"I let my kids watch television while I'm making dinner," says Susana MacLean, mom of a 5-year-old and 3-year-old in Westfield , New Jersey . "One day my daughter came running and said, 'Mommy, there are two new Barbies and I don't have them!'"

How to handle it: MacLean decided to limit her kids' access to commercial TV.

While monitoring the shows your child watches is one way to respond, it's not your only option. Ads also provide teachable moments. When Schifman was at a toy store with her three sons, they saw the same chocolate-candy maker that the boys had seen on TV. "They looked at it, and thought it looked like a piece of junk, so we discussed how sometimes commercials have a way of making things look good that really aren't."