addicted to Baby Einstein dvds, help!!!

[Carameli]

Hi,

My dd now 21mnths is totally addicted to her baby einstein dvds. I know they are educational etc etc and she is pretty active the rest of the time but I do worry about how much she wants to watch them.

Does anyone else have this?

nope, but if you think shes watching too much dont put it on!

I know but its hard to say no to her when she asks for it at 6am

put it on at 6am and then not for the rest of the day, or till bedtime again?

My DD was (is) exactly the same. I have to really ration how much she watches, but all I hear is 'dvd please mummy. DeeeeVeeeeDeeee mummy'. She's now 2.8 but got her first baby einstein at 12 months.

I justified allowing her to watch DVDs as we are constantly away in non English speaking environments, and I want her to hear English, but i'm not too happy about it TBH, especially now we're back in the UK.

Baby Einstein I think are good, and my DD has learnt a lot from them. I think you are right to ration them though and when she's watching them sit with her so she's interacting, rather than staring blankly at the screen.

Maybe you could also get some of the baby Eintstein books (although I'm loathed to fall prey to the merchandising!), so she can see her favourite characters but in book form instead?

Good luck!

Mine (2.2yo) just loves a singing and dancing group popular in NZ and Australia called Hi 5. They also do educational stuff. He would watch day and night if I let him.

I tell him he can only watch at night (and then only 20 minutes). He does ask for them often, and I just laugh, tell him "nice try" and change the topic and redirect his attention. Sometimes he nags, and I just ignore him.

Of course it is hard saying no (no one said being a parent is easy). But it is good for them to know they can't have everything they want - teaches them how things work in the real world. If you can't say no to a 21m.o - what will happen when they are 13yo or 16 yo?

If you aren't prepared to set boundaries, then get ready for them to ride rough-shod over you anytime they want something from now until they leave home. Its up to you if you want boundaries or not (and if you don't then that's your choice), but there is no way your child is going to say "ok, I'm not watching this anymore" - it is up to you to decide what you think is good for them and what is not.

Point is, if you don't want them to do it - turn the dvd off. If you aren't prepared to turn it off, then don't stress about them watching too much. You are the parent. It is up to you to decide.

Ds has had precisely 2 minutes of hi 5 in his life. At which point I sang "L -O -V -E....I'm the mum and this is crap TV" to the tune of the first song, and got out some lego.

We love Hi5 (but then I think Baby Einstine is rubbish - I'd rather have DS explore the textures and colours himself than see them on TV - so each to his own)

DS now has some Hi5 music cds which he loves dancing to! It's great for working off some pre-bedtime energy.

Hate Baby Einstein possibly even more than Hi 5, why not just give a baby a toy and put a nice CD on?

Canb't you just say 'its broken'? We say that to anything we don't want our DD to use - she's 20 months, and it seems to work (except for when she asks for it to be fixed!) But then I say 'Daddy'll fix it when he comes home' and that limits her usage somewhat!!

Why not just say "no" Rarrie?
[confused icon]

It's good for kids to learn they can't get everything they want. It's a lesson they have to learn at some stage, and if they learn it early on, it saves a lot of hassle later. If parents don't teach this lesson, then the kids are going to get a hell of a shock when they get to school and get told "no"