Baby Einstein Baby's First Sounds DVD

When my oldest child turned one, she was given a Baby Einstein DVD. It was the first television she was exposed to and we have since purchased almost the entire collection. At 3, she now watches the Little Einstein DVD's. The baby just turned one and now he gets a little face time with the TV.

I was excited to view Baby's First Sounds: Discoveries for Little Ears by Baby Einstein since I have seen most of the other videos a hundred times. The baby is saying his first few words and I was optimistic that this movie would reinforce the sounds that he is beginning to utter.

While I sing high praises for the other DVD's in the collection, I have to say that Baby's First Sounds was a bit of a miss for me.

The DVD is true to Baby Einstein form in that there is upbeat classical music, famous paintings, and their trademark puppets and painted characters.

Each sound is verbalized and then there are a series of video clips, paintings, etc. that are representative of the sound. And here is where it went south for me. If I recall, for the "d" sound they showed fingers and bellies. Do those start with "d?" Not in English, they don't.

As an American family who speaks English as our primary language in our home, I was disappointed that they didn't show us English words/concepts that begin with each of the sounds. Rather they skipped around from language to language.

If you believe that a baby would actually pick up language skills from the Baby Einstein DVD's, then I think the baby might get a little confused (or the parent trying to interact with the baby while watching).

Baby Einstein would have done better to put out separate DVD's for English, Spanish, and French speakers rather than jumble them all together (or just stuck with English).

Will I continue watching Baby Einstein videos, of course. I think they are a feast for a baby's eyes and ears. I just won't bank on my child learning verbal skills from this particular DVD.

Baby's First Sounds: Discoveries for Little Ears is widely available and retails for $19.99 or less.

(This was written by Leeanthro who can be read at Soy is the New Black where she dishes about family, food, foraging, and frivolity. While many of the products she discusses are sold only through boutique or specialty stores, some are widely available at national stores and online.)