Baby Einstein makes parents smarter - about baby product claims

Parents have learned a lot from their love-affair-gone-wrong with Baby Einstein. Like don't believe every sweet-nothing that a baby-product marketer whispers in your ear.

During the honeymoon stage, parents couldn't stop talking about how much their babies loved Baby Einstein (and how much they loved the product too, because the product allowed them to get dinner started or to toss in a load of laundry -- and it was supposedly educational, too).

Then the honeymoon ended. Some of the seems-too-good-to-be-true marketing messages and/or product claims were being challenged by child development experts. And a non-profit child advocacy group launched a U.S. Federal Trade Commission complaint. By the time, in his January 2007 State of the Union Address, George W. Bush celebrated the achievements of Julie Aigner-Clark (the mother who invented Baby Einstein), the pick seemed woefully out of touch with the times.

In recent weeks, the Baby Einstein controversy has heated up once again, with the U.S.-based Center for a Commercial-Free Childhood claiming victory in its battle to force The Baby Einstein to stop making educational claims about its products and the Baby Einstein Company angrily countering that claim. The war of words goes on, but the North American parent's love affair with Baby Einstein is but a distant memory.

If you purchased a Baby Einstein video, did you purchase one thinking that it was an educational product? If you did, you're in good company. A 2007 Kaiser Foundation Study found that 48 percent of parents believe that baby videos help babies brains to develop when, in fact, spending time in front a screen reduces the amount of time for other, more beneficial types of learning.

If you purchased a Baby Einstein DVD and you weren't happy with it,
you can return it for a refund.