Baby Mozart

Rating:
Summary: Don't see the hype
Review: I don't understand the hype of the Einstein/Mozart stuff. This one in particular, seemed like home video with music laid over. Didn't seem "educational" to me. I mailed it to a friend.

Rating:
Summary: Baby Einstein = Baby Crack
Review: These are awful videos...and amazing videos. We let our daughter watch one of these for 5 minutes and she was hooked. Our normally mellow little girl cried and kicked and screamed when we tried to take her away. If you think this builds your baby's brain you're kidding yourself.

However, if you want to put your child in front of something that will keep her occupied while you cook, clean, read, or do other things, then this is as close as it gets to baby crack without being illegal.

Rating:
Summary: Highly Recommended
Review: This is the only video that has kept my son mesmerized since he was 3 months old. Now that he is 10 months (and getting into everything) he will actually STOP what he is doing and sit still to watch it!

Rating:
Summary: great video
Review: Grace is 5 months old and LOVES this video. It holds her attention the whole time and lets me get some stuff done. She has been crying as hard as she can and when we put on the video she was silent. I look forward to the other videos in the years to come. I would highly recommend this video.

Rating:
Summary: Not that enjoyable...
Review: My MIL got this for my daughters who are 21 months and 8 months. My youngest daughter has enjoyed it but seems to be growing tired of watching a bunch of toys being played with - that's basically what it is. My 21 month old runs to it for a second and then run to play with toys herself. (Not much fun watching some one else play with em!) If you want a Baby Einstien video, I suggest Baby MacDonald. It actually TEACHES your child something.

Rating:
Summary: Daughter loves this!
Review: Our daughter loves this video. She's 5 months old now and has been watching it for about 2 months. She kicks and laughs at her favorite parts. She watched it once a day for two months and is only now growing a bit tired of it. We bought Baby Beethoven and she loves that too (perhaps a bit more). Great dvd to pop in while we get her bath ready at the end of the day.

Rating:
Summary: The truth about babies and videos
Review: Why would parents let babies watch videos when the Academy of American Pediatrics advised that children under 2 (years not months!) shouldn't watch TV at all? When studies have shown that it causes decreased attention spans, obesity and other problems later in life?

Well, if you can call it "educational" implying it would turn your kid into an Einstein and subtly refer to the much discredited "Mozart effect" you'll be able to get parents to hook their kids early to a lifetime of TV habits. This video isn't going to make your kids smarter-quite the opposite when it detracts them from exploring the real 3D world on their own.

Nobody has found any proof they make kids smarter but parents buy these videos anyway because it's amusing and useful as a babyitter. Of course it's amusing. The reason why it's amusing is because it doesn't make sense to them that all these things they see on a flat flashing TV screen almost look and act like what they see in the real world. This isn't what they expect from their own knowledge on how the world works and therefore they are naturally surprised by this magic show.

Rating:
Summary: Keeps attention but doesn't educate or stimulate at all
Review: have to say that there are some benefits to the baby einstein series. When in desperate need of a 30 minute babysitter, the vidoes generally do the trick - at least until your baby turns around 1. After that, they need a bit more to occupy them. It was always upsetting to me to see so many titles with "Einstein", "Genius", or "Smart" in the titles, when really the videos are just random images that hypnotize babies. Even the music is synthesized which hardly counts as utilizing the Mozart Effect (which really should use real instruments/orchestras). Some options are Juno Baby and, if you have the time, Fantasia - one of my favorites! Fantasia is LONG but in doses seems much more beneficial if you're after the Mozart Effect. If you're after the whole lot (shapes, counting, Mozart Effect, characters), go with Juno Baby...but they only have one video and aren't that easy to find yet. There are a few others out there that are just plain old awful...try to avoid them at all costs!
Or, if you do have the time, it's better to interact with your baby, perhaps while listening to classical music. Just getting some little drums or tambourines out is cute and might even help teach a bit of rhythm and timing. Anyway, I do understand the need for some of these videos. I'd just rather choose some options that have a better chance of stimulating.