Best children dvd's?
 

Hello all, My wife and I are expecting our first child in May so i'm planning on stocking up on some suitable kids dvd's and i need some help.

I need some suggestions on some titles to pick up. I'd prefer to stay away from Barney or Arthur. I already plan on picking up Veggietales though, my wife really likes that.

So any dvd's that are at least tolerable to adults would be appreciated. Thanks for the help.

Both Sesame Street Old school Sets, you will love it if you grew up on Sesame Street, and your kid will probably dig it too.

Isn't it awfully early for this? I probably wouldn't worry about DVDs to show a child until he's at least 2 or 3.

Then again, I don't know what the experts say about exposing a baby to video programming. I know we didn't have a video player of any kind until I was 5 or 6.

My son used to like those Baby Einstein movies. Each one is only about half hour long and they have a lot of classical music and baby eye candy. I'd start there.

Now at 3 yrs old, he is big time into all the superhero cartoons (Justice League, Superman:Animated series, Batman: Animated series) as well as all the Disney animated films.

A bunch of old shows we grew up on ourselves are classic, IMO, and he really enjoys them even though they are 20, 30, 40, 50, even 60+ years old. He loves all the Disney Treasures animated shorts (Pluto, Mickey, Donald, Goofy...Pluto is his favorite) and shows like Flintstones, Jetsons, Looney Tunes, etc, etc. Amazing how the appeal is still universal for this stuff made over half a century ago.

If I were you, I'd start by picking up a few Baby Einsteins (there are dozens available) and start building a Disney library of all the classic animated movies.

I hear Salo is getting a re-release.


Seriously, this story about infants & how dvds could actually delay their development was very interesting and should be checked out:
http://www.time.com/time/health/arti...650352,00.html

Be aware that the Baby Einstein programs are controversial, that at least some research suggests that they may delay a child's mental development, and that they are inferior to active interaction between infant and parent. This issue was covered extensively by the press last summer. Here's one short article about the underlying reearch that you can use as a springboard for additional info if you are so inclined: Time

D'oh, looks like canaryfarmer beat me to it.

Baby Einstein. My one-year-old looooved the "Signs" one even at about 9 months. Then she got sick of it. Now that she's 15 months old, she's more communicative she likes it again.

That is rather obvious without research I would think.

I'm glad you think so. I fear a lot of parents think that an hour of education videos provide the child with more foundation than an hour of face time with a parent would.

I'm not talking about exposing the baby to dvd's right away. But i figure i could start stock piling a little in advance. That way i'd have an ample supply for the future.

The occasional Baby Einstein DVD is an invaluable resource for distracting your little one when you and the misses need about 20 minutes of alone time. My wife has no problems putting him in front of the TV every now and then for this purpose.

We also have Baby Signing Time which our 5 mo loves, though he's not signing yet. Watch it with him though and you'll pick up the signs crazy-fast.

Signing seems to be in right now and I also like the Signing Time dvds. I think they are by Rachel Coleman? There is a whole series of them. Anyway, I would check out your local library and decide for yourself what dvd's and videos you like before investing in them. I did that for Baby Einstein and did not like them--thought they were boring.

My granddaughter who is 17 months loves to watch the Signing Time dvds and uses them to communicate as well as using words.

I hear that kids love The Wiggles. I always thought that they were kind of creepy myself, but apparently, they're All The Rage among the young set.

Another vote for the Baby Einstein DVD series, which has stages for different points in the developmental process.

I'm not a huge fan of teaching kids to "sign" unless there is a development issue that requires it, but my kids still love watching Signing Time.

And, of course, the Wiggles.

Forget the DVDs...read to your child instead. Seriously.

stay away from baby einstein, a recent study said the flashy images did more harm than good.

Leapfrog is ok. My son(18 months) favorite has been blue's clues for the past 6 months or so. Little einsteins, spongebob, handy manny, backyardigans are some of his favorite toons on tv

Baby Einstein DVDs are great for a break or infrequent quiet time. (We also like Toddworld, Teletubbies and Mrs. Spider) We waited 'till DD was about a year old and then tried to keep it to 20 minutes or so less than once a week. Some say no TV of any kind until after 2 years ... of course the Einstein DVDs aren't harmful unless you park your kid constantly and don't interact. That should be a no-brainer. (Myopic science studies ...ahhrrr.)

My advice is you don't need to stock up, a couple DVDs will be more than enough for the first two years, use them sparingly and hide them when not in use. If your kid sees the DVD, she WILL want to watch it, but if it's not there she won't even think about it ...

My daughter (18 mos) likes live action stuff and things with singing more than cartoons. Sesame Street, Fraggle Rock, and those cheap Kidsongs dvds from Walmart. She also likes the They Might Be Giants Here Come the ABC's dvd (it comes with the CD). But really she doesn't show much interest in any TV, so we don't try to push it on her. She's already rebelling against me by rejecting DVD's :(