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Original poster

Bored of Reading to my Toddler

155 replies

NoKusuAllowed · 24/06/2025 10:11

Hi all! My 21-month old is sharp, eloquent, and loves reading. Unfortunately, as she's a toddler, she also loves repetition, and for around a year has been insisting that I read the same books over and over and over, such that it drives me insane. I used to oblige as I wanted to foster her love of language, but even though we rotate our 70+ books regularly, and I've recently implemented a 'read twice' maximum for each book at a time, I still can't help but cringe and be visibly irritated when she brings me the same ten-page, (once charming) dull-as-dishwater folio that she brought to me an hour ago. Or being bored to tears of a book I've just rotated back in after the first re-read, having had months away from it.
I've tried reading her some of my books with limited success, but, understandably, she's not as interested in that, so it's not a viable substitute.
I want to keep reading to her, but I don't want to continuously buy new books from the charity shop, and the frequency of my boredom means that I can't rely on the library unless I want to walk there several times a week, which isn't really feasible. I also don't want to put her off by involuntarily groaning whenever she approaches me with a book. Does anyone have any advice? Many thanks in advance!

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JollyHostess101 · 27/06/2025 14:37

NoKusuAllowed · 27/06/2025 13:07

That's a really good system. It would certainly save the storage space. I'm always a little worried about damage to library books that she gets really into, as a good chunk of her favourites have been thoroughly 'loved', particularly the flap/slider books. Thankfully, the older she gets, the more conscious she is of damage, so perhaps I can begin phasing in a something similar. As mentioned, we do utilise our library a lot, but I can redirect to another favourite if she's getting a little too hands-on with the library books.

Structure-wise, we have keystone points in the day, y'know, lunch, nap, walk/outdoor errands/B&R etc. But the time between is loose and is largely guided by what's been most interesting to her, as well as a few repetitions that I encourage, but I don't push if she shows no interest.

There isn't any specific reading time, save bedtime, but there are times she expects to be read to out of habit, such as before/after a nap, when we come home after a walk, after meals etc. Between those, at regular intervals, she will break from what she's doing, bring me a book and ask if we can read it, then bring me another and so on until I redirect to another activity. I wonder what specific reading time would even look like... It's just effused into life so effectively that I wouldn't know where to begin on reigning it in to one or two patches in a day 🤔

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I work in a library now and picture/board/books with flaps etc we really don’t expect them to have a long life and know they’ll get well loved quickly so don’t worry!

ImFineItsAllFine · 27/06/2025 15:39

ImFineItsAllFine · 27/06/2025 14:34

I am asking for ways to make things seem less boring and frustrating because I know this is an important sacrifice I need to make. I will be bored, how put a better lid on that or otherwise make the boring thing less boring?

Get some wireless earbuds and put on some chillout music or something for you to listen to while you read.

Actually thinking about it I used to find a nice glass of wine made 10 consecutive readings of Peepo that bit more bearable, but that's probably not good advice.

FanofLeaves · 27/06/2025 15:48

NoKusuAllowed · 27/06/2025 13:36

I appreciate the candor, especially as Dear Zoo is not far from following me into my dreams!

No apologies necessary; anthologies have been a bit tricky in the past because last time we tried she didn't really get the idea of a 'break' between stories and was confused as to why we weren't finishing the whole book like we do with the others. She kept insisting that we finish a monster anthology book that's a good inch or so thick! We did make it through, and after that she was happy just to go back to her favourite pages. Great for not getting bored, at least. Of course, that was pre-boundry setting, so a while ago, and I'm hoping she'll be in a better position to recognise individual stories and chapters as opposed to taking each book as a whole nowadays.

Julia Donaldson has been mentioned a couple of times, now; I wonder if I've been bogged down with too many bad books. I'll definitely keep my eye out for the name, thank you!

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There’s a real range of them re Julia D. Some have a very nice beat and a flow, some not so much.

I love the Singling Mermaid, a Squash and a Squeeze, and The Smartest Giant in Town but less enamoured with the Ugly Five and What the Ladybird Heard. But there are absolutely loads, not just the popular ones. The animations they made out of some of them on BBC Iplayer are lovely and watchable too.

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Nottodaythankyou123 · 27/06/2025 18:10

NoKusuAllowed · 27/06/2025 13:36

I appreciate the candor, especially as Dear Zoo is not far from following me into my dreams!

No apologies necessary; anthologies have been a bit tricky in the past because last time we tried she didn't really get the idea of a 'break' between stories and was confused as to why we weren't finishing the whole book like we do with the others. She kept insisting that we finish a monster anthology book that's a good inch or so thick! We did make it through, and after that she was happy just to go back to her favourite pages. Great for not getting bored, at least. Of course, that was pre-boundry setting, so a while ago, and I'm hoping she'll be in a better position to recognise individual stories and chapters as opposed to taking each book as a whole nowadays.

Julia Donaldson has been mentioned a couple of times, now; I wonder if I've been bogged down with too many bad books. I'll definitely keep my eye out for the name, thank you!

Show quote history

Dear Zoo (especially the lion page) will haunt me for the rest of my life!

Definitely try the Julia Donaldson, my eldest loved the hospital dog and the detective dog from around 18 months, and at 4 we still read them 4/5 times a week!

OurMavis · 27/06/2025 18:18

I could still recite Richard Scarry's Busy Town books 28 years after reading them to DS.
One tip I learned for reading to very small children is not to read the words literally every time. Vary the text and dialogue with your own twist and make it different each time.

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