Reading to a very active toddler

[OneLittleToddlingTerror]

If I hear one more time from other mums how their little one loved being read to, I'll cry. All the other toddlers in my NCT group all supposedly love to sit down on mums lap and read a book together. But not my DD and it's not because I didn't try.

I've got an absolute monkey who won't sit still at all. She can climb up and down the stairs before she can walk. She has managed to slide off our bed, crawled away, in her babygro, before she can walk as well. She even manage to toddle in her babygro. That gives you some idea what she is more interested in.

Everytime I try to read to her, she either grabs the book, and starts turning the pages, or chews it. Or she just crawls/toddles away and plays with something else instead. I've already given up actually reading the text in the book. I just say the names of things on the pages, because she'll be gone by the time I finish a sentence anyway.

She is 16mo btw.

Anyone else have a toddler who aren't interested in being read to at all? How do you get them interested?

Both my children have gone through phases from a very early age of liking and not liking being read to. My son showed no interest until around two. My daughter wouldn't let me for abot two years. Currently, they're both mad about it.

It did upset me when my daughter wouldn't let me read to her. I was even tempted to take it personally (I'm an English teacher). She loves it at the moment, I think as she's just started school and sees bigger children getting reading books.

I do think you have to follow their lead though, and do what they want you to do. For exaple, I know you're supposed to let them take charge of reading, asking questions etc, but neither of y children liked this very uch at all, so I took the lead when they wanted.

Is there any kind of book she does like. I know my son is VERY specific in what he likes. For ages he wouldn't look at a book with cartoon charaters; he wanted real pictures. He liked 'word' books instead of stories too.

He will still very often walks off in the middle of a book, even if I had thought he was really enjoying it.

I think 16 months is still a bit young for being able to concentrate or sit still for any length of time. Well it certainly was in our case for DS! Now almost 2, he loves books, but we still struggle to get through a whole one without him wanting to move on to another. He'll often unpack his entire bookshelf though and spends quite a lot of time paging through them, and he now points out all the things he recognises. So we often just make up the story as we go and talk about the pictures. He particularly likes animals where he can make the noises or copy their movements, like bouncing!

Wouldn't worry about not being able to read the whole thing to her at this stage. But if you're keen for her to like books, I'd still try and keep on doing what you're doing - point out things on the pages and make up your own (shorter!) story. She'll still get the same benefit from that in terms of vocab development. Sounds promising that she is paging through them!

I'm afraid that my DS is a reader, but have you thought about books where she doesn't have to sit still? Walking through the jungle requires you to leap, crawl and run whilst someone reads the story to you. She'll get better at following the actions as she gets older.

Also, what about a book that you play musical instruments along with or do actions?

The key at this age is to instill a love of books and being read to and she doesn't have to be sitting still to do that. You could do songs or rhymes or clapping together instead.

My ds was exactly the same, I used to go green with envy at the mothers who's children would happily sit there and be read too instead ds would prefer to turn pages or chew or run away.

It's only in the last few weeks he has actually let me read a book from start to finish and he's 22 months x

Don't worry. The obsession with reading to toddlers (and even young babies) is quite a recent phenomenon. She sounds like a livewire. I am sure she will have a better concetration span and will be able to settle down to enjoy a story when she gets to about 2.

Maybe you should get some tough board books (cheap from a remainder store? they don't have to be good ones!) and give them to her for the purpose of grabbing, chewing, turning pages etc. I think it's possible she wants toget to know books in a visceral way before she can engage with them as sources of stories.

My DD is 14 but was just the same as a baby. She was far more interested in the world around her and wouldn't sit still for a book
Within a month of starting school she had taught herself to read and was reading words like architecture with no problem and in year 6 managed 50 odd books in autumn term.

You are more likely to get them to enjoy reading, by demonstrating a love of reading yourself. Let them see you reading rather than reading to them.

Mine used to sit and listen but hasn't done for months now. She flicks the pages too quickly and in random directions. I make an attempt to read a line from whichever page. She enjoys that so I try not to interfere too much. I still take her to the library and she grabs some books but mainly enjoys running around the ailses.

I know she won't enjoy the book if I don't let her turn the pages so just go with the flow. We'll discuss the pictures and I make stuff up.

Oh yeah, she's 2.6 now but will sit still for a jigsaw.

I bet the 16mo kids who are sitting on their Mum's knees to read are flicking pages, turning the book upside down, biting it and then crawling away. Peopl just describe things differently!

My DS loves books that make a noise and they hold his attention longer - M and S do some really good ones. Every child who's been here has loved their 'Baby Giggles' book.

My 17mo would never stay put long enough to read so much as a sentence. She was always tearing at the pages or scrambling to get away. I though we'd never be able to read with her.
One thing that has worked though is picture books and just pointing at the pictures and naming things. She loves to sit on my lap (for a couple of minutes) and point to things and say 'whassat?' I'm hoping that in time it will profess to actual stories, but at the moment it's still rapid fire 'whassat? whassat?'

I've had one of each! One dc who wanted to be read to for hours on end and another who simply didn't want to know so it's definitely not just due to differences of mothers description. Mine are both older teenagers now and both doing fine academically and both lovely people, though the more fidgety one has always found concentrating more difficult and tended to stick at things less long.

At 16 mo, all my son wanted to do was grab the book and flap it around.

Now, at 3.1, he loves to curl up and have a book read.

Don't despair. You have tons of time.

At 16 months DD2 still ate the books (no spelling mistake here).
She is 2.5 yo exactly tomorrow, it is the 1st night she let me read a whole story to her. She asked for it herself and let me turn the page , even pointed at things.

DD1 was pointing at letters to know the sounds when she was 1 (so it is not the parenting or the lack of books in the house), she was very active too (probably hyper), but loved books.

Another vote for 'first words' type picture books - these are my 16mo dd's favourites at the moment. She has a small one that she will look at in the car, and at home will thrust one into my hands and flip the pages to find the tractor, banana, cup, dog etc. Lift-the-flap books have always held her attention too (where's Spot, Dear Zoo etc.) as there's something physical for her to do.

Thanks for all the comments. It's encouraging to hear there are others with 16mo who aren't interested in reading at all. I think I just got a bit stressed because I keep hearing how we need to read to them from a young age. I'll have a look at the books suggested, and relax!

My DS2 is like this. DS1 loved books from very very early on - by 10 months or so he'd have sat on my knee for the whole of something like The Gruffalo, then crawled off to get another book. DS2 (15 months) can barely make it through "That's Not My Car" or similar, and often throws real hissy fits when I try to get him to sit still and listen to a story.

I have mainly given up, but do find that if I can catch him immediately on waking from a nap, when he's still a bit sleepy and all cuddly, he might sit on my knee and tolerate a short story (with flaps to lift and sound effects)... I still take him to the library lots as he loves nothing better than pulling all the books off the shelves.

My DS is 2.2 and is the same, very active and i've never managed to read a story to him. A read a bit of the first page and he's turning onto the next one. He does however really love books and will often get out a book and look at it himself or bring to me to look at with him. Its the picture books he likes though where he points to a pic and says what it is (prior to this i used to say the word and he used to point to it). He also likes looking at the argos catelogue but only at the 'tick tocks'

I only read to DS at bedtime when he was that age and we had 3 or 4 books we read all the time so he knew them. He also didn't keep still long enough at any other time!

He's six now and a pretty competent reader and easily sits still long enough at school to learn - mostly because when he isn't in school he still doesn't sit still.

Don't worry about it.

My 17mo used to seem to be actively annoyed by books. Massive change in the last month or so and he's now pretty obsessed with reading them - though he doesn't sit still much. He's rotating three favourites in pretty strict order every day and uninterested in anything other than looking at or playing with these books. He likes to sit on your knee but will get bored and want off to get the next book after a while. Of those three, one is a picture and words book, one a lift the flap and one a sing along - so all in some way physical.

Second what others have said, make them available, read yourself and chill out, they're exploring books which is the main thing, really.

I keep finding hm reading them himself and one of his first words was book so something is working anyway!

You have described my 13mo DD exactly in your first post! She is much more interested in exploring the world around her than in reading books. The only time I might be able to get her to look at a book is at bedtime where we lie in bed together and I give her a toy to chew on so she doesn't eat the book!

I figure that books are great for vocabulary, language development and imagination, but there are ways to aid these without books. And maybe she'll eventually calm down enough to sit still for 5 mins :)

Forgot to say DD also loves to destroy books. Chew and tear the edges. Only fabric books can withstand her attacks.

DS is only now at 20 mo getting into books, but that's really only at bedtime. He too is a particularly active and physical toddler - i am even envious of those parents who say their DCs sit still and watch TV!

I've always just read to DS at bedtime when his hands are occupied by his bottle of milk which seems to work, and he now points to the pictures and has begun naming them. His favourite books are the interactive ones where he has to do something - for example Fox's Socks because he can lift the flaps up to look underneath etc. He also likes The Gruffalo because i act it out with different voices. And also anything with scary dragons (which i also do a voice for) like Room on the Broom and Charlie Cook's Favourite Book.