLACKER MOM." But then again, they know nothing about Hannah Montana or all the other stuff that all the kids in VBS have been sporting this week. And that is OK.
ReplyDeleteWe really liked the Baby Einstein movies... until we found Signing Time - it's fun, educational and teaches American Sign Language... our Baby Einstein videos ended up on a back shelf and haven't been watched much since... you might want to check out Signingtime.com.
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