Baby Einstein DVD and Video Review

Created by Julie Aigner-Clark, a mother and teacher, the Baby Einstein series is an extremely popular collection of classical music and stimulating images of brightly colored toys and known objects that aid in the audio presentation of child-friendly arrangements and sound effects.

The Baby Einstein Product Line

The Baby Einstein product line consists of educational videos, dvds, music cds, books and toys, all aimed at giving your baby a head start in their life and stimulating their intellect. Listed below are descriptions of various educational products offered in the Baby Einstein product line.

The Baby Einstein DVD and Video Collection

The Baby Einstein DVD and Video collection offers a wide variety of stimulating pictures and images that teach likenesses, categorizations, groupings and families, with wonderfully soothing background music, usually classical in nature.

For example, the Baby Einstein "Baby Noah" DVD features animals in their natural habitats from different parts of the globe. From elephants and tigers in savannahs, to penguins, caribou and polar bears in the north pole, to koala bears, lizards and kangaroos in the outback, Baby Einstein showcases both adult and baby animals in their natural surroundings.

In between the live animal images, there are colorful, playful puppet shows and lift-the-flap book-style images that show storybook images of some of the showcased animals along with their names.

The Baby Einstein Music CD Collection

The Baby Einstein Music CD collection offers mentally stimulating, yet calm and relaxing musical concertos by some of the most renowned classical music composers such as Bach, Beethoven, and Mozart. Each Baby Einstein CD is focused on a certain genre and encourages the development of your baby's verbal ability, spatial intelligence, creativity, intuition, and memory. There are music CDs that include nursery rhymes, lullabies and even foreign languages to stimulate your baby’s intellect.

The Baby Einstein Book Collection

The Baby Einstein Book collection consist of books that stimulate babies both mentally and physically. For instance, the Baby Einstein Chunky Board Book Collection features a beautiful collection of babies in art, illustration and pictures. The Babies Chunky Board Book shows Baby Einstein characters in colorful, joyful scenes and allows your baby to look at images of other babies like themselves. The Baby Einstein Birds Chunky Board Book celebrates birds in and out of their natural environments. The Baby Einstein Cats Chunky Board Book introduces your baby to different types of cats inside and outside of the home. The Baby Einstein Dogs Chunky Board Book presents your child with images of dogs in cute and delightful scenes being man’s best friend.

Baby Einstein also offers books that include other unique items such as mirrors, shapes, textures, and puzzle pieces, all to stimulate your baby in a positive, educational manner.

The Baby Einstein Toy Collection and Other Educational Items

In addition to the Baby Einstein DVD, Book and Music collections, Baby Einstein also designs toys such as puzzles, balls and learning cubes to enhance your baby’s learning. One wonderful item that Baby Einstein features is a Discover & Play Activity gym that features Baby Einstein characters on a mat that your baby would lay on with delightful plush characters hanging above. The gym also features a star-shaped light that dances to classical music playing in the background. The activity mat is also so wonderful that it earned the National Parenting Center Seal of Approval in 2003.

Baby Einstein also offers other educational baby items such as flash cards, alphabet and number building blocks, and melody mirrors to name a few, that will keep your baby happy with hours of play, educational learning and enjoyment!

Have you bought any Baby Einstein products? What is your impression of them?

Cesarean Section (C Section) or Vaginal Birth?

I was watching the Today Show yesterday morning and they were doing a piece on how cesarean sections (also known as "C Sections") are on the rise. The rise seems to be resulting from women wanting more control over when they actually have their babies, rather than medical necessity. When I was pregnant, I had high borderline high blood pressure and my doctor decided to induce me three weeks early. The inducement didn't go quite as planned, and since they had already broken my water and I had only mild contractions, they decided that they would have to do a c-section. I had read stories previously about women having c-sections and that only half of them got numb with the epideral and they felt the pain, and I wasn't crazy about having it. But to my pleasant surprise, the c-section went flawlessly and painlessly. I remember being awake and feeling a little out of it from the pain killer they gave me, but other than that, it went very well. I was in out within 25 mintues with no complications. My doctor was very pleased with the results, and I was too. I had a healthy baby boy and all was well.

My recovery went smoothly, and my doctor actually used surgical tape on me, so the tape just came off naturally by itself; I didn't have to have any stitches or staples removed. I do remember the ride home from the hospital over some bumpy roads being uncomfortable, and going up and down stairs wasn't the most painless thing in the world, but hey, I had just had surgery, what did I expect? :-)

My C section was not a planned or by choice, but I don't blame women who want to have them voluntarily. As a matter of fact, I was so pleased with my C section, I have actually thought that I might just have my next child that way as well. I do, however, wonder what a vaginal delivery would have been like.

What do you think? Have you had a C section voluntarily? If so, would you recommend it to other mothers?

Selling Baby Clothes on eBay

Need Extra Money? Buy and Sell Your Gently Used Baby Clothing, Car Seats, Strollers, Toys, Books and Products on eBay!

So, you had your precious baby, and you couldn't resist -- all of those cute and beautiful baby dresses, rompers, suits, jean sets, christening gowns, onesies and unique designer baby clothes (like Tommy Hilfiger) that called to you when you were in the Gap, Old Navy, Osh Kosh or Little Me. Not to mention the countless baby clothes that relatives gave you that weren't quite your style, or too big or too small for your baby and still have the price tags on them, never worn.

Well, if you have these baby clothes taking up lots of space in various closets and dressers around the house and thought you would just have to take a loss on these baby items, think again! There is a thriving used baby goods market on eBay, the world's biggest yard sale, garage sale and online auction. If you've got a used baby item, chances are you can sell it on eBay. There are sections on eBay for used baby boy and baby girl clothing for each stage of your baby's life -- 0-3 months, 3-6 months, 6-9 months, 12 months, 18 months, 24 months, 2T, 3T, 4T, and 5T. Not only that, but you can also sell your maternity clothes on eBay too!

Have an old car seat, stroller, old or antique baby toys that aren't being used anymore? Have unused diapers, baby bottles, breast pumps or baby toys that have not been used? You can also sell these items on eBay. I have even seen listings for unused leftover birth announcements! I'm telling you, if you've got it, you can sell it on eBay.

Best of all, the process for listing your baby items is easy. All you need to do is sign up to be a seller (it's free), take photos of your items and post them, write a description and you're in business.

Now that we've talked about the benefits of selling your baby clothes online, let's talk about the other side of the coin, buying gently used baby clothes and baby items online. Just as you are selling nice gently used baby clothes, other moms around the country are selling their baby clothes and baby items at bargain prices. Since babies and kids grow so quickly, buying used baby clothes and even used car seats, high chairs and strollers can be a great way to get nice beautiful clothes and baby accessories and save money at the same time. Buying used baby items is just as simple as selling them, if not simpler. Just sign up as a buyer (its free also), search eBay for the baby item you would like and place a bid. Don't want to wait for an auction to end or really want that baby item you see? Search eBay for items with the "Buy It Now" logo and you can just select the baby item and pay for it outright. It's just that simple.

Ready to start buying or selling or even just want to see what's online? Even if you don't want to bid on, buy or sell anything now, you can register on eBay for free (it only takes 2 minutes) so when you want to sell in the future, you'll be all set! The registration process is quick and easy. Visit eBay for more details.

Breast Milk or Baby Formula?

For me, it was baby formula. Not because I was too lazy to breastfeed, was afraid of the pain or didn't try, but not only wouldn't my baby latch on as much as I tried, when I used a pump to try and extract breast milk, I found that I just wasn't producing enough to sustain my baby. I was very disappointed when I couldn't breastfeed. I had read all of the articles talking about how breast milk is best and provides all of these nutrients and antibodies that formula doesn't, how babies and children who breastfeed are less likely to have ear infections, and sometimes seem to be smarter. Not to mention the fact that I wanted to have that maternal bond with my child that I heard other breastfeeding mothers talking about. Yes, it was a disappointment, but it wasn't the end of the world. Baby formulas have come a long way since I was a baby, and they have all kinds out there for babies with special conditions like lactose intolerance, acid reflux or that have extra nutrient needs. My son actually was lactose intolerant, so I was really happy to see the lactose free formulas on the market. I used the Enfamil LactoFree; but Similac also makes a lactose free formula, as do many of the other baby formula manufacturers.

There were also several choices in how I could get the formula -- ready-to-feed, instant powder, concentrated liquid, or even individual travel packs. I have to say I especially liked the convenience of being able to use the ready to feed formulas where I could just open the can, pour and feed (although it was definetely not the most economical option) and the travel packs came in handy when I had errands to run or went on trips.

All in all, I was pretty satisfied with baby formulas. What has your experience been?

Cloth Diapers or Disposable Diapers?

For me personally, I really liked the disposable diapers. There are lots of brands to choose from like Pampers, Huggies, Luvs, White Cloud, etc. My preference was the Pampers because I liked 1) the velcro-like closure (where if you close it the wrong way, you don't rip the diaper trying to correct it, not to mention when you just need to do a peek-a-boo to see if a change is needed!), 2) the softeness of the diaper to the skin, and 3) I just loved the powder-fresh scent that the diapers had (I know that when you first bring your baby home, the diapers aren't so offensive, but believe you me, after a while, when you're changing diapers 6 to 10 times a day, you prefer a pleasant whiff when you can get one!)

I can't really judge how cloth diapers are in comparison because I never used them. I hear they are more cost effective, but it just seemed easier to buy the disposable ones. Of course there is the whole environmental issue, where disposable diapers are filling up landfills, but you just don't tend to think about that when you have to change a dirty diaper! What do you think? Which one do you prefer?