Neither watching a television nor "playing" on the computer helps a child under 2 learn. In fact, the research supports that it's damaging to children leading to more ADHD behavior by age 7. Children should be interacting with adults and other children to learn. They should by physically manipulating objects and playing--that's how children learn.

It kills me to hear parents say they can't survive without a television as a baby sitter for their kids. Surely we parents have more imagination than that.We have survived as a species for thousands of years without TV.

The only time our 18 month old son has watched TV was when we showed him our wedding video two weeks ago. He kissed his Dad on TV and then started playing with his toys. (The TV held his attention, oh, for about 30 seconds)

We don't watch TV; he doesn't watch TV.

TV is not (and cannot be) entertaining or educational for babies and toddlers. It is simply a tool for putting very young kids into suspended animation. That's the way parents use it (myself included on occasion), and it is very effective.

Sometimes--if there are no other adults in the house--you do need to "switch off" the kids for a few minutes (to go to the bathroom or cook dinner, for instance). Plopping them in front of the TV is one way of doing that. What are the other options? I don't know. Stick them in a play pen? Tie them to a chair? If any parents know the magic non-TV solution, I'd love to hear it.

It may not have been as common for an adult to have to deal with a child or children alone while needing to do something else in the age of extended families, but it happened. One suspects that younger kids were indeed plopped in the playpens or cribs to play if Mom really needed them out from underfoot, and slightly older kids were taught how to help with the chore at hand.

That's pretty much what we've done, at any rate, as our DVD-only TV is reserved for special occasions.

Those "Baby Einstein" videos are rife with subliminal messages & cultural stereotypes. My niece loves those "Baby Einstein" tapes & watches them all the time. She's not my child, so I have absolutely not say in the matter (nor should I), but I think if you are going to let your child watch these sorts of things, you should also watch them to see exactly what messages are being sent. She does watch a lot of television & I often see her standing with her nose pressed up against the television, which can't be healthy. I also feel that the "Baby Einstein" videos & their ilk often operate on the premise that small children are stupid, and therefore are not entitled to any sort of meaningful entertainment. The Teletubbies and Boobahs operate on this same premise as well. When I am watching her, I try to engage her in other sorts of activities, like dancing to radio, or playing on her little piano or bongo, drawing, or even reading. I think these sorts of activities are ultimately much more healthy and rewarding in the long run than just watching the tube all day. if WE do watch TV, I much prefer Sesame Street to "Baby Einstein". Sesame Street is never condescending towards children, is incredibly colorful, and full of characters that the child can relate to, rather than just a bunch of arbitrary imagery. As I said, not my child so not my decision, but that's my two cents based on my observations.

I am the first to agree that TV is Bad for kids. Well, make that was the first. I'm sorry, but I defy anyone to raise twins without Baby Einstein videos. Ah, but in the "good old days" they had twins and no TV, no? Well, in the good old days, in many cultures, infanticide of the 2nd twin was routine. They also had extended families were there to help, and, lets face it, babies probably spent a lot of time unattended and crying because that was the only option.

"Dangerous"? Give me a break. Literally. Come over to my house, watch my babies, and give me a break. Then I'll be able to take a shower for the first time this week. Until I hear you knocking at the door, I'll keep using Baby Einstein, and please lay off the guilt trips.

My husband and I enjoy television a great deal, we watch a lot of informational and entertaining stuff as part of our normal recreation. We see no reason why our 4 year old son should not learn to enjoy the good things that television has to offer, in age-appropriate doses. By carefully selecting programming he'll enjoy (and yes, maybe even learn something from) and allowing him to watch it with our supervision in limited amounts, we're helping him establish good television viewing habits. And from a practical standpoint, providing, say, 20 minutes of commercial-free Noggin broadcasts of Sesame Street or Blue's Clues via Tivo, two parents working full time can get a home-cooked dinner on the table so that we can all enjoy some television-free family time.

Sure, Baby Einstein is entertainment, and maybe not terribly educational, but it also has no ads, no violence, and at least all the videos we have are only 30 minutes long, just perfect to give Mom & Dad a break without letting our child become addicted. I'm not sure what "cultural stereotypes" a previous poster is referring to; the ones we have are very diverse along all dimensions.

Sesame Street is good too, but god help us if we try to drag our boy away halfway into the show, *before* Elmo comes on! Plus, Sesame Street is merchandised all to heck, which isn't true yet for Baby Einstein, afaik.