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Behaviour/development

Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

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Original poster

At what age do you start Reading to them?

33 replies

hazlinh · 09/09/2004 06:08

Dd is 7 months next week, and she's always liked looking at books/mags/newspapers but spends more time chewing them than anything else really. Maybe I'm just lazy but shud I start reading to her now? And do people follow the words or make up stories and point out pictures/colours etc? My sis does the latter and ignores the written words but I'm just so uncreative and feel silly when I try to do it.
Any tips?

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Original poster

hazlinh · 09/09/2004 06:09

oh just to add before everyone thinks I'm a bad mum, she only chews her soft books, I don't let her chew newspapers!!!At least when I'm around...

OP posts:

Tania2 · 09/09/2004 06:33

Hazlinh, I feel that children get so much from books. You can get books that have just pictures in them and even books that are touch and feel. my ds has loved looking at books since he was 5 months old especially the touch and feel ones he is 2 in November and can point at pictures and name them. all you have to do is point and say what it is they love it. another idea is make up her own photo album my ds loves it, it has helped him reconise all his family and friends and he loves looking at himself in pictures (which i feel has helped him with saying his name). just put pictures of family, friends (including hers), pets and anything that interests her. we dont leave home without it. Good luck hope i have helped in some way.

Tania2 · 09/09/2004 06:37

Sorry, but I dont think many children until they are over two can really sit there long enough to let you read them a book (short attention span) you dont want to bore them with it just tell her what the pictures are it is really important for her speach development. If you can find books that have the word under the picture this is also a great one because it helps with word reconition which helps later with reading.

jampot · 09/09/2004 07:09

I would start now hazel - a child is never too young to enjoy a book - however they choose to enjoy it

clairabelle · 09/09/2004 07:16

I do sit with ds 9 m and 'read' him a story. He lives the glitter baby ones.

hmb · 09/09/2004 07:18

Mine were both members of the local library from about 6 months. Obviously you don't expect them to sit still and be 'read' to at that age, but they enjoy lokking at the pictures and all the cuddles that go with it! baby books are great with lots of touchy feely books for them to enjoy and share. I also would talk about the pictues and get them to point at things, find the red hat sort of stuff. They loved it. I started with lady bird books with pictures of babies, which they found very interesting at a very early age.

throckenholt · 09/09/2004 08:10

With DS1 it was nearer 18 months - he just wasn't interested (now at 3 he can't get enough books - once he got started he was hooked). DS2&3 (twins) started much younger probably because they could see DS1 enjoying them - maybe around 9 months. Now at 19 months they are book addicts and have very firm favourites that we have to hide if we want to get some peace .

To start with we just pointed things out in the pictures, graduated on to reading the stories - depending on their attention span. Ours particularly liked ones that had phots of real things rather than drawings. Also liked lift the flap and touchy feely ones.

Hulababy · 09/09/2004 08:22

I read to DD from her being about a month old. Just showing her pictures in baby soft books and talking about the pictures. I know she isn't old enough at that age to understand, but it was something for me (and DH) to talk to her about - rather than just baby sounds and coos, etc. She has had books around from birth, and we started making her a photo album straight away with familiy people. M&S do a lovely soft baby album. As she got older she loved the touch and feel books, and the ones with moving pictures and shiny pages, and lift the flap type books.

DD adores books. She is now 2y 5m and she has hundreds of books and we read them at all times of the day, with a bedtime story everynight. She's had a bedtime story properly since going into her bed at 18 months and we read a whole range of books: Gruffalo, fairy stories, Alfie and Annie Rose, Dr Seuss, Little Miss, etc.

Books are a major part in our day to day life, but they always have been. My parents were the same with me, and my sister in particular is a huge reader.

I don't think it is ever too early to start at all. It doesn't matter if they don't listen to the whole story, or even if you just talk about the pictures ont he page. Lots of interaction, asking questions, pointing, etc. And above anything else, it is quiet time together...and that is just as beneficial as the reading and listening aspect, if not more IMO.

auntyquated · 09/09/2004 08:25

at about 4-6 weeks when I, once again, knew the difference between night and day.

Issymum · 09/09/2004 09:16

This reply has been withdrawn

This has been withdrawn by MNHQ at OP's request

Welshmum · 09/09/2004 09:52

I started very early with ours. About 3 months or so. She is 29 months now and adores books. We have lovely moments together cuddling and reading. I think it's really important for bonding and for education. She loved touch and feel books and books with real baby's faces.

Cam · 09/09/2004 10:32

I "read" picture books to dd from 1 week (yes I'm mad but I enjoyed it!) She then had plastic books to play with and "read" in the bath and material books to look at herself. When she went to nursery school at 2 and a half the teacher said that dd really knew how to handle books and treated them "with respect"!! She is now 7 with a reading age of 11+

motherinferior · 09/09/2004 10:37

First child from as early as possible, in eager-beaver English graduate mode.

Second child in guilty manner before her bedtime from rather recently...

Angeliz · 09/09/2004 10:38

I can't remember eactlyt when i started but dd has had books from the word go and they are her favourite thing.
One thing i did was get a soft plastic bath book and stuck pictures of family on each page. She still loves ita nd calls it her baby memory book

BTW, she didn't use it IN the bath!

Hulababy · 09/09/2004 10:45

There is an article in this month's Mother and Baby I'll go and see what it says....

....

0-3 months

Your baby won't have the visual ability or head control to appreciate books much at this stage, but she'll still enjoy hearing your voice. To get her used to books, you can provide cloth books or padded phot albums that are safe to leave in her cot.

3-6 months

Now you baby can hold her head up and grasp objects, you can introduce chunky, easy to hold board books. Look for simple, colourful pictures and a few words. Textured pages or aqueaky noises will help capture her imagination.

6-12 months

your baby shopuld be able to grasp books by herself and help you turn the pages. She won't know yet that books are to be respected so choose tough, chewable board, cloth or bath books. She'll still like textures and nooises, but is ready for a bit more in the way of a story. Repetition and rhymes will go down well.

Your Toddler

Flaps, pop up pages and sqeaks all help teach your toddler that books are fun. Let her turn the pages and lift the flaps so it's shared activity. Most children like imitating animal and vehicle noises and will start to point and name objects. Look for books featuring her favourite TV characters.

It recommends joining Bookstart - www.bookstart.co.uk for more information and CBeebies Storytime.

Oh, and there's a fee 64 Zoo Lane book to send away for as well.

coppertop · 09/09/2004 10:45

Ds1 had his own library card at the age of 7 months but tbh he just had no interest in books whatsoever. He picked up his reading skills from the digital subtitles on the television when it was on. He developed an interest in books at the age of 3yrs (not long after he started to talk) and since then there has been no stopping him. During the summer holidays for example, we went to the library once a week and borrowed the maximum 12 books. These were all read to him (on demand) within a couple of hours. It's not helping my throat much but it's been great for his language skills and general vocabulary. Ds2 is 19mths old and will 'read' books by himself but can't sit still long enough for me to read to him, although he will sometimes climb on my knee for 30 seconds while I am reading to his brother.

muminlondon · 09/09/2004 12:25

I introduced reading as part of the bed-time routine about 8-9 months but from birth dd had some waterproof and squishy cloth books and simple board books in her cot or lying around which she would play with. It got to a bit of a frenzy after 12 months when she preferred books to anything else and probably still does. You don't need to push it, but it's a good age to start.

suedonim · 09/09/2004 13:01

We looked at books almost from the start, with soft picture books and progressing onwards. I disagree with Tania that children don't have a long enough attention span to be read a story until they are 2. By the age of 18mths one of mine was absolutely obsessed with The Three Little Pigs and I had to read it to him numerous times a day. He knew it off my heart and spotted it immediately if I so much missed out a word, let alone tried to turn two pages at once, in an effort to relieve my boredom!! I think he went on to obssess about Chicken Licken after that, then the Three Billy Goats.....

OldieMum · 09/09/2004 13:36

I suppose what we're saying is that children show an interest in books at very different ages, so any time is a good time to experiment, as you don't know how your child will react. I think it also builds up gradually. I looked at books with dd from about 3 months onwards. She didn't seem to show much interest for a while, but she gradually began to touch them, especially the Bouncy Lamb book. Then we moved onto flap books and picture books, followed by story books in which I made up the story myself, rather than trying to read the text. I began to read the actual texts a few weeks ago (when she was 19 months) and she now sits still and listens to the story carefully, at least some of the time. I also endorse all that's been said about the way it gives you some quiet cuddly time. DD loves having us look at books together in bed at the weekend, as well as her bedtime stories.

blossomhill · 09/09/2004 13:38

Looked at books from about 3 months when they could focus.

Boosh · 09/09/2004 13:39

I read to my children in the womb onwards

Grizzly · 09/09/2004 15:02

I've read a story at bedtime to ds from birth. Mind you for the first 5 months or so we figured he couldn't understand what we were reading, so I just read out loud whatever I was reading at the time. It varied from magazines, Jackie Collins etc to parenting books. It was the only chance I seemed to get to sit and read anything for myself. DH used to read ds motorbike maintenance magazines (sent him to sleep in no time). I now read more 'appropriate' stories to him, but can't let him touch the books as he still wants to rip everything to shreds (at 12 months). He lies in his cot and listens, I sit by the cot and read. Works for us.

Galaxy · 09/09/2004 15:35

message withdrawn

prefernot · 09/09/2004 20:33

We had books from the beginning, I mean books with pictures that we could stand up near to where dd was lying when she was a newborn. I started looking at picture / flap type books with her at about 3 months old. By 6 months we could read a very very basic story, like those 'that's not my ...' books with fluffy things to touch and we also got books in which you could name objects even though she couldn't name, she'd still try to point. Now at 23 months she's been having regular stories before bedtime / naps since 12 months, more complex ones since 18 months and it's amazing how much she gets from them. She'll often stop what she's doing in the day and tell me something from a story we read earlier or the night before. I think it's completely sparked her imagination and it's such a lovely cuddly experience. I like hearing her chuckle at the same bits of stories every night!

acnebride · 09/09/2004 20:42

my baby chews newspapers like a good'un

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