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Sunday, July 1, 2007

Baby IQ Review

Originally published on May 9, 2007.

My husband was allowed to watch as much TV as he wanted growing up and he could watch pretty much whatever he wanted. I was allowed to watch minimal to no TV, and it was only approved shows like Sesame Street. We've hit a sort of happy medium with our sons where our older son (OS) can pick one long show like Sesame Street or two shorter shows like Blue Clues most weekdays, as long as quiet time has gone well. Obviously this is subject to change if someone, including me, is sick! I do have to say it took me a while to feel comfortable letting OS watch TV because I felt guilty about it. With my younger son (YS) it was a different story because unless I am going to put YS in a different room, he gets to watch whatever OS watches. The problem is that he's only 10 months old so he needs something that is more geared to him. How do I find a DVD that both my 3.5 year old and my 10 month like? When Parent Bloggers announced their campaign for Baby IQ-The World Around Us, I looked up the DVD on-line and immediately asked to review it.

So what exactly is it? It's the same idea as some of the other major baby DVDs (which we also own), but it's got a little something extra to it. It's classier. The biggest difference, and the one most heavily discussed in the other reviews, is that the music is by the London Symphony Orchestra. It has counting, shapes, colors, etc.. I also really find the music and images very soothing. In fact, whenever OS wakes up irritable after quiet time, I put this on to calm him down. Most importantly, unlike a lot of kids shows and music, it's not irritating to me as an adult, and I don't mind when my kids want to watch it again. While both boys like it, OS still tends to prefer his TV shows, although YS seem to like this DVD more.

So what didn't I like? I must confess that usually I put TV shows on for my kids (we Tivo everything) and then I go into the kitchen to make dinner. That means a horrible mother confession: I rarely watch the shows with my kids. I enjoy reading books to my kids, but TV is my "mommy break". However our kitchen opens into our living room, and our house is small so I can hear everything. This DVD is structured so that the parent identifies the various objects to the baby. In other words , they don't use voice overs. Fortunately for me, OS is more than happy to describe what is on screen, so YS is learning vocabulary while watching the DVD.

The first time I watched the DVD (yes I actually sat down on more than one occasion to watch the full video), I thought it would make a great baby shower gift. When I first became a parent, I found it awkward to have conversations with my newborn. It made me feel silly. I really didn't have any experiences with babies, and I had very little experience with young kids. In our childbirth classes, we were told this was very common, and we were encouraged to give our babies a tour of our house when bring ing them home from the hospital. The tour helps start a conversation. I think this DVD possesses the same quality: it gives you something to talk about with your baby. More importantly, it helps them build vocabulary. At least more so than "This is our new toilet." If you enjoy watching or narrating shows with your kids, you will probably really like this.

posted by Alex Elliot @ 9:35 PM 0 comments

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Name:	Alex Elliot
Home:	MA, United States
About Me:	Professional Mom of two cats, a dog, an ant farm, and oh yeah...two boys: a 4 year old and a 1 year old. Also found in my house is my husband who is known on this blog as The Big Giraffe.
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