Baby Einstein isn't Smart

I'm sure I wasn't the only new mother whose ears perked up when, during his State of the Union Address yesterday, President Bush introduced the world to the founder of Baby Einstein, a multimedia video and toy production company that specializes in learning activities for children aged six months to three years old. At first glance, the Baby Einstein video for infants seems like a little slice of heaven. It's entertaining and educational. And we all know what that means: baby is preoccupied (in an educational sorta way) so mommy can snag some time for herself. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that, right?

Wrong.

Several studies conducted a few years ago (at mum's alma mater, no less) "linked each hour of daily TV before age three to lower performance on reading comprehension and short-term memory tests at ages six and seven." The authors themselves: "This analysis has shown a consistent pattern of negative associations between television viewing before age three years and adverse cognitive outcomes at ages six and seven years." Since these studies and, from what I can gather others like them, the AAP (American Association of Pediatrics) issued a recommendation: no TV for children under two. Nada. Period.

Turns out Baby Einstein isn't all that smart. (Dare I say that, by extension, neither was George Bush when he quite publicly endorsed it?)

The news of this "must (not) see TV" recommenation has this mom on edge. A good friend of ours, who has three happy, healthy boys of her own, bought us a BE video months ago. Although we hadn't yet heard of these new studies, our instincts told us to refrain from plopping it into the DVD for months. Until one day, when Aidan was exceptionally fussy and I needed a serious break (to shower, grade essays, even eat...something essential). I succumbed to temptation that is Baby Eistein. Since that fateful November day the Fam and I have turned, yet only on occasion, to the magic of Baby Einstein. We never keep it on for very long. Nor are we habitual (i.e. daily) users. Chalk it up to my own liberal-progressive hatred of the mediocrity-box, but I'm just naturally turned off by the sight of my infant son staring at a television screen.

Even so, let me say right up front that I completely understand why it is a multi-million dollar enterprise. The thirty-minute video transforms our son into a quiet, content, smiling beam of baby sunshine. The mood in the room turns instantly from chaos to tranquility. What exhausted working mother wouldn't give into that once in a while?

Yet, let's face it. something this good must be bad. And, according to the American Association of Pediatrics, Baby Einstein is bad. Very, very bad. (A little voice inside me has to wonder how the vibrant colors and classical music on the screen are all that different from the effects of a mobile, which is also colorful, in motion, and sonically-endowed.) Although the study itself concludes that there need to be, well, more studies, and although I happen to disagree with other AAP "recommendations," I feel strongly that when it comes to this partiuclar issue (i.e. the development of my son's reading capacity and attention span) I have been reborn.

Alas, the authority behind the AAP has won. Dear Hubby and I have taken a vow to forego the goodness of Baby Einstein -- and infant television in general -- for as long and as consistently as we can. We're realists, though. We both work and we're new to this whole deal, so we're allowing ourselves the option of quick indulgences -- i.e. twenty minutes here and there -- if doing so makes a day a bit easier. (We are strongly of the school of thought that parental sanity is essential for infant well-being). Even so, we agree that a new "anti-television" discourse is in order in this household. If those studies are valid -- and if every hour of TV means a future fraught with ADD, poor reading comprehension, and an overly moody toddler -- I say bring on the challenge of finding alternatives to the celluloid pacifier. Challenges and riding out the storms: that's what motherhood is all about, right?