When did you start reading to your baby?

[1stimeboymum]

Just that. My son is 4 months (3 corrected) and I haven't started to read to him yet as he doesn't seem interested. Should I be reading to him or does it not really matter at this age?

I've got three children (5, 3 and 15 months). I read to the older two obviously and the eldest can read a little bit by himself, but the youngest will only sit for a couple of minutes really. They don't tend to sit and actually enjoy a story until a bit older but the 'that's not my...' books have been a hit with my kids from say 8-9 months onwards? Actually 'reading' to them is a bit of a waste of time at 4 months but talking to them and interacting with them isn't, so you can just chat and tell stories at that stage.

Start today! Being read to is one of the best indicators of future literacy, as well as even just having books in the house. It's a lovely thing to do, they don't need to be interested in the book especially, it's you they are interested in to start with. Find books you enjoy reading. The series 'that's not my ...' is a good one to try, often available at supermarkets. Ask for your friends to recommend their favourites, the classics are still around. Try board books that baby can handle and they will learn about turning pages etc. Some children arrive at nursery never having seen a book. Once libraries open again, go every week and get a few. Babies love familiarity so you might have to read the same ones till you are sick of them! Keep reading to them till they ask you to stop, my youngest is 10 and still gets a chapter of a book each night with dad, it's their special time. Let your baby see you reading for pleasure too.

My husband read to my daughter from 6 weeks old. Every evening. Just short little poems that rhymed. She loved them and was a great reader and still reads well..she's studying law so has to read very deeply.
My son was read to from the same age. Not really interested until a bit older and was never a good reader and hated writing long stories. He's a computer programmer now. They are 27 and 25

Occasionally as a baby, regularly at 18 months. Crawled at 5 months, walked at 11 months, so didn't sit still long enough until 18 months.

From very young I think. My eldest was a Velcro baby and I used to read Dr Seuss to him because the meter of the text seemed to soothe him.

There are some classics you could get started on, like Dear Zoo (must have read that thousands of times)

DS ended up in the top reading group as one of the youngest in reception, and now reads for hours a day at 14, so the late start didn't hurt in the slightest!

We read to our son from the 1st couple of weeks, it's relaxing and beautiful IMO

We've been reading to DS everyday since he was 6 weeks old. He absolutely loves books and even though he can't yet read (he's 3), he often sits and "reads" himself books and makes up the stories depending on the pictures. It's helped his vocabulary hugely.

From the day he was born! And he read independently at a very early age and grew up to be an avid reader

I appreciate that I’m a bit odd (and DS clearly had no idea what was going on), but I’ve read to him since he was a couple of hours old. I took baby books in my hospital bag, but forgot maternity pads!
Now he’s 2, he’ll quite happily take himself off to look through a book during the day, or we will sit a and I’ll read it with him, and he always chooses his own book at bedtime.

From when we started a bedtime routine at about 4 months. Not always every night as sometimes there just wasn't chance if we wanted to avoid a meltdown! But now at 9 months it's a solid part of bedtime and she will snuggle into you to be read to. Agree that the "that's not my" books are a great start - and at that age you only need one

From day 1 here too. Ds is now almost 15 months and absolutely adores books. I'm not saying that he wouldn't if I hadn't read to him but it's a huge indicator of future literacy and it's such a lovely activity to do together.

My DH and I started reading books to our DD when she was about 4 weeks old. I would lie down with her and hold the book up so she could see the images and I'd just read away - she used to happily lie there with me, her eyes darting around trying to focus, I did this everyday & as the weeks went on she would get more & more excited kicking her arms and legs, gurgling and cooing. She would get so excited and would show a preference to certain books. DD is 18 months now and absolutely loves her books - we still read about 3/4 books a day to her and she will happily sit on the floor 'reading' & talking away to herself, turning the pages and pointing at words and images. She's very communicative verbally and non verbally & I honestly think alot of that is down to the reading as it's so interactive.

Three months. My daughter is now three years and absolutely loves books, has a pretty broad vocabulary for her age and is doing well with phonics.

From birth. Its particularly beneficial for the father to read to them if possible.

From when they can hold their head up propped up against you - start with the touch the different fabrics or similar or just pictures of animals maybe, story books from about a year

Read from the start and worried he showed no interest. Then all of a sudden at about 8 months he got really into books. Now at 10 months he has his favourite stories that he asks us to read over and over.

We didn't read regularly to ours until they were about 1 adds Mumsnet brag about what age they were reading chapter books and knew their phonics.

We waited until they showed an interest.

Never too soon. I'm still reading to my 7 year old who struggles with reading by himself. By reading to him, I spend time with him, he keeps up his interest in books and he's not looking at a screen. People have commented on his vocab being very broad for 7 years old.
My other two read a lot and I read to them from babies. They are 12 and 13. They are also complimented in their broad vocab.

It’s never too early! You don’t need to read long books and it doesn’t have to be a bedtime thing but having books around and reading aloud is such a positive thing to do- they hear the tone and intonation in your voice as you read and will soon become interested in the pictures. I also found it a lovely way to interact with my son, especially when they don’t really ‘do’ a lot at that age. Never too early to start, it will be become second nature to you both. I used to take my son to the library from around 6 months too - a free activity and gave me something else to read to him.

You don't have to "read them stories" to enjoy sharing books with them. Simple picture books and looking at board books where you might make animal noises or just label the household objects or the vehicles or whatever all start developing vocabulary and recognising things.

Probably about 9 or 12 months.

From birth ... he's 20 now and hasn't read a book for pleasure for many years (managed to get to Uni though) so it doesn't always follow that they turn out to be great readers ... and my DH and I are always reading at home but DS just not interested !

We read to ds from 9 weeks - which is when we really started to have a routine. He's now 13 months and LOVES books. He'll often just sit in his cot/playpen and turn the pages.

From birth, but that was more because I had no idea how to interact with a baby at that point, and I felt less silly reading Tiddler than I did talking to him about nothing.

He’s now 4, and we read for about half an hour a night before bed - we’ve done that since he was about a year old, just became part of the bedtime routine.