baby einstein/mozart/bach/shakespeare etc - any good?

[bossykate]

hello everyone

just wondering if anyone has these videos? if so are they suitable for a one year old? is it just the start of a slippery slope to constant tv watching?!

any views/comments appreciated.

thanks in advance

ps - they keep coming up in my amazon recommendations - am slightly embarrassed that they are all parenting/childcare or historical thrillers! especially as i do read more challenging fare!

I try never to put my son in front of a tv/video as I am terrified of it being a slippery slope. But my friend in nyc got baby einstein for her son and he loved it. I think he was around 1 or a few months younger when she got it.

I got one of them - Baby Bright and my son (six to 8months) was completely uninterested, except in one tiny segment when a train went across the screen and a child's voice went 'choo-choo'. My dh and I got it on the brain and found ourselves wandering round the house hooting 'choo-choo'. Gah. I gave up. He's now ten months and now you've reminded me I might try again. He LOVES Tellytubbies though - which seems charming and harmless.

Bossykate, I've not got any of the videos you mention, but I would thoroughly recommend The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and Other Stories. It has the same collage pictures as the book, and is accompanied by wonderful classical music, my ds adores it, especially the story called Papa Please Get the Moon for Me. It is also a great favourite with any adults that come to visit (his favourite uncle was here today, and wanted to take the video home with him!).

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I was given Baby Mozart and our son liked it when he was younger and our baby (8 months) has watched it a couple of times and enjoys it. They are quite good in the sense that it is easy to watch it with them and talk a lot about the things that appear. But beware, at the end an incredibly stomach-churning-blonde-perfect-mother-type appears at the end and talks utter rot for 5 minutes or so.....

Thanks for the tip Jodee - that sounds worth getting.

We've got Baby Bach and Baby Mozart. Got the Baby Bach when ds was about 10 months and the Baby Mozart a few months ago. Ds is now 22 months and really enjoys them both. He only gets to watch them at the weekends. I have to admit we do use it as a babysitter - to keep him occupied while dh and I have a wee bit of a lie in (and a cuddle!). However, I don't think 20 minutes or so twice a week is cause for concern. We do watch the videos (and the one Tellytubbies video he has) occasionally with him and talk about what is happening. He does seem to respond to this - and often anticipates what is about to happen.

I've just started him on a Thomas the Tank Engine video that we were given. This is quite a good one as it has very short, clearly defined episodes, so is quite useful if you need 5 minutes to pprepare the supper or something like that.

Recently he has been getting more assertive about wanting the video on - and choosing the one he wants. While we don't mind at the weekends, we don't want to let this become a habit. Therefore on weekdays I'm now switching the TV off at source - so that he can't switch it on himself.

Hi, Bossykate! Dd has Baby Mozart, I bought it for her as she will watch anything on t.v. so I wanted her to watch something remotely educational! She is 5 mo but we have leant it to our friend who is 22 mo and she adores it so much so that her mum has asked us to order her a copy.

Thanks everyone! We tried him with Teletubbies this morning - absolutely fascinated, we will need to be careful to avoid addiction I think! Will try one of the "Baby Einstein" etc. series.

Thanks again

I let ds watch Teletubbies as it is for his age group and put together by people qualified in education. I think the problem arises when people let babies watch stuff that isn't aimed at them - they can't learn from that. I like all the big hugs and everyone loving each other very much. Will try the caterpillar one too, I think.

Bossykate, I remember ds at that age being absolutely entranced by teletubbies. It was like magic dust had been sprinkled on him or something, he was glued and hardly moved throughout the whole show. It meant I had 20 (?) full minutes to have a shower, get dressed, clean the house, whatever. Wonderful - I think they're great! I remember all the fuss about 'dumbing down' of kids tv that surrounded the teletubbies when they began but what rot, (IMO) it's great tv for one year olds!!! Long live Dispy (or Dipesh as we called him, ds is half Indian

WWW - just a practical question, how did you keep him safe while he was watching it? was he in a playpen or something? the reason i ask is, ds is a demanding, non daytime sleeping (though of course, wonderful!) child, and i would love 20 mins or so of peace to be able to get on with a few things...

I think Teletubbies is excellent - there have been so many times when something in 'real life' has echoed something on Teletubbies - e.g. 'something appeared from far away' is just like when a box appears in the house, and the babies react just like the Tubbies do! As far as classical music goes, I would recommend just putting Radio 3 on and letting it seep into their brains - string music is best apparently, particularly Bach or Vivaldi, and just let them absorb it.

Crikey, Bossykate, umm I don't think I did (there's an admission!) since I knew he wouldn't move while it was on. No, actually, IIRC there were stair gates so he couldn't get near the stairs and I think the door was probably ajar. He could walk but couldn't reach anything dangerous and we only lived in a small flat then so I would have heard him if he had been screaming. I may have put him in a swing thing that we had sometimes (it was a swing/chair/high chair combo). But I seem to remember that he wasn't interested in seeing me or anything other than the teletubbies. Good luck, hope you get your 20 minutes!

I agree Bron - I'll never think of Dipsy the same again! Have to add that I'm with WWW on this. My 21 month ds will give me 15 mins uninterrupted peace if Teletubs are on, or indeed Barney . Likes Tweenies - but not for long enough for me to get a shower.

Anyone tried the Muzzy language videos for slightly older children? Like the idea, but they are very expensive....

dd got it for her 1st birthday and i thought it would be absoluteky bobbins, but she absolutely loves it and loves the puppets most of all (shame they just fleet in and out!) we also turn off when the oh so perfect mom comes on, trying to justify a video (watch with your child and make it a lovely teaching experience speech!)

great for 20 mins of calming down time - or not as dd jumps arouns and squeals with gusto at her fave bits!!

whoops by 'it' i meant baby mozart! video