Baby Einstein - Baby Neptune - Discovering Water

This feature of the video is confusing to many parents of potential viewers. Will the video teach junior to speak one of the foreign languages on the tape? Not exactly. Will it make junior a little Einstein? Not exactly. What good is it, then?

What the video DOES do is help the mind preserve many of the nerve synapses in the brain which would otherwise be destroyed as the infant matures into a toddler.

Imagine a Bonsai tree, of which some of its miniature limbs and branches are trimmed because they are not useful to the tree as a whole. The body does the same thing to unused mental synapses sometime around the first and second years of life. And they don't grow back.

Now think about all the funny comedy scenarios you've seen where a Japanese tourist says something like, "Herro, I'm rooking for Horrywood, Carifornia." Why do his Ls sound like Rs? Because there is NO "R" sound (phoneme) in the Japanese language. And because our tourist never heard that sound in his infancy, he cannot now, as an adult, discern it from the phonemically-similar "L" sound.

Infants hearing a variety of phonemes foreign to English-speaking people at this young age will preserve the synapses that are sensitized (from birth) to these sounds. And this video does just that.

So while the video will not teach junior the foreign language, if he tries to learn the language later, he will have an easier time of it, because he will be sensitized to that language's sounds. And while junior perhaps will not be an Einstein for watching, he will come away from the experience with more synapses in his brain than had he not watched.

Also be aware that none of this is pop psychology -- it is well-researched and tested fact, taught in most undergraduate and graduate psychology, speech and linguistics classes today (See the producer's Web site for details).

Finally, as other reviewers have said better than I have, the video is a lot of fun for you and junior to watch together! And perhaps THAT is the selling point for prospective parents who want the best for their little ones.


ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL!!!   August 23, 1999
25 out of 28 found this review helpful

My son absolutely loved this video when he was a baby (he's now a toddler), as well as Baby Mozart. Even now he occasionally asks to see Baby Mozart! We had all 3 (Baby Mozart, Baby Einstein, Baby Bach) so that we could rotate them, and that worked really well. The So Smart! videos are also really good, although admittedly not as entertaining for the adults as Baby Einstein,Mozart,etc.!! I also recommend the Baby's First Impressions videos for babies 8 months and up - we got several of them when our son outgrew Baby Mozart, and now as a toddler they are some of his favorites. ENJOY! YOU'LL BE GLAD YOU GOT BABY EINSTEIN/BABY MOZART/BABY BACH!!


great entertainment for baby!   March 24, 2000
26 out of 30 found this review helpful

My son started watching Baby Einstein when he was 2 months old and loves it! Although I don't feel that television is good for a baby these videos are great! We received the other videos, Baby Mozart and Baby Bach, as gifts and he enjoys them as well. I prefer the Einstein and Mozart tapes above Bach. Baby Bach, although stimulating with a nice soundtrack, seems a bit slow and is more focused on showcasing the creator's daughters. If you are looking for a stimulating, educational set of videos for your baby than these are it! They may seem a bit "homemade" but all three videos promote learning through the use of foreign language, bold colors, the use of cause and effect, and repetition which are enhanced by the great classical music tracks. Everything I've ever researched on child development is used very well in these tapes. I recently purchased Baby Shakespeare and Baby Webster, although my son is still a little young for them yet, and am looking forward to Baby Van Gogh!


Nice addition to the series   May 27, 2003
Cafreen (Temecula, CA)
14 out of 15 found this review helpful

I found Baby Neptune to be one of the better Einstein videos. No annoying scenes of Julie's children trying to be cutesy (something that was a problem in Baby Bach), and plenty of "action" that keeps baby intrigued. I didn't find the frequent change of scenery bothersome, more importantly my baby didn't seem to have a problem with it.

The music is enjoyable as usual, the puppets were fun to watch, they even brought back the silly duck with the red scarf that was featured in Baby Beethoven. It's great to see your baby recognize the characters from previous releases.

There were children interlaced throughout, but nothing like Baby Santa or Baby Bach. You can tell Disney is trying to fine-tune the videos / DVD, and they did a good job with this one. This has a great balance of beautiful scenery, fun and silly toys, and nice music. I give this a thumbs up.


Best first video for Baby!   May 25, 1999
Debbie Callis (mpcallis@erols.com) (Virginia, USA)
20 out of 23 found this review helpful

My baby started watching this when he was 3 months old and just loves it! I wish I had gotten it even sooner! It shows bright colorful images which really caught his attention. Counting and nursery rhymes are recited in numerous foreign languages. After watching it for just a few days, he recognized certain parts and he smiled, laughed and screeched in delight! A month later I began repeating the nursery rhymes and counting and he thought that was great too. Julie Clark, the creator of this video, had taped her daughter on this video at the end and I think my son is in love with her, he always smiles when she appears. She has put out 2 other videos called Baby Bach and Baby Mozart which are also fabulous! No, I'm not getting paid to write this, it's just that my son enjoys these so much I just had to share my opinion. He is 8 months old now and still loves them! The price of the video on www.amazon.com is great, I paid a lot more for them at the mall.