Do people really read to newborns/young babies?

[Anonymous]

From my experience and talking with other parents, it's normal either way. Some kids can't sit still for a book, some can. I read to my baby until he reached the grabby stage (wanting to grab and swat at everything in sight) and it became impossible. He just wanted to maul the book. I kept trying every so often, and soon (maybe after a couple months) he stopped grabbing so much, and started to really enjoy being read to. I can't remember how old he was.

You could try reciting nursery rhymes while you're feeding her, or whenever. Babies like the rhythm and I have read that the rhyming actually helps promote language and later, reading. Also, you can sing. My son would not do Patty Cake very often (still doesn't like it now as a toddler), but he did/does like hearing simple short rhymes like Peas porridge hot....

Even if your dd doesn't take to that, you can try again later.

[Anonymous]

You don't necessarily need to read to babies but you definitely need to TALK to them as much as possible. When their eyesight improves, I would start reading or just pointing to pictures in board books. Also, keep board books all around the house just like toys. I'm a teacher and see so many kids enter school not familiar with books at all.

[Anonymous]

Yes. But only because my kid cried and screamed if I wasn't talking to her. "Narrating" our day at 3 weeks old felt utterly ridiculous to me alone in the house with her, so I just read to her from whatever book I was reading at the time until she settled and fell asleep. Then I'd stop and read to myself until she woke up and screamed again.

I read her Pride and Prejudice, Alice in Wonderland, Unbroken, Water for Elephants, various Harry Potters, among others. Being trapped inside in the winter with a newborn was not my idea of a good time when all she wanted was to hear my voice at every waking moment.

[Anonymous]

Never thought to read to my kids when there were babies. None seemed interested until they were about 12 months old and even then it just went in to their mouths.

Iidly talked to them all day long (SAHM) and sang throughout throughout the day so it's not like they were in silence. Plus, as siblings came along, the current baby was learning and hearing more than just my voice/speech/diction.

[Anonymous]

Yes. I started reading in the first month partly because I got sick of nursery rhymes (you know you need some new material when old McDonald has a tiger on his farm) and because all the books people gave us were sitting around. I read to her while she's in the swing or bouncer. She does seem to enjoy it, particularly the Seuss and black & white image books!

[Anonymous]

I read to them when they were babies. They weren't brand new babies, maybe a few months old. I also played classical music for them....I figured it couldn't hurt and might help.

Both of mine are now good readers and they play in their school orchestras. Coincidence? Yes, probably.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We read only a couple of books but, what I found fascinating, was that later if my son was fussy I could start reciting the words of the book and he would calm down immediately and listen to the cadence. We read "Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb" if I can remember correctly.
Months later he would still quiet down and listen as we recited the refrain of the book. It was great to get him out of crying jags until he was well past a year.

This works for us too! Our infant DD calms down when she hears some of her favorite books. Has worked out great on car trips when the car is too full to sit in back with her.

Same effect here. . When I start reciting a part of one of 9 month old DS's favorite books, he stops whatever he's doing and watches me or crawls over to me. A few songs have the same calming effect.

I started reading to him at about 2 weeks, but it wasn't an everyday practice until he could sit well in my lap around 5-6 months. Around 7-8 months was when he seemed to really start to enjoy being read to, and now he loves it. We do books in the morning and at night. It's the only time I can get him to stay still.

[Anonymous]

DD liked hearing our voices, more than she cared about the book. On maternity leave I would just read to her from whatever I was reading, a novel or a magazine or blog. DH would read stories as part of the bedtime routine, but wouldn't bother showing DD the book. Then around 2-3 months she started really looking at board books, and that was neat. At 3-4 months she was really into touch and feel books. Now almost 6 months and simply wants to eat them; she has no patience for reading them at all.

I will say that I was very skeptical about books for infants. I actually resented all the book gifts people gave us: more crap that I couldn't use for months or years, taking up space in our small house and making me write thank you notes But by now we've read nearly every book we've been given, and have even bought some on our own. So I've changed my tune on books as baby gifts. Though I wish people wouldn't all give the same "classics" -- we have multiple copies of Good Night Moon and its ilk.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: Though I wish people wouldn't all give the same "classics" -- we have multiple copies of Good Night Moon and its ilk.

I almost always send books as a gift after a baby is born and this is why I choose ones outside the standards! I usually give: Goodnight Gorilla, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, Mr. Brown Can Moo, Pajama Time, The Thinks You Can Think, Hippos Go Beserk, and Fuzzy Bee. A bunch of my daughter's favorites that aren't so typical.

[Anonymous]

I was told by early child specialists to point to pictures and say the word for the object. Keeps their interest better than reading the text and helps with vocabulary eventually. My 8 month old has enjoyed this for a few months. She takes swipes at the pictures

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We read only a couple of books but, what I found fascinating, was that later if my son was fussy I could start reciting the words of the book and he would calm down immediately and listen to the cadence. We read "Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb" if I can remember correctly.
Months later he would still quiet down and listen as we recited the refrain of the book. It was great to get him out of crying jags until he was well past a year.

Exactly this with us. Goodnight Moon and The Little Engine that Could - if I start saying the words he instantly calms down.

[Anonymous]

I brought baby books to the hospital and read to her at least at bedtime, usually at other times too, every night starting her very first. At six, she still loves books, is very verbal and reads at a 3rd grade level in English and second grade in Spanish. I think lots of reading is key.

[Anonymous]

mine has always loved reading as a young baby. now at 13 months she still does. and she was def a baby that loved being held while walking and bouncing all the time baby. its not like i can sit her down to read a book anytime i feel like it but we read several books at least three times a day or more.

[Anonymous]

My mother tried to read to me when I was small, but I cried and never sat still. My mother gave up reading to me and until I graduated from college, I never really read that much outside of school. This, despite the fact that I actually learned to read before Kindergarten. Fast forward to now, and I am a voracious reader (and I have a very close relationship with my mother!)

[Anonymous]

My son didn't enjoy my reading to him until closer to a year old.

He did like books on tape, especially with music, to go to sleep to. Like Velveteen Rabbit, Tubby the Tuba, Peter and the Wolf, etc.

Agree with all the others, talking is very important. Singing is great.

My son loves books now at 7 and while not a super-reader like many of his peers, he is above average. And that was my personal goal, to help him love to read.