Reading to babies

Discussion in 'The First Year' started by Fran27, Dec 9, 2008.

  1. Fran27

    Fran27 Well-Known Member

    I'm a bad mommy who haven't been reading to my kids.

    How do you do it?

    I always wanted to wait until they can actually come sit next to me for a bit and look at images without trying to grab the book and destroy it... Before that it just seems pointless to me as they really don't pay that much attention to me when I'm talking anyway (babbling at the same time etc). I talk to them most of the time when I'm around them though, but I know that reading is supposed to be good for them so I'm open to suggestions on how to make it actually interesting for them.

    They're 9.5 months.
     
  2. kimr

    kimr Well-Known Member

    For the girls first Christmas they got the Pottery Barn Kids anywhere chairs and were really interested in them. So I would sit them propped up in the chairs and sit in from of them and read that way.
     
  3. Fran27

    Fran27 Well-Known Member

    I got them one of those foam couches for their birthday, and I was thinking of using that too, but isn't a big part of reading looking at the pictures too?
     
  4. 2plusbgtwins

    2plusbgtwins Well-Known Member

    I could be totally wrong about everything Im going to say.. but this is what I THINK...

    Reading to them is not so much about being interesting, or looking at pictures. It is really about words, tone and inflection. I would think it is ok if they are babbling at the same time you are reading... In my own mind would like to think maybe they are trying to talk about or say words Im reading to them. I would definitely use a lot of inflection in my voice...especially if reading a book with characters who are talking..

    If you want to feel like they are really listening or paying attention to you reading.. maybe you could read to them at nap time and/or bedtime while they are laying in their cribs..

    HTH
     
  5. AimeeThomp

    AimeeThomp Well-Known Member TS Moderator

    I read to my girls in the bath, they have a bath book that they love. Bath books are plastic so they can't destroy them and there isn't a way to get away in the tub so they pay attention more. I just read to them even if no one is paying attention and I think I did that enough times that they started getting interested in what I was doing and now will bring a book to me and put it in my hand.

    I'd just read to them at certain times even if it seems like no one is paying attention, they will start wanting to look at the pages.
     
  6. DATJMom

    DATJMom Well-Known Member

    I read to them before their nap and before bed. I have always just put them both on my lap and wrapped my arms around them to hold the book. We still do this. They have learned how to sit there and listen.
     
  7. goldylocks

    goldylocks Well-Known Member

    I usually sit them in my lap and like PP said, wrap my arms around them and read. They LOVE to touch the pages - or hit them :) Sometimes they pay attention, sometimes they don't.
     
  8. Fran27

    Fran27 Well-Known Member

    Yeah mine love to touch the pages, but it usually involves some ripping off, lol.
     
  9. dtomecko

    dtomecko Well-Known Member

    I do it after breakfast and dinner. I keep them in their highchairs and hold the book up and open towards them so they can see the pictures. When I try to hold them they constantly ignore and knock the book out of my hand or try to eat it too. I was surprised when I started doing this that they actually watch and listen a lot of the time. Sometimes it helps to give them a toy to play with or puffs to eat at the same time.
     
  10. jenniferkkelly

    jenniferkkelly Well-Known Member

    I read to them at night before we bed. What's worked for us is for everyone to lie down on the floor, including me, and then I hold the books up for them to look at. I usually read 2-3 books & with each book, I'll switch places so I'm lying next to a different baby. They seem to really like it---they'll grab my hair or put a hand on my shoulder & they seem to pay attention most nights. In fact, if they're fussy or distracted, I'll start "Goodnight Moon" and they quiet right down and pay attention. They just love that book! When DH reads to them, he sits on the couch & puts them both in his lap, but they seem to get a lot more distracted and pay less attention that way.
     
  11. kingeomer

    kingeomer Well-Known Member TS Moderator

    A lot of the time when I read, I usually have one's attention and the other's partial attention. I try to sit them both on my lap but one is usually squirming to get out. Another thing I do is lay on the floor with the book spread out on the floor and that will get them to pay attention for a couple of pages. Just keep at it! You are not a bad mommy at all, I think I read to them 4-5 times a week.
     
  12. larastevens

    larastevens Well-Known Member

    i feel so bad i never read to my boys. i read to daniel every night when he was a baby.
    right im gonna buy some for xmas and just find a way to fit it in.
    thanks for reminding me!
     
  13. ddancerd1

    ddancerd1 Well-Known Member

    i've read to mine since they were about 2 months old (actually, i read to them when i was pregnant... i checked out kids' books out of the library! i'm nuts) but i'm a book fanatic. LOVE TO READ. anyway, they'd lay on our bed and i'd lie next to them and hold the book open over them and just read, very animatedly (is that a word? ) . i read to them like this till they were about 7 months old, then they'd sit on our bed, and i'd sit next to them and read. now if they're in another room, and they hear me reading, they come running over. they LOOOOOVE books now! and they LOVE to be read to!

    p.s. i didn't do this cuz i wanted them to be "baby geniuses". i did this cuz i genuinely love to read, and i want them to have that same appreciation for books/stories that i do. aaand i'm kinda hoping it'll help build their imaginations :pardon:
     
  14. Fran27

    Fran27 Well-Known Member

    I love reading too, and I hope they pick that up, there's just something about reading a story to a baby that doesn't understand any word I'm saying that bothers me I guess!
     
  15. Jody_527

    Jody_527 Well-Known Member

    I have always felt guilty about not spending enough time with each so I always let each spend floor time with mommy which includes reading a book, building blocks or whatever on the floor which has also helped with their sitting on their own. I sit behind one with them between my legs on the floor while the other one goes crazy in the jolly jumper in front of me. trying to read to both at once usually ends in a ripped book, and one baby crying because the other one has tried to pull out an eye or an ear off !LOL!
     
  16. Leighann

    Leighann Well-Known Member

    QUOTE(Fran27 @ Dec 9 2008, 05:16 PM) [snapback]1104367[/snapback]
    I love reading too, and I hope they pick that up, there's just something about reading a story to a baby that doesn't understand any word I'm saying that bothers me I guess!


    In the beginning they might not understand the words, but they learn SO quickly! I started reading to the girls from the very beginning. Of course when they were tiny it was more for me than them (it was a way to talk and interact with them when I really had nothing interesting to say). Then around 7 months they actually started picking up the books on their own. At that age they LOVED the board books that were pictures of animals or babies. I would point out the objects to them. I would also read stories to them thoughout the day if they were intested (short board books usually).

    A little after their first birthday I started reading them longer bedtime stories. They sit on my lap and I hold the book with my arms wrapped around them. Its usually a couple of curious george stories or some dr. seuss. They LOVE it and actually recite a lot of the books back to me (snippets of phrases and they know the stories and they laugh appropriately, etc).

    We have a wall of book shelves in our den and the girls have several shelves for their books. All their board books are on the bottom where they can reach them on their own, but bedtime stories and other special paper books are up high and they are now learning to be gentle with the pages and I can trust them not to rip them (at 20 months!). So for you, start with the board books with bright pictures and one word on a page. To entertain yourself, get some Sandra Boyton... I love her stuff (very cute and quirky) and so do kids! Happy reading!
     
  17. ddancerd1

    ddancerd1 Well-Known Member

    QUOTE(Fran27 @ Dec 9 2008, 06:16 PM) [snapback]1104367[/snapback]
    I love reading too, and I hope they pick that up, there's just something about reading a story to a baby that doesn't understand any word I'm saying that bothers me I guess!



    it's not about them really "understanding" it in the beginning. it's more about the pictures in the book, hearing your voice, and the animation you put into it. i don't know... to hear different levels of your voice, the excitement, stuff like that... i can't explain it.
     
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