Does Baby Einstein Rot Babies Brains???

Hi A.,
I have 2 daughters, ages 5 and 2. It's funny, with my older daughter, we let her watch Baby Einstein quite a bit. With my younger daughter, we never really turned it on because we were so busy chasing them both around! In any case, my 5 year old is the smartest kid in her class and will sit still forever if you ask her to. My little one, who has never really watched TV, is an absolute basket case and can't sit still for 30 seconds. So... I think it has more to do with kids' personalities than anything else. Our society is so quick to blame moms for everything. He sounds like an active little boy who is probably just having a hard time adjusting to all the rules of kindergarten! Maybe he needs some extra playing outside time after school to get all that excess energy out. Of course keep reinforcing to him that although he'd rather be running around doing his own thing, he should listen to his teachers etc, but accept the fact that he is 5, he's a boy, and he has a lot of energy. Give him a year or two before you worry. =)

2 moms found this helpful

Hi there, I am sooo tired of hearing how TV rots your brain...blah, blah, blah. My 3 year old watches plenty of TV and is the smartest most well behaved of all our children. Not to mention she is bilingual---due to TV and some help from me of course. She has the voacbulary of a 5-6 year old per her pediatrician. YOU are the mom. Use your instincts. Every kid is different. And I am certain that your kids are bright and talented little people with tons of potential. Baby Einstein-Dora-Backyardigans-whatever...if they like it, let 'em watch it. Life's too short.

1 mom found this helpful

I remember my piano teacher telling me her brother had done some research that Sesame Street promoted a short attention span in kids. Something about the short "educational" clips not promoting a longer attention span. She told me this almost 15 years ago.

So, the concerns of kids watching television hasn't changed in a long time. I don't think it is specifically Baby Einstein. Maybe you need to put the whole family on a media fast while your 5 year old is awake and try to direct his attention to other things. Building toys, puzzles, games...those are all "play" but help build concentration. Memory is a great game to play at age 5. I would try to promote his attention span gently through play, and then continue dialogue with his teachers to see if it is helping him at school.

And I agree that homework at age 5 is crazy, and I'm a high school teacher. The only homework should be 15-30 minutes of story time. Then again, the school day used to be longer...but that's another debate.

1 mom found this helpful

No! Baby Einstein does not rot brains.

Being ignored does.

So, if a child is given hours of solitary time in front of tv in lieu of your attention, yes, you are undoubtedly going to see some problem behaviors developing. If a child watches some sesame st, or dora the explorer, or baby einstein, or disney features, in the context of a life where they also play with caregivers and freinds, get exposed to books, go for walks, observe nature, eat and sleep well, run around on playgrounds, visit the beach, the museum, the library, the coffeeshop or whatever is in your neighborhood, and they do lots of that stuff with you, with you talking to them and listening to them and having fun with them... well... they'll be fine.

I have a five year old sister and she had a similar experience. She watched baby einstein and a couple other educational programs when she between 1-2 yrs old, and now she becomes almost mesmerized by the tv when its on--even if they are just playing commercials! I've heard that a child's attention span decreases when they are exposed to tv early on in life, so limiting tv time is probably the best thing to do. Now, she can watch 30 minutes to an hour of tv a day. I try to get her to engage in other things like reading, playing with puzzles, etc. Good luck!

Interesting thoughts. I appreciated reading your experience. My son was obsessed with baby einstein videos until he was 3. I have to say, he's academically the brightest of my 5 children. Funny that you say that, though. My son is distracted by the computer. If it's on - in class or at home - he can't take his eyes off of it. My older son could be doing homework or my husband on it for work and he's even reading the ads on the side of the screen! Correlation? Who knows? But we have struggled to pull his eyes away from it and get him to focus on the task at hand. Thanks for bringing it up. I'll be curious to see what others have to say.
Jen G.

There is no point in looking backwards but, overall, remember that what a baby or child is attracted to may not be what is best for him. My daughter was not a baby Einstein baby, but she did take to movies very young, and now she seems to rely on them as a self-calming mechanism, a habit we've been working to break, trying to transfer that to books now that she can read.

ANYWAY, overall, we live in a society where there is so much outside sensory input on a daily basis, with or without TV, that I think many of our children grow up relying on the world around them to keep them distracted and entertained. They don't have to learn to focus and concentrate; the world does not require it. Until they start school, of course. But those same children can learn to slow down and stimulate from within, instead of relying on the world outside. It takes patience and practice. TV, computers, etc all detract from the process, but I don't think it's too late to remove all that stimulation and change course.

I think studies are showing that videos at a young age result in more attention issues as the child grows, but that is simply a statistic, and not a guarantee for any one child of cause and effect. Which is why there really is no point in looking back.

Be aware that this is the age many learning difficulties will start to come to the surface, if they exist. Often issues like what you described are developmental, but it is a good idea to keep an eye on things in case there is something more. Very bright children often come with a whole mixed bag of traits that can actually make a school experience difficult. Among other things, they get bored easy because, to put it simply, they understand the concepts faster. My son has a tendency to try to refuse tasks because he doesn't see the point. For example, if he understands long division and can perform it flawlessly, then why does he have to do it 20 times? He just can't wrap his head around that, lol. So, that sort of thing may be coming into play, also.

Sorry for rambling, but I wish you luck and, really, don't worry about the videos. They were a happy moment for you both at the time. No one can ever predict where all those happy moments will lead, so why try? Just enjoy them.

You're worried about Baby Einstein? Just wait till you have to start fighting the video game addiction!!! :)