The baby einstein scam lol ok so I am guilty are you?

Question

I admit it how many other moms can?.... I let my 7 month old watch sesame street in the morning while I get ready for work which amounts to about a half an hour of tv a day.... I don't consider my self a bad mother for doing that but am I doing him harm in the long run according to this article I guess I am.... I do agree in a way about kids attention span being affected by television and video games my 5 year old is obsessed with video games and I oh so regret the day I ever allowed it in my house and I limit his video game and tv time but when he's at dad's for the weekend I have no control even if I say no dad wants to be the good guy so what am I suppose to do about that?


http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/parenting/the-great-baby-einstein-scam-531147/

Answer 1

I never fell for baby einstein, I saw a documentary on it a couple years ago that showed how it actually delayed a child's reading than promoting it.



I have let him watch TV, especially when he is really fussy or teething because it distracts him from the pain. I find it also allows me to show him things that I wouldn't be able to normally, such as far away places and animals (wish I could take him to the zoo but it's now too cold so it will have to wait at least 4-5 months unfortunately). Sue he watches TV, but he also plays with me, he has an exersaucer, a jolly jumper, plenty of toys, and he is around lots of people so I would say he is a pretty well adjusted and smart baby! He is just about to crawl and I'm pretty sure once that starts he won't be so easily amused by TV lol. I don't use the baby einstein videos, but he has watched TV, and Disney movies too (which are apparently horrible too lol). I have very fond memories of Disney movies as a child; and I found it great for my imagination as I pretending to be a princess or a lion!



Don't worry about it too much. I know people who watched no TV as a kid and they aren't the brightest, or they watch and play video games enough to make up for it now. I also know people whose parents let the TV practically raise them and they are really bright (think engineer that finished the last year of high school before the other two and now makes a great deal of money).

Answer 2

I must be a horrible mean mom b/c I don't encourage the kids to watch tv. I have it on most of the day for background noise, but we are far too busy to watch it. Sometimes Ethan, 2 1/2yo, will watch a tv show-Handy Manny, Micky Mouse Club, Go Diego about every other day, but he's usually so busy playing that he doesn't really even sit down and watch it, he just wants it on the tv. I won't allow the kids to have a tv, computer, or video game console in their rooms. I grew up with a tv in every room of the house and everyone of us was in a different room, we never spent time together and we were all obsessed with tv, even going to bed with it on. I didn't realize it at the time, but it wasn't good for our family. I know too many family members that complain about their child being glued to the computer or video console, so we won't even go there.



I would never have thought that watching a tv show would make my baby smarter, surely others wouldn't think this either???

Answer 3

I let my 1.5 to 2.5 year old watch Baby Einstein, but I never assumed it was going to make her smart.



When I was home with her as a baby, I watched a fair amount of TV with her on my lap. Once she was a year and a half, she watched small amounts of TV oriented toward toddlers. We also read to her.



I watched an incredible amount of TV as a child. It didn't help me physically (Couch Potato), but mentally, it certainly did no harm. In fact, it helped my vocabulary immensely. And no, I didn't get the vocabulary from my blue collar working parents. It came from watching everything from PBS to Dallas.



Intelligence is largely inherited. Yes, it can be fostered, but often, it's just the luck of the genes.

Answer 4

I admit it too. When I was pregnant with my third baby and had hyperemesis(severe morning sickness) tv saved my children from being in the bathroom with me getting sick many times. Sometimes we need sit back and let our kids have fun even when it may not be the best for them. I am a mom of 2 blind children and I wish they could have the experience of playing video games.

Answer 5

I don't think half an hour will hurt him! I think those are like right wing crazy people! You need time to get ready and having a baby crawl around your feet doesn't help!

You're lucky, my son won't watch tv for 5 minutes let alone half an hour! He's just always on the move!

Answer 6

Yes, can we move on. This has been posted a bazillion times in here. I am over it. I will not be asking for a refund. And i don't think it was a scam. Whoever really though that this videos were educational are IDIOTS themselves. I like them because their simple and fun. It makes my son smile and laugh early in the morning.

Answer 7

i do the same thing as part of our morning routine! i only think its bad if you use the tv for ignoring the baby or just use too much of it... and to tell you the truth, i think my baby has learned a lot more, from watching her "melmo" everyday, than just sitting there!

Answer 8

what is the baby einstein scam? my son used to watch them alot up until maybe 6 months. he was fascinated with them

Answer 9

no never got those dvd's.believe it or not there were a lot of people that banked on these products making their children smarter.i know that might sound insane but it's true

Answer 10

Get back with his dad and then you can handle it.