What age did you stop bedtime stories?

[AmIreallyBeverly]

We've always read a bedtime story. My daughter will be 13 this year and I still read her a chapter or two of a book before bed. It's very much led by her and she's started occassionally saying she doesn't want me to read. That's fine but I'll miss it when she no longer wants it at all. I won't necessarily miss the books though - she likes some nonsense!

What age did you stop?

Fair enough! I think it's one of those situations where one doesn't necessarily stop doing something for a child merely because they can do it themselves - making them tea and toast, for example, or washing their clothes. Both of mine could do those things by themselves from a young age, but I sometimes do it anyway, because I love them. They do stuff for me that I can easily do myself, as well. Being read to is a completely different experience from reading, it's a very relaxing and soothing experience, and there's an intimacy in it as well which can be hard to maintain in other ways as children get older.

This makes sense. I actually don't particularly like being read to (including audiobooks) because I zone out and then am forever wishing I could go back a bit, I generally take things in much better when I read them on the page rather than have them said to me.

I also loved reading by myself. I had a great relationship with my parents and we did most things together but this was a "me" thing and I loved tapping into my own imagination privately.

That said, it's interesting to read how others enjoy sharing the experience!

I don't remember being read to at all - but despite turning out to be dyslexic - diagnosed at university - since late primary school read widely and avidly.

My own children who I read to lots during the day and at bedtime till we stopped - eldest loved books but really struggled with reading and reads rarely but does like audio books - younger two have swapped one bookworm, one occasional reader abut which that is had varied with time and age.

Steven Fry read them Harry Potter at night and I think mostly Tony Robinson the disc world books - and many other more often classics were covered.

It was at one point a nice bonding experience for us but then started to feel like chore and the change to audio CD just worked for us.

I'll look at that maths book. It sounds right up her street. Thanks.

I have the book about Reinventing the world with fewer mistakes but she wasn't interested in that. Might try again.

My children are 11 and 9 and I rarely read bedtime stories these days. The 9yr old has ADHD and started medication for it last year, it's helping him greatly at school but by the time bedtime rolls round its worn off and he's swinging from the lampshades and climbing the walls, trying to read a story with him in that state is pointless! Daughter is happier reading to herself these days.

I still read to my DS's 12 & 10.

DS12 is a real bookworm. He loves to read long series, currently Warrior Cats, before that Wings of Fire. He's read everything by Rick Riordan but enjoying reading to himself really started with Harry Potter.

I tend to just read a bit of whatever book he's on & he fills me in on the bits I miss.

DS 10 generally doesn't enjoy reading but loves listening. We've read the How to Train Your Dragon series then moved on to Jurassic Park & Lost World, the original Michael Crichton novels. I recently came across the junior novels of the Jurassic Park & World films & he's been reading these himself. The Christmasaurus series has also been brilliant for getting him reading himself.

DD14 asked me to stop a couple of years ago, she's a night owl & prefers to draw or paint for a while then reads to herself. She's loved Harry Potter, Hunger Games, Divergent & now Eve of Man.

DD14 & DS12's teachers are always delighted to tell me they are both near the top if the world count for their year groups.

Somewhere around 13/14, part way through the Discworld series. DD was never that fond of reading fiction herself.

Fast forward a few years, when she and her boyfriend were staying here during lockdown after the uni chucked everyone out, they would read aloud to each other which was rather sweet (afaik they still do).

When they stopped asking , which was about mid teens.

Obvs it’s teen/young adult books by then

Still read to my 8, almost 9 yo ds, as and when he wants but it’s petering out a bit.

Read to the eldest (Dd) until about 10 I think.

She’s a great reader whereas he’s less keen.

For my oldest, until about 13. He’s a bright lad, but he has dyslexia. He’s at uni now, thriving, but back then it was what he needed and so it was what we did. It’s probably one of my proudest mum moments when his learning support teacher praised his vocabulary as being unusually good, particularly for a dyslexic lad, and said it was probably because of all the reading we’d done together.

My eldest stopped around 8. He had just got the hang of reading longer chapter books on his own and preferred to do that at bedtime.

Younger ones currently all 7 and under and still love a story. My 7 year will go and read on her own in bed after our story time.

Lovely to see some older children still loving a bedtime story. I think at 13 I was solidly in horrible teenager mode and my parents daren't put their head round my door to say goodnight 😅

I can't remember when bedtime stories stopped for me - maybe around 10? My parents never read at bedtime though,bit was always stories they made up on the spot.

They did read chapters of books with me in the daytime but this stopped earlier, maybe around 8. I read A LOT for as long as I can remember and preferred to read to myself.

Oh yes, she also really enjoyed Wings of Fire. We ended up having to order some books from Australia as we couldn't get them here. She dressed up as one of the characters (the black one?) for world book day.

I still read to 7 year old dd, but 10 year old ds prefers to read to himself. He has done for over year now. He’s a good reader and says he finds it relaxing.

We still read each night with dd and she's just turned 16! It's a lovely way to end the day together.
She enjoyed the Goth Girl books; The Extinction Trials and the River of Ink series when she was around 13.

If she loved Mortal Engines, then perhaps Terry Pratchett and especially Philip Pullman. Those were the last books I remember reading to my two DS’s.
I would do it again in a flash if they asked me.

It was my favourite part too 😍.

I still read to my 9yo and my 12yo alternates between joining in or sneaking off to Lego or War Hammer. Both are dyslexic and find reading laborious, so me reading to them exposes them to more adventurous texts than they'd read for themselves.

I was pretty stunned when my 12yo was assessed as having a reading age of 15- reading stories like The Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy to him that he wouldn't have read himself has probably helped get him there.

I don't remember being read to (I remember being sung to) and was a very early, proficient reader. I like the wind-down time of sharing reading together at the end of the day. I often think I don't read much any more... but I forget to include that I do read to the children.

I’m jealous. Dd took over reading to herself at age 5. once she could read she hated listening to anyone read aloud. She used to come home from school complaining about the teachers wasting time by reading stories. She loves reading, just hates listening.

Mine are the same. My son is 8 and reads to himself before bed. Occasionally his sister reads to him for fun but he much prefers reading on his own and then telling me the story afterwards. My dd is almost 13 and has read to herself for years. She motors through books.

Still going at 10 and 8 here.

Oh god I hate reading. It was a once a week thing here. My 8 year old reads herself now and the baby is too little yet.

My 7 year old reads on her own before bed now. 4 yo still loves a bedtime story!

I don’t think there is an age limit. People used to read to one another all the time, especially in the evenings. It’s more entertaining than watching the garbage on TV. Reading out loud is a lost art. My mother has weak eyesight and loves it when I read to her. I don’t read whole novels, but often read her favourite chapters from Dickens, Jane Austen and Virginia Woolf. She also loves P G Wodehouse (I do a superb Jeeves, though I say it myself).

As for your children, I guess 11 (i.e the age at which they go to secondary school) is the obvious cut off point. If you want them to keep up their reading, but they’re a bit lazy, recommend audiobooks. I love laying in a hot bath listening to Stephen Fry read Sherlock Holmes. I also love listening to children’s books, especially the Narnia stuff, The Hobbit and Roald Dahl. I know a literature academic whose favorite audiobook is The BFG!!

She couldn't get into Dahl unfortunately (for me). She preferred reading Minecraft books (unfortunately for me).

She still thinks romance/boys/kissing/longing looks is "ewwwwwwww!" and a lot of teen fiction includes that, even the more Sci fi ones like Mortal Engines.

We've almost finished Utterly Dark by Philip Reeves but she's not really enjoying it.

Her routine is to listen to an audio book for a while and then I come up and read, have a chat and tuck her up.

She fell asleep while I was reading to her a few weeks ago. First time in forever. Bittersweet moment.