Baby Einstein videos

[minkin03]

Dd #2 is 3 1/2 yo and since she was 1 she has been scared of the Baby Einstein Videos. The puppets made her cry, so I put them away and haven't put one in since. She found one the other day and I asked her if she wanted to watch it and she told me she didn't, that they scare her. She also gets scared by other cartoons for toddlers like Dora, if for instance a snake shows up or something. Is this a highly sensitive symptom?

And I have looked at the sensory processing disorder checklist which I find she has some signs of two of the hypersensitivities. Is this something they will grow out of?

[ejsmommy]

Years ago, I posted about my dd1 being terrified of characters. Anytime she'd see any character on ANYTHING she'd totally freak out...even a Curious George poster at the book store. She's almost 6 and yeah, all that is gone. She is a sensitive child, but not so much as to have been diagnosed SPD or anything else. We avoided/removed the scary stuff, but didn't make a big deal out of it.

[Mylittleboys]

Well, my kids aren't scared of cartoons per se but if there is anything the least bit scary - watch out. The only show that wasn't scary for my older son up to the age of five was Teletubbies. He is almost seven now and mostly does okay with the Little Einsteins. That is about it.

It isn't just shows on TV either. If we look at a magazine or a book and the pictures look the least little bit scary (i.e. the colors are dark, there is a wolf etc.) it is a no go.

Still, I think that is somewhat common and hopefully it will lessen as kids get older. I really wouldn't worry too much about it as long as the fear isn't excessive.

[alexsam]

We are (virtually) tv-free (a few youtube videos of cool things like space shuttle launchings and occasionally a video if he is sick). So, he does not have a lot of exposure. So far, the only video we can watch in a pinch that is "safe" is the '70's version of Winnie the Pooh. He is almost 5.

The other day we had a tornado warning (which FREAKS ds out- plus the warnings come in the middle of thunderstorms, hail, etc., so he is already primed). The baby was sleeping on my lap and I decided that it was an ok time to watch a video. I had picked up at a yard sale Milo & Otis and I pre-watched it. There were some "exciting" parts, but no real violence or anything like that. Very, very tame. He was terrified to the point of tears by the bear (which takes a single, unenthusiastic missed swipe at the cat and saunters off). So, Milo & Otis are out. He was afraid of something in Dora at the hair cutters (they show kids videos), but Thomas the Tank Engine seems ok...

He's very, very sensitive.... *sigh*

I don't think it is a sign of a processing disorder. I think (at least in the case of my ds) it is that he is very sensitive.

Last week I spoke to a specialist in gifted pre-schoolers and told her about all this and she said that gifted littles really have an ability to "animate" their fears- take that bear and in his imagination have him injure or kill the cat, have him injure or kill him- even though the video only showed a very tame missed swipe (no growling or any of that even... I'm sure for a bear it was play, but ds saw the claws and the power and his mind took off with ideas). With the tornados, he's afraid we will loose our house and be homeless, he gets scared for my husband at work... So he takes a warning and ticks through all the scenarios. So where we are saying "Whew! That was exciting! Glad it came out ok!" he is picturing the alternate range of terrible possibilities because, well... that what power-thinkers do. They see and imagine all the outcomes even if the piece of the scenario they actually see is very small.

So, in our house, we just limit the fuel for his fire in terms of scary ideas. One day he will have to face the world, but it will be with a little more life experience. And what he does confront, we try to recognize the truth in it, but also play out the scenarios further. I can't stop tornadoes, but I tell him that we are all safe, even Daddy at work because he works in a very strong building and can get away from windows, and even if our house is ruined that we will get another and we will take care of it all. After Milo & Otis, we researched bears and though they are powerful hunters, we can avoid them in nature and that their way of eating is how they were made and it is OK.

It is tough being so small and knowing the power and danger that exists...

[minkin03]

Originally Posted by Mylittleboys

It isn't just shows on TV either. If we look at a magazine or a book and the pictures look the least little bit scary (i.e. the colors are dark, there is a wolf etc.) it is a no go.

Still, I think that is somewhat common and hopefully it will lessen as kids get older. I really wouldn't worry too much about it as long as the fear isn't excessive.

This sounds like my dd, books or toys can scare her too.

[LynnS6]

I've got two highly sensitive kids - one with SPD and one without. Both are sensitive to videos/media, but dd is much more so. Heck, she freaks out when cellos play sometimes! Part of this is age. Ds is 8 and can now handle basic kid movies (think Toy Story). Dd is 5 and can't.

Have you read the book "The Highly Sensitive Child" by Elaine Aron? It's a good book.

[aintlifesosweet]

Originally Posted by minkin03

This sounds like my dd, books or toys can scare her too.

2YO DD has always been scared of toys that move when you walk past them or touch them. She is terrified of Tickle Me Elmo. She likes regular Elmo, just not the touch-me-and-I-move variety.

I would agree that it's high sensitivity.

[Aufilia]

Originally Posted by Mylittleboys

It isn't just shows on TV either. If we look at a magazine or a book and the pictures look the least little bit scary (i.e. the colors are dark, there is a wolf etc.) it is a no go.

Still, I think that is somewhat common and hopefully it will lessen as kids get older. I really wouldn't worry too much about it as long as the fear isn't excessive.

Ditto this, for DD anyhow. She does not like most TV shows and really doesn't care for cartoons at all, but it's not just TV, there are books that will upset her, too. She IS an SPD kid, and in her I can see that what upsets her on TV or in books is also what upsets her in real life. For example, she was DONE with Disney's Cinderella the minute the mice got the cat wet. She is just not acceptable, in her book.

We run into some really random things that freak her out, too. Like one day we were trying on shoes and I made the mistake of putting on a pair of light-up shoes on her. You would've though someone was killing her when she realized what they did! She could NOT get out of the store fast enough just to get away from those freaky unnatural blinking shoes.

[couponmama]

My daughter did not care for tv at all until she was about 18 months. Now at 2, she likes mostly Barney, SuperWhy and WordWorld. She loves Thomas the Train everything, except for the Thomas show and DVD she says is scary, so we just don't watch them. Occasionally she will watch Thomas show with dh while they talk about emotions. The mad and sad faces are what scares my dd. She also does not like any of the larger scale train toys that move or talk. She likes the small moving or non-moving Thomas trains though.

I did receive some Baby Einstien dvds as gifts, but did not really end up using them, b/c for us there was no point in encouraging dd to watch tv if she was not at all interested. Now she is too old for them.

[BaBaBa]

Your DD may intuitively know what's good for her Some research came out last year showing Baby Einstein DVDs, in particular, to slow language development. I'm sure if you google it you can find more information

[eilonwy]

Just a thought-- at three and a half, does your daughter really need to be watching television anyway? I'd be much more concerned about a three year old who was always running to put a DVD on, or to find their favorite shows. (That said, we don't limit screen time around here... I just find that my kids would much rather be outdoors than in front of the boob tube.)

[JessicaS]

I am moving this to Books Music and other Media