Wow, what a can of worms eh?
When at uni I studuied education and wrote some essays on TV and kids - there is lots of very interesting research out there.
Some things I remember reading:
Its not until the age of 7 or later that children can really reliably tell the difference between whats real and inaginary, or what is a TV program and what an ad. Ads are made specifically to look like they are part of the program.
TV programs for children have a far greater number of scene changes per second than those aimed at children, so many porgrams are not at all relaxing (although they are enthralling/hypnotic), but are extremely stimulating.
Children who come to school having watched TV in the morning often perform badly as they are over stimulated, and school is so very dull and slow moving compared to the telly.
Childrens cartoons often have a higher number of violent episodes than adults drama programs. You might think the violence doesn't matter because it doesn't seem real and is funny, but these factors make it more damaging. Some research has shown that children are significantly more aggressive to their peers after watching slapstick cartoons.
Interesting hey? Sorry I don't know where it all comes from, its just what I remember from those essays a while back.
We don't have a TV. We do have a computer (obviously!) and watch DVDs on it. I would rather DD (2.9) didn't watch any TV/DVDs, but she watches about 30-40mins every day while I Bfeed and put to bed my 12 month old ds. She watches DVDs specifically chosen for their story based, music based or slow paced natures - eg, The very hungry catapillar, Hairy Maclary stories, Play School or the Wiggles. I don't think its doing her any real harm, although she does sometimes ask during the day when its DVD time, which I think is a shame as it spoils her enjoyment of other things.
Re the baby Einsten DVDs, what are they like? I think DD would love to watch a documantary type DVD, of animals or something...is that what they are?