Baby Einstein DVD

Did anyone buy these DVD's?

I am thinking of buying thm and want to know whether anyone can recommend them?

I just get mine out from the local library.

They have lots...and I can reserve them online and they will then send me an e-mail to let me know when they are ready to collect.

Best of all...it's free!

I have the whole set i brought brand new off eBay. I personally find them boring but the girls will watch them and seem to enjoy them

I googled BABY EINSTEIN and there was some article saying that they can be detrimental to a child's learning...I am just confused...I want to buy them.

bindy perhaps buy one a see what YOU think of it, you may think its right for your DD or perhaps not, i dont have any, i perfers shows like playschool for sophie and she loves them!

we have a few and she loves them, also loves bananas in pajamas...

what is the reason for them being detrimental to their learning?? i actually suspect the baby einstein dvd's contribute to my 12 month old being able to talk, and identify so many objects, but we do ALOT of reading and talking with her so who knows.

I bought one from ebay and it was a saviour at night during witching hour when she was younger. As far as the studies that have come out about it, I don't think that they are any worse than any other TV in general and as such should be used sensibly. If you use it every few days and it isn't the sole interaction or "education" that your child has, I don't see any problem with it. On the other had, some people use TV and dvd's like this as their child's sole education and education, and that is where problems occur I guess!
Use your own discretion hun, but every now and then IMO Ithink they are great! Better than the Dr Phil she cops an earful of when Im having a lazy couch day! ;)

Just to add my piece...
TV/videos/DVDs are often not recommend for children under the age of two due to the effect the quick colourful movements have on children's brain development. Their brains do not work at the speed that images flash and move on the screens causing issues/problems. It is not necessarily the content that is harmful but the movement on screen.

From a website.....
A study from the American Academy of Pediatrics shows that watching videos as a toddler may lead to Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD, also called ADD in UK) in later life.

TV watching "rewires" an infant’s brain, says Dr. Dimitri A. Christakis lead researcher and director of the Child Health Institute at Children’s Hospital and Regional Medical Center, Seattle, Wash. The damage shows up at age 7 when children have difficulty paying attention in school.

"In contrast to the way real life unfolds and is experienced by young children, the pace of TV is greatly sped up." says Christakis. His research appears in the April 2004 issue of Pediatrics. Quick scene shifts of video images become "normal," to a baby "when in fact, it’s decidedly not normal or natural." Christakis says. Exposing a baby’s developing brain to videos may overstimulate it, causing permanent changes in developing neural pathways.

"Also in question is whether the insistent noise of television in the home may interfere with the development of ‘inner speech’ by which a child learns to think through problems and plans and restrain impulsive responding," wrote Jane Healy, psychologist and child brain expert in the magazine’s commentary.

Babies brains grow rapidly

Even a child playing with its own fingers has the neural patterning that comes from bending, flexing, stretching and grasping. Scientists tell us that the brain develops in completely unique ways between birth and three years. As a kiddie viddie baby sits "mesmerized", neural paths are not being created. This is crucial brain development that stops by age three.

"You don’t want to think that something as innocent as half-an-hour’s peace and quiet could reduce your kid’s chances later in life," says Claire Eaton, 27-year-old mother from Lewisham, Australia.

I am just putting the other side forward, not for anyone to take personally as any sort of criticism. I firmly believe in parents doing what they want and think is right for their own child.

Wow Deidre that's interesting...

ive heard about that before... it IS interesting and plausible... i guess its about balance though...

what i'm curious about is, how they know in the study that kids at age 7 that have the ADHD - im curious how they KNOW it came from watching videos when they were little, and not from something like food additives in the foods they ate - IYKWIM... i'm not discounting the findings from the study, purely interested in how they get to a conclusion - in any study - and rule out so many other things that may have contributed or caused an outcome.

that said in the middle of the night when she's up teething or sick with a cold, i would be lost without her dvd's, it calms her and distracts her from how she's feeling, she stops crying and even manages a chuckle... and i get a cuddle and don't have to walk the hallway!!

Emma, interesting point regarding food additives...I really am going to try to be careful with what Madeleine eats when she is older, I saw something on the news tonight about preservatives and food additives for kids. My DP's nephew comes over sometimes for a visit and he is 4. He is fine and then his mother will give him Fanta or something and you could put money on how many times he turns into EVIL child after he drinks it....!

there are even additives in dried fruits, breads, cereals, all sorts of things you would deem as a healthy snack, it is amazing... you really have to learn to look out for the additive numbers and buy products that don't have them...

i carry the cut out from this webpage around in my purse, it tells you the additives to avoid..

Hip Hop

some of the additives are actually BANNED in other countries. its quite disgusting the nasties they put into foods and then market them to kids, for example those heinz kids fruit bars from 1-3 year olds contain sulphur dioxide....

anyways slight hijack, sorry.... i just think its worrying when you think you're giving your kids something healthy and then find out its not healthy at all, or worse, you don't find out!! i used to give dried apricots nearly every day, and then read this:

"a single dried apricot can contain sixteen milligrams of preservative - more than a six year old child should consume in a day."

That's great, thanks so much for that information, it's better I know now IYKWIM!

Sulphur dioxide (which incidentally is in dried apricots) brings on asthma attacks in my sister! There is a great book called Additive Alert- Your guide to safer shopping by Julie Eady (I just call it the Yellow Book) which is great for food additive info- easy to read and to pick up as a quick reference.

Emma, on a general note (not necessarily TV related) check that any research that you read is published in peer-reviewed journals. These are guaranteed to be proper studies and research, often generated by universities and academics. Such studies need to take reliability and validity into account in their research. That means that the study must accurately reflect the concept being measured and that the way that the research is carried out and analysed is accurate and can be repeated by others with the same results. In short, that means that no guessing or assuming is done. The hypothesis has to be proven or disproven.
A bit heavy for this time of night, but interesting....

I have heard similar research to Deidre. I am a Primary School Teacher (have taught K-2 the past 3 years) & I went to a conference about teaching "struggling" readers. The presenter was citing research about how detrimental television is in children under 2 for future learning/reading.

Madeleine will sit on our laps some nights and watch some TV with us, not long though! Should I be worried and really discourage that do you think???

I wouldn't worry about what's done - but personally, I would try to avoid letting her watch TV in the future. I try to position DS so he can't see the TV, or just turn it off until he goes to bed.

Thanks everyone! :dance:

Some observations...

My DD had minimal tv before she was 2 (3 weeks ago). By this i mean that most days she had no tv at all. WHole months would go by with no tv. Occasionally she would get the tv for half an hour, probably 10 or less times in her life. Once or twice when i have been really ill i have put the tv or a kids dvd on for several hours at a time (when i'm too sick to get up/read etc.).

She is very advanced for her age. She speaks in sentences, knows her shapes and colours (including things like telling hexagons from octagons), can count to 20, knows much of the alphabet and can identify all the numbers up to 9 (like knows 8 but would say "one eight" rather than "eighteen"). She recognises about 10 letters of the alphabet and knows the sound they make.

We read and sing a lot together. I wear her in the wrap when i cook and clean and talk her through whatever i'm doing all the time. A german friend came to stay for 2 days this week and she is currently telling me in german that she's filled her nappy!

Now i let her watch tv for half an hour on days we are in the house anyway (3-5 times a week). She has learned about 10 new songs, a bunch of dances and some (about 5 maybe) new words from the tv. BUT she does NOT ask for a book or even necessarily look at me when i call her name if the tv is on. It seems to me to totally absorb her attention in a way that reality doesn't. I can imagine that some of the harm tv does to the minds of kids is by exluding the rest of the world.

I think you can tell by watching your kid how well they cope with tv. I know kids who cannot bear it if the tv is on and kids who have anxiety attacks when you turn it off. It's pretty individual. I do not think there is anything a flat emotionless screen, no matter HOW bright/colourful, can teach your baby than time with it's mother/father/siblings could not teach better, but i also as a single parent appreciate the concept that sometimes 10 minutes of peace can save a whole day.

Bx

My Mil bought some for the girls and my eldest loves them she laughs and laughs at them and sings along to them as well as dance and makes the animal sounds etc
so to me i feel it is very educational for my girls. Both my girls love them. They are active outdoors girls all day and in the afternoon they can watch a dvd for some chill out time etc.I do mix it up a bit though so some days they watch playschool and others baby einstein but it is only two days a week they get to watch Tv. Otherwise it is flash cards, drawing, pretend play all that kind of stuff.

But my opinion is go and buy some today or tomorrow they are great dvd's.

I am sorry and with all due respect to all of you that have posted in regards to food aditives and adhd etc i don't listen to any of the studies or read any books to say you should not do this you should not do that etc. I use my brain and give the girls what i want to give them so they grow up knowing what is healthy and what is not etc ie - weetbix instead of fruit loops, water instead of fanta etc but i also do not believe in wrapping my kids up in cotton wool their entire life so i go with my motherly instincts and i must say i am a proud mother and love it when people tell you how good your kids are!!!

Jen

the thing with food additives is, they are in HEALTHY foods, im not talking about sugary drinks or lollies etc... i was giving my dd dried fruits thinking that was a healthy snack then discovered they are ladden with sulphites (sulphur dioxide)... some of the additives are banned in other countries, surely thats saying something? would you want your child eating something that is illegal in another country?

you can either give them 'healthy' seemingly normal food with dangerous food additives in it (dried fruits, breads, cereals, meats, cheeses etc) or healthy food with no nasties... its not really wrapping them in cotton wool, its being educated about the hidden things in foods you might otherwise assume are healthy, and also educating your kids too, so they can make good decisions....

i was just shocked when i discovered it so wanted to share, better to be knowledgable and made decisions from there than not to know and be feeding your kids chemicals, well thats what i think anyway.

Emma - i wasn't having a go at you or anyone else i hope you didn't take that the wrong way. sorry if you or anyone else has. I was just saying what i thought and that i refuse to wrap MY kids up in cotton wool. I am not saying that you are or anyone else is i was just saying that is how i see it.
May i suggest to buy preservative free dried fruit as this is available and does not have nasties in it. Any organic or preservative free items don't but read the label just in case. It is much more expensive but worth it. But in most food items we eat as children and adults there are nasties in them i don't think we can ever get away from it unfortunately.

Jen

nah i didnt think u were having a go, dont worry xx :)
yeah thats what i mean about being aware/educated and choosing the additive free stuff - my food shopping takes a bit longer now cos im always standing in the aisles reading labels to make sure i get the better/healthier option of the health food!!

i know alot of people just grab whatever is marketed for kids (ie those heinz baby fruit bars) not realising they're not good at all, cos thats what i used to do...

i actually think (or hope) preservative and additive free foods will be on the rise due to people becoming more aware and opting for the additive free foods for their kids... hopefully anyway!