Do you read to your child?

[Kelly's Girl]

My son is 7 1/2 months old, and I have been lax in reading to him daily. He likes to hear my voice as much when we play as when we have "structured" reading time, when he figits and kicks. I know he is getting something out of being read to, but he is still kind of young to sit still and look at the book (with out trying to eat it!)

So do you read to your children? How often? I know there is a thread on what books your kids like, but I couldn't find one on the regularity of reading to a baby.

Any input is greatly appreciated!

[jmvan74]

DS is 11 months old. I read to him a few times a week. I know I should read more, but he doesn't like to sit still. I usually have to give him a book to "eat" or play with while I read to him. Sometimes, I just read outloud while he is playing near by. He loves board books and will carry them around the house. He will even sit down and flip the pages himself, but it's hard for me to get him to sit with me.

[kmack]

i definitely don't read to DD enough. she is 10 mos old and will not sit still long enough to read one page - she usually just starts chewing on the pages, or grabs the book and throws it on the floor. so then i get frustrated and give up!

[kmmommy]

I don't read to DS enough. He's 21 months and rarely sits still. I will read outloud to him sometimes when he's playing and just in the same room. His pediatrician said it doesn't matter what we read to him that just reading is fine. He said we can even read our books to him outloud.

[LeslieR]

I read to DS every day. I find that he will sit longer for short books-specifically books with one sentence on each page. He will sit through 6-7 of those types of books.

[berry]

I'm not a mom, but as a babysitter and recently a pt nanny, I do think it is possible to read to a child as young as 6 or 7 months. They may not look at the book you are reading, they may want to play, but their attention span for reading will grow.

Things that have worked for me.

give baby a board book to chew on while you read them another book
give baby a small toy to play with that they only get when you read a book
put storytime into your routine (perhaps a story after lunch each day, or after waking up from a nap)
try out different voices while you are reading a story
try to pick books with repitition or rhyme
choose books with interactive elements (soft fuzzy things, items to pull out, etc.) these get the child involved
read something to your child every day!


With the child I nanny for, I started doing storytime before every nap. At around 10 months he would barely sit through one book, but now at almost 2 years, he'll sit through a stack of books. At this age 18 months-2 years the child can even start to choose which books he/she wants read to him.

[twinnyme]

I read to DS every day. I find that he will sit longer for short books-specifically books with one sentence on each page. He will sit through 6-7 of those types of books.

ITA with this. My DD is 16 months old and we've gone through ups and downs, but I have read to DD every single day of her life (with the exception of maybe a handful). Sometimes I've had to read very quickly, and very short books. When she was very young, I was able to read a ton because she didn't want to move. Now she wants to be on the move a lot. However, she also LOVES to read. We keep a basket of books in the living room and she'll often go over to them and bring one to me or DH to read to her. I got tired of that, though, because she'd do it over and over and I'm trying to encourage her to read on her own a bit, too, so I moved it to another place in the house (sort of the back foyer) and I find that there she tends to read more on her own - by "read" I mean sit there and flip through 2-3 pages.

Every night, we have to read 10 or so books. I'm also working on cutting back on that - trying to read 2-3 books only a night; otherwise, I'm afraid I'm in for a slippery slope. Some nights I've read to her for 30-40 minutes before bed.

For the last 2-3 months, she's really been into board books and we've been able to read through a stack of them each night (and other times of the day, too). Before that she was REALLY into touch-and-feel, flap-type books. Now she's got the attention span for longer books and multiple books at a time.

I think reading to your child as much as possible is very important - though I know I'm a bit of a fanatic on this; I even kept a calendar of every single book I read to her the first year of her life. My baby shower (surprise) was a book theme, so you can see how important books have been to my life - and how important I want to make them to hers. I have been a bit concerned that I'm ingraining this too much so now that the weather has finally gotten nicer in our neck of the woods we make it a point to be outside as much as possible to get exercise to balance the book reading. We're usually out an hour or so every night playing and walking, and on days I'm home with her we often go to the park for an hour or more.

[Sarah]

Almost never to my 9 month old. I see no point. She doesn't pay attention and doesn't care. I read to my older child a lot (almost 4), and the baby crawls around and plays and everyone's happy. I used to try to make my older dd listen to books when she was a baby, and it was so silly and pointless for her- she had no willingness to listen, and hated it. It wasn't until she was about 13 months that she was willing to listen. I think that as long as your child sees you valuing reading (reading books yourself) they will appreciate books.

[moderngal]

my ds loves to turn the pages of his board books, so we do those, but not everyday. we do, however, read a bath book in the tub everyday and he loves that.

[psusna]

DS loves board books and turning the pages. I have a collection of board books that have animals with the name below each picture or body parts or baby "things" cups, etc. He opens a book and looks at the page, I say "Show me a duck" -- he looks at the page (or flips a few pages then decides the first page was the right place to look) and points to the duck. He also loves flap books and we do at least one of those a day but nothing formal. Again, I let him hold the book and choose which flaps to open next and I read the main story to him.

We try to do an identification book and a flap book each evening before/after dinner. Some nights we get both, some nights just one and some nights when he is just done with the day we get none.

[AlisonCO]

I read to my 2.5 yo everyday before nap and bed - 2 books of his choice each time. He also reads by himself throughout the day.

I try to read to my 8 mo once a day - usually a touch and feel type book, mirror book or baby faces book. I find that she is most relaxed right after she gets up from her pm nap and she will often sit with me for 3-4 minutes.

[NYN]

i used to read my DD a book as part of her bedtime routine. when she got to the age where she was eating/tearing apart the books, i started reading to her during "lunch." she feeds herself while i read to her. it has worked out well b/c she has something to keep her occupied but can also "read along."

[Winter Biscuit]

I'm similar to Twinnyme. We've read to our DD almost every day since she was born. When she was younger, DH would read her The Daddy Book every single night as part of her bedtime routine. We also definitely used books that had the interactive elements (different textures, etc.) when she was younger, and "graduated" to more age-appropriate books. I think it has paid off...my DD LOVES books and LOVES to read. Her daycare teachers have been telling me for over a year now that one of her favorite things to do is pick out some books, head for the corner and sit there and flip through the book, looking at pictures. She is very interested in what she sees in the books, and asks a lot of questions. She is very advanced verbally, and I can't help wonder if it has anything to do with her interest in books. We read 2-3 books to her each night (she gets to pick them out; she has over 200) and she also insists on "reading in bed" every night. She is allowed to take one board book to bed with her to flip through before she falls asleep. (We don't leave the light on or anything like that; she goes to bed early enough that there is still a little bit of sunlight streaming in.) I spend way more money on books for her than I do on other toys. Heck, I almost never buy toys unless it's a really special occasion but books, I buy them all the time! We use books for fun, for learning, for reinforcing, and especially to entertain her on long car rides (no portable DVD player for this family ;))

[BTB]

I make it a point to read to DD every day, even if it's just for a minute or two until she's off to something else. Rarely do we read the actual story, much less in the proper order - I let her flip the pages (cardboard) whenever she's ready and in whatever order she wants, we usually double or triple back through some pages and miss others altogether. On each page I talk about what the characters look like, what they're doing, what they might be feeling, what color clothes they're wearing - whatever, but almost never the actual "plot" - until she turns the page. It's more about wanting to make reading time a habit than about actually reading the book. :)

[NYN]

i agree. there are so many ways to "read" to your kids w/out actually reading. i think it's really important. my mom always read to us and i still love to read to this day.

[cartersmommy]

i try to read to DS alot, but it gets frustrating because he just wants to eat the book i'm reading him :rolleyes: so i dont' think it's terribly fun (for me) but i know it's still good for him.... it's still hard!

[lil_nance]

I recently added books to DS's bedtime routine. He's 10.5mo. We sometimes read before naps too. He loves it so much that he will stop drinking his bottle or nursing and try to get the book. I keep a few on the table next to the glider. He likes short board books that rhyme. I also leave his picture books on the floor in the living room and he flips through the pages during the day. Sometimes I'll talk about the picture other times I just let him play on his own.

[Dally]

I started reading to DD every day when she was about three months old. Before she could sit, I either read to her while she was in her bouncy or while she was lying on the floor (I'd lie next to her on the floor and hold the book up so we could both see it). She liked brightly colored pictures a lot, and she'd smile and act excited while I read

When she got a little older, I started reading to her before bed (as well as other times). I sit on the floor (or bed or whatever), and she sits between my legs so I can hold the book in front of us. It's a snuggly position, and she likes it in particular as she's winding down before bedtime. I usually read three books at bedtime, and just one at other times.

I think the keys are:
1. Books with short text and great pictures
2. Board books (easier for DC to turn pages and okay if DC decides to chew on the book a little)
3. Sing-songy books
4. Bath books are a lot of fun.
5. For older babies (six plus months), books with textures/stuff to touch and (nine plus months) books with flaps you can lift to see stuff underneath. My DD loves books she can interact with, and they work well when she is active.
6. Keeping books where babies can get them and look at them on their own, if they want.

I love reading and my sister is a librarian, so it's been important to me to introduce a love of reading to my DD. She seems to enjoy it a lot and will often hand me a book to read to her. If she doesn't want to read, I don't force it. I do let her turn pages if she wants, even if that means we go back or skip a few pages.

[kat]

I read to my 3 month old twins whenever I feel like it, which is usually once a day (I do it mainly for me, because I get sick of doing the same things over and over again with them, and so books break up the routine). Usually I read their books to them, but I've been known to "read" a catalog to them as well. :)

They are surprisingly mesmerized even though obviously they don't understand the "story."

[BooeyJ2]

We try to read to DD every day. She loooooooooves books and will literally get one, sit on our lap and then grab our hand and put the book in our hand for us to read it. It's hard to forget when she reminds us ;) Sometimes she just likes to turn all of the pages or just go pick different books every 2 seconds, but we try to read to her daily. We even keep a few books in the car and/or diaper bag and we read while we're out and about as well. She also likes to "read" to herself. She'll just grab a book, go to her chair and look at it herself. I snuck a shot a few months ago....
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v716/Booey143598/More%20pics/Newest%20Pics/Newest2/4-8-06-1.jpg

[mia's mama]

Everyday, before nap and bed (2 or 3 books each time). She loves books though, and looks at them and/or requests that I read them to her throughout the day. At 18 months, she is really into opening them and identifying things she sees: "Horse!", "Ball!", etc. , and really wantes to learn new words from them- she will turn to a page and point to something for me to identify, asking "this, this?". I finding it pretty fascinating to watch this period of development- such little sponges!
She will sit still for longer books now (her current favorite is The Big Red Barn), but for her first year we read mostly simple board books. I think I started reading to her on a regular basis around 6 months. She has LOVED the Sandra Boyton collection for quite some time and was pretty into those by about 9-10 months, I think.

[alisong]

DS is well trained to "turn the page" when asked by now...

We have to limit it to three books before nap/bed - his choice. I can't remember quite when - probably around 11 months? - DS suddenly got *really into* books. DS doesn't like anything right off the bat, it'll usually take a couple of reads through to become a favorite.

[Winter Biscuit]

It's more about wanting to make reading time a habit than about actually reading the book. :)

ITA. When DD was younger, it didn't matter if we skipped a few pages or only focused on one page in the entire book. We still talked to her, pointed things out, told her what was going on and, when she was old enough, asked her to tell us what was going on. For us, it was more about making sure we talked to her regularly in the early critical months, than it was about sitting down and making sure we read X number of books from cover to cover. When she got older and was able to sit through stories (or wanted to sit through them), we'd read the story cover to cover.

For those of you whose babies like to eat books, have you tried soft cloth books? Or perhaps you could try giving your child something to chew on (teething ring? paci?) when you read? Just a thought :)

[elladee]

In the begining most days I read out loud to DD from books that I was reading. She didn't understand anyway, it was more about hearing my voice and the inflections(?) of reading.

Now, at 4 months, I don't read to her as much as I should. Maybe a few times a week. Note to self... read more! We've moved on to picture books. Like others, I don't focus on the story so much as going through the motions. Sometimes we stick to one page for a long time before she gets bored with it, sometimes we fly right though. And sometimes I still do read to her from my books when I'm in the middle of a good one. :o

[Kelly's Girl]

I agree that it is more about instilling a love of books and reading than actually getting through a story. I need to focus on that bigger goal, because I am such a book lover, as is DH, and we want our children to enjoy reading for pleasure. I read to DS often while he was in the NICU for the first month of his life, but I tend to get a little distracted now that he's older!

Thanks for all the input. I am glad to see there are so many book-crazy mommies out there! :) I'm also glad to see that I'm not the only one who slacks on reading- but I'm working on it! Off to amazon.com to order more board and softie books...

[twinnyme]

Usually I read their books to them, but I've been known to "read" a catalog to them as well. :)

Reading aloud catalogs or books you're reading is great! As elladee said, I think it's more about the tone and inflection, and also creating the habit (as others have said). A former supervisor of minor had an infant while she was in school for her master's and when I was pregnant she was always telling me how she'd read her schoolbooks aloud while feeding her baby! It's just the reading itself that's important, I think, however it's done. I always felt kind of silly reading aloud my books to her, though. :D However, now I feel silly reading the same book over and over and over again in a row- luckily, we're moving out of that stage a little.

I also agree with sing-songy books. For a long time, her favorite was FIVE IN THE BED because you read it in almost a sing-song way.

And like mia's mama, though my DD isn't identifying too many things yet in books, she can identity and say "ball," and because of that I think she's now more into books about colors/shapes/letters/numbers/first words/etc. whereas she was not at all into these types of books just a couple of weeks ago.

And I also agree that it's about getting through the book at the child's pace. I've had to work at that a bit. :D For a while I wanted to get through the plot until I realized DD only wanted to turn the pages, play with the book, lift the flaps, skip pages, go backwards, etc. Now I just let her do all that at her own pace but she can sit through books more. One of her current favorites that I also like is GOODNIGHT GORILLA because it has so few words in it that I can make it up each time I read it so that I don't get bored when we have to read it repeatedly in a row. :p

[curlywig]

We've been reading to DS since he was about 1-2 mos old (now 13 mo.). He adores it! Sometimes he would rather play, but most of the time he brings the books to me to read (and of course turns the pages which is his job). We read about 5-6 books to him every day at least, sometimes more.

[abbytfox]

I have been reading to my DS almost since birth. When he was a newborn, it was more for my benefit than his in some ways. I was a school librarian and teacher and have so many books I couldn't wait to read to him. Now, he is 6 months old, and we read 2-3 board books as part of his routine every time he takes a nap or goes to bed for the night. He does like to pat the books or try to grab them, but I just keep reading and it seems to calm him down. It is a nice transition from playing to nap time and has worked well for us. I have such great memories of reading bedtime stories with my parents and hope that this is the beginning of a lifetime of reading for DS!

[mamax2]

I read to both of my kids every day. We've made the reading before naps and bedtime a part of their routine since DD1 was just a few months (weeks?) old. There was a fair amount of book biting and it was a while before we ever got through a complete story, but I always just set out to read until she fussed then we stopped. Eventually we got to the point where I was tired of reading before she was!

Now, with baby #2, if she's awake, she gets read to at the same times as DD1, and if she's not, I try to make it up to her by reading her a story or two later. She likes the cloth books w/different textures and little squeakers and sounds in them now. Bath books are good too, but w/two in the tub, I can't really focus on reading right now.

ETA: We also go to Story Time at least twice a week and check out new books (for my toddler) from the library every week.

[sandt8704]

DD is 4.5 months old, and I try to read to her, but she tries to grab the book and eat it.

Maybe we'll try again soon!

[Kelly's Girl]

There was some discussion about this in my mommies thread and I wanted to bump this for more input.

Does it "count" if you read to DC while he plays and basically pays no attention to you? I've tried to incorporate reading into our play time at night but so far, at 13 months, he's far more interested in blocks than books. :(

Do you think it is important to read to your child even if they're not into it? My DH disagrees with me on this point so I'm curious about different thoughts.

[Tracie]

I read to DS every night as part of his bedtime routine. He's 8 mo now and we have done it since he was a newborn. He does surprisingly well. We usually only read one little board book.

I think it's great to get books in however you have to do it. I feel that even at first they might not care (do you think my newborn was really interested?) but it's important for books to become part of their life from their earliest ages.

[Fireside Girl]

I've read to him every day almost since birth.

I do think it's important to read to them, even if they are not initially interested.

[Renrel]

I have read that you should read to them even when they are not showing interest in the books. They are still hearing your voice and learning sounds and starting to get vocabulary. They also are learning that the words are associated with that thing in your hand and that you, his parent, give value to that thing made out of paper in your hands. The time will come when he will slow down again and take an interst in looking at the book with you.

[LeslieR]

The first time I posted in this thread I posted that I read to DS every day. That is no longer true. He reads on his own now.:p I put an old square laundry basket in his play area and he will sit in front of it and empty the entire thing out looking at books and flashcards (there are flashcards in the basket as well) as he goes. He will bring me books to read to him, but mostly he wants to point at objects for me to tell him what they are. If I try to read to him now, he just flips the pages, usually to the end, which I find super annoying. lol So, I just do it his way. I find it much easier to say "Elmo", "ball", "circle", etc. as he points.:)

[Kanga]

Does it "count" if you read to DC while he plays and basically pays no attention to you? I've tried to incorporate reading into our play time at night but so far, at 13 months, he's far more interested in blocks than books.


I think you and I are on the same page, where when we think of reading, we think of sitting down, going through each page one by one, not skipping nor repeating and paying attention/comprehending during whole thing. But I think most people (at least in this thread) take reading to a baby/toddler to mean as doing as much as they'll let you, even if its halfway reading 2 pages and being done if they seem to pay attention at all. I don't think to many people's 13 mo old will actually be read to in that they'll listen to every single page and sit quiety in your lap (or at least not mine and none that I know). So while you and I may think 'no, I don't read to dc', most other people are saying yes but doing the exact same thing. I think it'll be a few months, maybe even a year, before dd will actually do what I think of being read to based on her current personality and energy level.

[krbb]

DH or I have read to DS everyday since he was born. It is part of his nap and bedtime routine. The past few months he seems to really enjoy it. He laughs when I read him "Where is Baby's Belly Button" or he sees a cat in a book. During the day he will carry around books and flip through the pages. He has also discovered how to chew through pages of a board book and how fun it is to dip them in the toilet :p .

[LRL]

We read to DS every day. When I was on maternity leave, he LOVED to be read to constantly. In fact, he had his favorite books by four months old. He would fuss if we tried to read him anything else. He likes the books with bold photos/pictures and frequent page turning. We have a pile of favorite books now (I have to try out the books at the bookstore with DS to ensure that they will be read! ;) ). Now, when I hold him in my lap to read a book he will keep an eye on the pile, and if we have not gone through each book in the pile, he will reach for the remaining book/s. It is SO cute! :D

[newyorkgirl]

We read to DS every day. Sometimes during the day, but at the very least, we've incorporated it into his bedtime routine, so it's the last thing we do before we turn off the lights and sing a little bedtime song. I agree with the PPs - it's really about instilling a love of books and making books and reading a natural part of your day. Also, as they get older, it teaches them that books are read a certain way, e.g. left to right (or right to left in some other cultures and languages!) and that stories have characters and a plot.

When DS was VERY young, i.e. 0-6 months, often, reading was just for him to hear our voices, follow the tone and pitch of our voices and see bright colors on the page. And he *loved* looking at other babies. Margaret Miller has some excellent books with closeups of babies' faces and with just one word or small phrase for every two pages. There's Baby Faces, I Love Colors!, Peekaboo Baby, etc. Even now, at 16 months, DS still loves these books. Also, Roger Priddy's Bright Baby board books are great - one picture with one word on each page.

Jellycat also makes great soft books called My Bunny Book, My Dog Book, My Dragon Book, etc., with fun textures, crinkly sounds and flaps. We use these when we travel and I don't know what we'd do without them!

As DS got older, he loved rhyming books and books with a certain rhythm. He loves the Eric Carle books - Brown Bear, Polar Bear and Hungry Caterpillar (that one has fun flaps and holes in the pages) - Dinosaur Roar, and Jamberry. Those are his favorites and he often chooses them himself when readying himself for bed. Surprisingly, he doesn't really like Goodnight Moon and Guess How Much I Love You. I think the pictures aren't interesting enough and there are too many words.

DS has gone through phases where he wouldn't sit still and read through a book, page after page. And he also does this when he's overtired, cranky or punchy before bed. If that's the case, I let him pull down a pile of books and flip through them any way he wants - skip pages, read them upside down, look at the same page over and over again - for about 10 minutes, and then we turn off the lights and proceed with our bedtime routine. Other times, I don't even read the words on the page - I'll say something like, "See the dog? He's chasing the cat!"

ETA: Oh, and I don't know why we did it this way, but it just turn out so, but we keep most of his toys downstairs in the family room and the only thing in his bedroom are a handful of toys on his changing table (to keep him from twisting and squirming when I change his diaper) and the majority of his books. So the only things he has to play with before he goes to bed are his books.

[snoopy30]

I think it's very important to read to babies/toddlers even if they only pay attention for a few pages. They're still learning in that short amount of time and learning that books are fun!

We read to DS 2 or 3 times a day, before naps and bed. He *loves* books and will go to his bookshelf and pull them off. He loves to turn the pages too.

It does feel sometimes like he could care less but then those times when he brings me a book show me that he has been paying attention!

[adoredh]

I always knew that I wanted to read with my son. I love to read, and wanted to share that with him. Around 6 - 7 months old, he never sat still for a book, totally not into it at all, but I still would read to him while he was playing, some times he would look up at the book (I held it like a teacher does when readding to the class) and he would look at the pictures, then go back to playing.
It wasn't until I started reading to him while he ate at the table for breakfast and lunch, and again at night during his bath, that he really took to it ( :o I started to read to him at the table because I was bored and needed to read for myself! LOL! That and I was getting hard pressed to come up with excitting conversation for a 9 month old!)

Two weeks ago, he started to bring his books to both myself and my husband (who hates to read, but will for his son!) He'll sit down in our laps and turn the pages for us. I love those moments, and I'm so glad that I kept readding to him, even though he showed no interest.

ETA - because of readding, he knows what a cat is and a duck - we don't have a cat or a duck, but he can point them out in real life and say the words clear as day!!! It's so cool to see how much he's already learning from books!

[Spellbound]

I love books so I've read to DS consistently since he was about 1MO (when we came home from the ICN). It's really fun now that he's older and can sit up in my lap and engross himself in the book. DH is not much of a reader unless it's the paper or things like Newsweek or Time. I decided to ask him to read DS a bedtime story a few weeks ago and it was so cute! I had to pull out the camera. Here's dad and DS at 7MO:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v171/TheWickedWench/Keegan/reading1_102306.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v171/TheWickedWench/Keegan/reading2_102306.jpg

[HGMorgann]

We read to DD at least a few times a day. She also sits down and reads to herself a couple of times a day as well. (20 mo). We've read to her since before she was born:-) The cutest thing she does now, is that she has a baby doll that goes everywhere with her and the baby doll has to bring her book too. Morgann will now sit down with baby and read baby's book to her. OR, she will bring me baby, baby's book and have me read to baby as she reads her books, ect:-) Sorry a bit off topic! I'm just happy we have helped turn her into an avid reader!

[cosmic]

I've been reading baby books to DS since he was just a few weeks old. He's almost 3 months old now and he really does seem to enjoy it. I know he doesn't understand what I'm saying, but he "listens" happily and stares at the pics. That's good enough for me! :)

[kat]

Gosh - how funny. I saw this thread and was about to respond, then I logged in....and saw that I'd already responded (6 months ago, but still). :) I guess my brain is too full of Boynton book rhymes to remember anything. :)

Still reading to the kids (DH and I each read them 3 or 4 books per day). It's cute now because they clearly have their favorites (DS just about leaps off the couch whenever he sees me bring out "Barnyard Dance") and they start whining when we reach the end (which is why they get 3 or 4 books each time, LOL).

[LexyLou]

we've read to our DD every day since she was about 5 months old. We would have started earlier but she was colicky and really wanted nothing to with anything unless it involved screaming.:p

In the beginning, the only books she liked were flip the flaps by Karen Katz like "Where is Baby's Belly Button" "Where is Baby's Mommy", etc. She also liked books with textures.

Around 9 months she started to like just regular books that were colorful and large print writing.

At 13 months She LOVES to read. We have to put a limit on the amount of books we read at bedtime or we would be there until morning. She grabs the book she wants and crawls into our lap and turns the page when we say, "turn the page". As soon as it's over she hops off and goes to pick out the next book. It's so awesome to see our toddler so excited about books. She would pass up a toy for a good book.

I just found this picture of her reading with daddy before bed when she was 10 months old.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v227/alexismartinez/IMG_5114.jpg

[cartersmommy]

ALL.THE.TIME. he loves it