Book avoiding Toddler

[fartedthensnapped]

My DS is 2 and won't sit still for me to read him even a 5 page baby book. He just looks at one page for a second and then he's off. We have loads of different types of books from brightly coloured 'baby' books to rhyming stories and classics like the Gruffalo. Even touch and feel books and ones with sounds. He lots of has accessible books in his bedroom and the lounge. Some board books, mini books and some paperbacks.

He had a very short lived interest in a couple of peppa pig books. And a noisy train book, but he's just not interested now. He won't lie or sit down for a story at bedtime either. If I try to cuddle him or sit him on my lap to read he just escapes instantly. It's been like this for a year, basically since walking.

Everyone tells me reading is so important. Plus he is slow on his speaking so I feel I should be doing more

Any advice ?

Read them to him anyway? i.e. let him run around/play while you read out loud and hopefully he’ll eventually get more interested.

My ds went through a phase of refusing to sit still for bedtime stories, so I just let him faff around in his room while I read and after a couple of weeks he came back to liking story time.

I wouldn’t force the issue. Books are hugely important but even more so is a love of books.
Try singing nursery and counting rhymes, action songs etc instead. I’ve never known a little one not love honking the horn as the wheels go around on the bus!

Then speak a lot to him. Widen his vocabulary. Make him ask for things and describe things constantly. When building blocks with him, get him to name colours and talk about yellow being on top of red or green being beside the blue cube. When using play doh, get him to describe cut out shapes, square, star, circle etc.
Once he has learned to love language, he might well start to enjoy books more.

Do it at bedtime when he's in bed settling down. My DD always wants her story (a delay to sleeping) as we made it a part of her routine.