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?

Read to him, talk to him. Doesn't matter if he doesn't respond, it'll all go in there.

From birth.

Because my DD is severely physically disabled she can’t yet walk or lift toys or talk (learning to hopefully) she spent 11 weeks in hospital at birth. I read to her from day 3 of her life.
I read to her for 1.5 hours every day.
She knows all of her books off by heart and tries to read along with me.
It’s one of her security things.
I’m an avid reader too, so it just made sense to me to do something for her

About a week (because I wanted to read the lovely books I had for her to her as soon as I could!!)

She's 3 months now and starting to actually show an interest so I would try it with your little one. As well as me reading to her, DD loves it if I prop a board book open so that she can see it while she's having tummy time or on her back playing in her baby gym, so you could try that?

Every day from the day we came home from the hospital at 5 days old (didn't think to pack any of the story books in the hospital bag)

Making books an intrinic part of life is one of the best things a parent can do. It doesn't matter that the baby isn't interested in the physical book, they will be interested in the sound of your voice.

but he did like listening to the Communist Manifesto when he was born for some reason.

.

From a couple of days after birth.

Most days - my baby has loved books since about 3 months old.

From when he was tiny - I sometimes read aloud from whatever book I was reading so he heard more of my voice (was never great at narrating everything). If you're getting to the point of starting to have a bedtime routine, including one or two stories can be a really nice part of it. There's lots of stories with a lovely rhythm, repetition etc (hairy maclary books, going on a bear hunt etc) and I remember DS starting to have stories he particularly liked by about 8 months. He's now 3 and has stories cuddled up in bed in the morning and at bedtime (and sometimes during the day). He asks for stories by name, knows several by heart and we talk about the words and pictures. His speech and language are still a bit delayed so it's hopefully helping with that, but it's basically one of my favourite things to do with him, especially when he got to know stories and would look forward to certain bits and join in/fill in words if I left a pause. I used to read stories that ended with an animal finding its mum and we'd always have a big hug at that point (getting slightly emotional remembering that). Anyway, just wanted to share how special it can be and rather than thinking about it mattering, hopefully it's something you can enjoy with your little boy.

I did it from birth, but don't think that you need to be reading them children's stories at that point! If you are reading a book or article while breastfeeding, just read aloud. The important think is just an exposure to words, sounds, and intonation. You will want to read them children's books obviously once they start becoming more aware/can reach out and touch them, but from 0-2 months, anything will do.

Every day from a few weeks old. At 5 months she could turn pages (board books) and now at 7 months, she can lift the flaps in flappy books. She loves books as much as toys, so would absolutely recommend as soon as possible. Lovely way to bond too

Since she was newborn

From birth, as good as.

But then I'm a book-loving primary school teacher, so it was important to me. My son loved books from the get-go, but my daughter wasn't really that interested until about 3.5.

While I was pregnant. If I was reading for myself, I occasionally read it out loud to my little one. I then read multiple times during the day from newborn and started nighttime stories when he moved into his own room.