How old is too old for a bedtime story?

[Yabbers]

We had a discussion at work about bedtime stories. My colleagues who have children the same age as mine say they stopped bedtime stories a few years ago. DD is 9 and loves me reading to her before bed (and I love it too) Occasionally if bedtime is late we don’t do one, but she really hates not getting one.

My colleagues say she is too old, but in my view if it’s something we both enjoy I’ll do it as long as she asks.

How old were yours when you stopped, is anyone still reading to older children at bedtime?

[twoheaped]

Mine was 11. We used to love snuggling up and reading.

[Rainatnight]

What a load of miseries! I don't think there's any such thing as 'too old'. I guess it peters out when everyone's ready.

My dad read the CS Lewis stories (Lion, Witch, Wardrobe et !) aloud to us for aaaages, and I was at least 10.

[Dementedswan]

When they don't want you to.

[MakeItRain]

I think it's really sad they think 9 is too old! I think bedtime stories are fine for as your as your child wants them. My son is nearly 9 and still loves a story every night. (Chapter books these days). My daughter loved bedtime stories til she was about 10, maybe 11 I think.
Sharing books is lovely, and I'll keep reading bedtime stories until he lets me know he'd rather read his own. Don't listen to your colleagues!

[cardibach]

Demented is correct. The age to stop bedtime stories is the age they don’t want to hear one.

[PQ77]

Our 10 year old likes being read to every night. Every. Night. Have finally twigged that he can listen to an audio book if I’m too tired/working/trying to eat my dinner at 9pm!

[4point2fleet]

Totally agree- you child is too old when they don't want you to do it any more.

Always read stuff a little more complex (vocabulary or comprehension) than they can manage themselves and it's an incredibly valuable learning opportunity.

I read every day to my class of 9/10/11yo boys and its the single biggest thing that impacts on the quality of their writing (an they love it).

Was it Oscar Wilde who said 'if you want to make a child intelligent, read them fairy tales'?

[MrsJacksonAvery]

I’m an English teacher and at yr7 parents’ evening last week, a number of parents mentioned still reading with their children at bedtime/taking it in turns to read etc., which I thought was lovely.

[Abouttime1978]

There's no such thing as being too old!

I love settling in bed with an audio book, I find it relaxing and soothing.

Reading is a great way to connect with kids as they get older, i would be reluctant to stop reading to my kids.

[4point2fleet]

Sorry for typos- half term bottle of wine kicking in!

[TheGreenDot]

I’m 37 and I’d love a bed time story read to me by someone I loved.

Never to old.

[Graffitiqueen]

DS is 12 and still likes to be read to at night. I don’t plan on stopping anytime soon.

[mamalovebird]

My DS is 9 and he reads himself every night before bed so I don't do it anymore as he likes the wind down. He's been doing it since 7.5-8, before that we read every night together, we both really enjoyed it.
DD is 5 but isn't as routine driven as DS so does her own thing before bed but I try and steer her towards a story as much as I can. DS sometimes reads to her which is lovely for them bonding. I'm always available for a story whenever they want one!

I say keep doing it as long as you both enjoy it.... those snuggly pre-bed days are gold!

[Boatsnack3]

My dd is 10 she doesn't often ask me to read but I enjoy it when she does maybe once a month or so.

[AdaColeman]

I don't think 9 is too old for a bedtime story, 47 might be!

[Witchend]

My girls stopped at about 5yo, when they wanted to read to themselves.
Ds is 11yo and I've just read him the first chapter of the history of the RAF.
A bit dry for me, but he's still enjoying it.

[Travisandthemonkey]

You’re never too old.
People who have set ages for things are arseholes

[Knitwit101]

I still read to my 11 and 12 yr old sons most nights. We are reading Coraline by Neil Gaiman just now. 9pm is story time at ours, drop in any time!

[luckylavender]

No such thing as too old. DS was 11.

[IDrinkFromTheKegOfGlory]

My two are 9 and 11 and I still read to them (and they obvs read books themselves too). We're in the middle of the first of the Phillip Pullman His Dark Materials trilogy. And they're loving it.

[TextbookFannies]

Too old = When the person being read to doesn’t enjoy it

Me and DH have recently been reading The Twits to each other especially on Sunday nights (we can both struggle to sleep with back to work anxiety)
We take it in turn to do the chapters and I think my character voices are way better than his

[shakeapoo]

I love that textbookfannies

[Bananasarenottheonlyfruit]

We read to DS1 until around 11. He hates reading (dyslexia) so we read all of LOTR and Harry Potter. Now his very able younger brother is demanding the same treatment, so DH is slogging through LOTR again, but it is taking longer because of the constant questions. Then I will take over and do HP.

[fruityb]

Forever!! Reading to kids is the absolute best way for them to pick up the vocabulary - they can hear you say it and pronounce it. I realise I won’t be when my son is 18 but I hope we can keep reading together for the long term. My ds is only 2 but he loves having stories - I read him three a night and he picks different ones every time.

[BernardsarenotalwaysSaints]

I'm still reading to my 9yo. I don't intend to stop until she asks me not to.

Growing up I think regular bedtime stories stopped around the December I was in y7 (so I'd have just turned 12) but even after that I'd sometimes get my Dad to read to me or he'd read out a particular passage to me that was funny & then just carry on & I'd do the same.

When I was 16 he had lymphoma & I read to him because he struggled to hold them & focus on the writing. He was 50, we read all the Gerald Durrell's (searched the one's I didn't own out on a trip to Hay before his treatment started), re-read all the James Herriot's, some Bill Bryson.