Bedtime story-reading on the decline - do you read to your DC at night?

[KateMumsnet]

A new poll for the reading charity Booktrust has found that younger parents (aged 16-24) enjoy reading to their children at bedtime far less than previous generations did. Only 28% of younger parents say it's their favourite part of the day, compared to 42% of older parents (aged 55+) - and younger dads in particular lacked confidence in reading aloud to their children.

What do you think - is the bedtime story a vital element of your bedtime routine - the best bit of the day? Or a nice extra, but not an essential part of parenting?

We'd love to hear what you think - and if you're looking for a bit of inspiration, find out which bedtime books are most beloved by Mumsnetters, over here.

Yes. not every single night but most nights. love it.

Yes, we read to 3.5yo DS every night and have done since he was about 5-6 months old.

I usually do the stories, but DH sometimes does them "on request"! He usually gets 2 stories while having his milk. Then it's teeth cleaned, in bed and another story. Quite frequently, it's the same story 3 times with a little bit less enthusiasm by the third time He always choses his own book, but does have favourites that we go back to often.

Once he's had his last story, he then has audio books on to go to sleep to. So, depending on how long he stays awake, he can listen to another 4 or 5 stories.

We're 41 and 44.

We have an amazing children's bookshop near us and I buy a few new books every month. DC are 3 and 1 and a half. They love books - we always have four stories every night and a couple during the day.

I love bedtime but am very slow at getting them down. I'm in my late 30s and so is DH - I do most of the reading.

I'm 28 DD is 6m and I introduced books as part of her bedtime routine when she was 12 weeks. She loves looking at them, chewing them (!) and turning the pages. She has a library card and we go once a week to choose new books. She is particularly into books about tractors atm! I am passionate about reading and enjoy sharing with her, even though I know she has no idea what I'm rabbiting on about!! DP is 44 and dyslexic. He has never enjoyed reading for himself but will read to her, and its fantastic to see the two of them getting pleasure from it.

Yes bedtime story every night. Part of the routine, DS not great at going to bed so wind down is vital.

We are old , though.

DS1 gets a story every night, and I read to him whenever he wants in the day.

Generally I don't enjoy it though!

I was late 20s when I had DD and have read to her from the start really. She's almost 10 and either myself or DH (39) read to her nightly. I'm about to run her bath and am going to read to her while she soaks (eczema sufferer) which is our normal routine. She then reads to herself (or to me or her cuddlies) before sleeping. Both DH and I love reading which is our preference to TV so I guess DD is the same although she adores tv

I put on different voices and really get into the story. Her friends at sleepovers love me to read to them so I guess it's a treat for them too and I also love it . My parents read to us every night until we left school and so I wanted to do the same and let DD have happy memories of the closeness I had as a child.

We have read to our DC every night in bed since they were a few months' old. DS1 loves it, he is 6, and I cant see us stopping anytime soon. We spend about 15 minutes or so reading to him in bed. Sometimes he gets 3 or 4 shorter books, sometimes all the time is taken up reading something longer like The Enormous Crocodile or Peter Pan. Its my favourite time of day. We are all cuddled up and cosy and relaxed. Wouldn't swap it for anything.

DH and I are late 30s. We had our first child in our early 30s.

34 and read at bedtime to my 12 month dd. Love this quiet time drinking milk, bathed and ready for bed.

I will also read during the day if dd wants to.

Meant to add that I didn't read for my own pleasure in Primary school as I guess my parents did it every night that there wasn't time for me to read after (big family) and so I only got into it when at Secondary school and felt it helped my vocabulary and literacy as had to read a class book each week. I gobbled books up then and have done so ever since.

I went to the library as a child weekly and would get the classic stories as the pictures are fabulous but I didn't get the pleasure out of reading to myself at night proper chapter books until age 11 or so. DD doesn't go to the library as much now as she did when younger but if she gets into a series I buy her the set so we nurture the love of books early. It seems to be helping her Literacy too and I try and encourage a wide range of books but she seems fixated on particular ones that I have to not mind as reading is reading at age 9.

DH reads to them every night at bedtime. Little House in the Big Woods at the moment, DD1 (6) is now reading to herself (a different book) after DH has read to them all. DS (just 1) doesn't always get a dedicated book at bedtime but is read to at other times.

We're old (mid 40s) and over-educated so not really representative. And those 'younger parents' are really very young which probably skews the figures about as much as asking MNers does.

Bedtime story time is the only time of the day when my son is NOT TALKING, so I LOVE it :-)

Tend to read to my kids at least once a day but very rarely at bedtime.

my ds is 6, so he will read his reading book from school to me, then I read a chapter or two of a chapter book, Danny champion of the world atm :)

I love it and so does he.

Then his dad will read to him.

Dd (3) also has a story from both of us, which normally ends in tears as she's determined not to go to bed.

always read a story to dc before bed.
Love doing it, go to library and get them all excited about new books once a week;
love exploring the illustrations with them, they really take the time to look (ages 5 & 7)
am mid 30s,

Story time is part of our bedtime routine, I read to DD every night even although she is only 2months old. I have always loved reading as my mum read to me when I was tiny she was 26 when I was born so quite young. I am 21 and don't really see what age has to do with it...

Yes we do, have incorporated a bedtime story since she was about 4 months old, She is now 15 months and demands 2 stories during her bedtime bottle, she loves it and so do we, it's a gorgeous time.
We go once a week to get out 4 new books to read and these are proper stories not baby books, her favourite one at the moment seems to be stick man and the snail and the whale.

Reading to DS has helped DP's reading! He's dyslexic and has never read for pleasure. He was very shy and worried about reading, even baby books. Now he reads to DS at bedtime and is much more confident. He even tackles Dr Seuss and they make no sense at all!

Favourite part of the day? That's a bit too specific...
More so fun and important part of the day.
For me books were a big part of my life, my parents never read to me. I was taught to read at school and it was a hobby I enjoyed.
I used the local library and asked for book collections for birthdays and rewards. All that would not have been possible without my parents and there encouragement. I on the other-hand read to my DC from 8 months and had a minimum 3 book rule - now a minimum 3 chapter rule and she also loves reading herself. So really I thinks its more about encouraging children to read whether you really enjoy it or not. Its giving children access to books, magazines, comics etc, and supporting them with their reading.
I think that reading to your child is mostly about your time with them and enjoying it, its bonding time and it can work miracles at getting your DC into a healthy bedtime routine. And don't forget the educational and intellectual benefits of reading bedtime stories, spellings, writing, punctuation, speech, expression etc.

I think my username says it all! Books are just the best! I have been reading to dd1 (now nearly 3.5) virtually since she was born - at first just one book at bedtime and now she chooses up to 3 (depending on their length). We also read during the day, especially while I'm feeding dd2 (3 months) and at weekends. It's also a real opportunity to get some quality time with her. I am trying to get started with dd2 but it's harder (esp as she's often almost asleep by the end of the bedtime feed - can't remember how I managed to get the book in after the feed with dd1 - maybe we read first?). I guess daytime might be the way to go here!

I remember being told by a librarian that when children start learning to read, there is a huge gap between what they are able to read - often, very boring and simple stories - and what they are interested in, so if you want them to be readers, you have to keep reading to them until they can catch up and read for themselves. But even when they can, I'm planning to keep on reading to them at bedtime. My parents never read to me - left me to read to myself - and though I love them and I loved reading as a child, it would have been nice to have that special time and attention with them in the evening, I think.

TBH Derek, I think that singing, making up stories, even talking through the days events quietly for a little while, are all really good ways of developing a child's language and literacy skills. Books aren't the be all and end all.

Have always read to DC and DSC ( their mum never did). Youngest DS is now 10 and reads to himself but always wants to join in when DGC stay and we read stories.They are all good readers. I don't think we are old but we are 56 & 57!