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Many parents monitor and limit their children's "screen time," though, and pediatricians frown upon any video-watching by babies. The American Academy of Pediatrics currently discourages television-viewing by children under 2 (the policy is under review). "The evidence is not there to support that [videos] are developmentally appropriate or educational for this age group," says Ari Brown, a pediatrician in Austin, Texas, and a member of the academy's communications and media council. Studies comparing how young children learn from a parent versus video find "a video deficit," she adds. "Children will always learn better from the live presentation."

In recent years, critics such as the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, a Boston nonprofit that aims to restrict corporate marketing to children, have taken on the baby-video sector, including the popular Baby Einstein series, whose videos feature music, sounds and animal hand puppets.

Activists complained to regulators about the series' implied educational benefits and the potential harms of video-viewing by the very young. Regulators didn't take action. Last year, parent company Walt Disney Co. offered refunds to Baby Einstein DVD customers, saying it did so under a long-standing customer-satisfaction guarantee. It continues to sell Baby Einstein videos and toys.