Thursday, December 4, 2008

The curse of Baby Einstein

A couple of days ago Kiersa had her 9 month baby check-up.

She's still huge. She weighs 21 pounds, 9 oz. She's 28.5" long. That puts her at 90% for weight and 75% for height. I've never had a baby over 50% for height and 25% for weight at this age. In fact, Hyatt was usually in the bottom 5% for weight.

Even though it was Kiersa's appointment, I had the doctor look at a few things on my kids that I was wondering about. The doctor informed me that my kids are prone to eczema! Hyrum says he passed on his sensitive skin to the kids. Kiersa has a bit of a rash under one eye that Eucerin cream seems to help if I remember to use it. Her face was also always blotchy while we were in Utah.

Tilly gets an "invisible" rash quite often that again is helped by Eucerin and not using scented dryer sheets. It's basically thousands of tiny, flesh colored bumps that you only see in certain light and they make her skin feel rough and alligator-like (mostly on her face and torso). Hyatt just started getting dry patches of skin on his arms when we got back from Utah. The doctor said it all looks and sounds like eczema, which is aggravated by dry air (the colder weather and our trip to Utah is most likely what brought on the flare ups). I've been instructed to use moisturizing soap (like Dove with moisturizers) on them, not let them bathe longer than 10-15 minutes at a time, and use lotion/ointment/creme on them after baths depending on the amount of moisture needed. It looks like our kids won't do well living in Utah's dry air since this last visit wreaked havoc on their skin and their poor bleeding, cracked lips are still trying to heal from the 4 days we spent there. I even put Vaseline and chapstick on them religiously while I was there! Ask Maren!

So...since my kids do better in moist, warmer climates, I think all the Johnsons need to move closer to Oregon! Boise maybe? Portland? Sacramento? Any of those will do since they're all 8 hours or less from us. Come on!!!

Now, on to the WARNING!

I told the pediatrician about our lengthy road trip and that movies helped the kids stay entertained during the 17 or so hours each way that it took us to drive there. I also told her that Kiersa was interested in Baby Einsteins sign language during the trip. She quickly cautioned me to seriously restrict the amount of TV my kids watch, especially Baby Einsteins, because she just returned from a conference where they informed her that after many studies, they discovered that the huge increase in ADD and ADHD is directly related to TV...Baby Einsteins in particular. When kids watch shows like Baby Einsteins, and even most cartoons, where toys and objects are colorful and quickly flashing by, they get used to that sort of stimulation, then when they are in a quiet setting that requires concentration, like school, they find it extremely difficult to concentrate and keep their attention focused. In short, she said Baby Einsteins is a major root of attention deficit, though it's marketed to make you think your child will become smarter by watching it. TV's not much better, for that matter. So beware of the Einsteins! Check out this article I found online about it: Baby Einsteins Link

2 comments:

Kara said...

The Baby Einsteins info is interesting. When Katelyn was a baby, we used TV as our babysitter so we could both study and do homework. She does have a very hard time sitting still and paying attention. With time she is getting better, but I wonder if all her TV watching as a baby has something to do with it.
Oh, and kudos to you and vomit. I absolutely CANNOT hack it. I have to pray through the entire cleaning process that I will not add to it. Espeically being pregnant, you must be wonder woman.

The Lanyons said...

Hmmm. I'm not sure about this. They said the same thing about Seseame St too. Tabs has watched TV since she was little and can sit for ages and do boring things and can also read at 3 years old. She didn't watch Baby Einsteins though, so who knows.