anyone with tips on bed time reading to a baby?

[ImpatientGriselda]

My DD is nearly 6 months old, and I'd love to start reading her stories at bed time. I currently give her a bath at 6pm, followed by a feed at 6.30pm. She gets very sleepy during the feed, and usually kips off before I put her in her cot at 7pm; when have you found is a good time to fit in a story? She gets very impatient if I try to read her a book during the day (as she'd rather be trying to stand up...), so I thought that night time reading might be more successful, but have been scared to disrupt our current routine...any thoughts gratefully received...

[Morloth]

Why don't you get some squidgy bath books to play with/read in the bath and then later on (i.e. a bit older) when its time to drop the night time feed replace that with a story/cuddles?

DH and I still argue over who gets to do bedtime as the cuddle time is just golden.

[Neeerly3]

we didn't start reading at bedtime til the boys were in big beds....now it's a big part of bedtime. Before that age books didn't interest them enough for it to be an enjoyable relaxing experience, so it was just bath, bottle (feed) bed.

[Yorky]

I introduced a book at bedtime to stop DS feeding himself to sleep. It meant I had to move bathtime a little bit earlier initially but we always read the same story, have been reading it for over a year now! If he's really tired he slams the book shut on my fingers but he goes into his cot awake and settles himself quickly. I think we started when he was about 4 or 5 months, but may have been later

[woodstock3]

it's only now (at 13mo) that ds is really interested in books at bedtime - before that it was just bottle, song, pass out. at six months he would've been asleep before i'd started but he did play with books interestedly during the day and with books in the bath (waterproof ones obviously!).
at this age i think it's fine not doing night time story, just have something relaxing instead (a song, a cuddle) that can be replaced with a book later when they're a bit older (and wont sit still in the daytime to read...)

[Midwinter]

I read to my ds between the bath and the feed. I started at about 5ish months. Now, at 11 months he turns the pages for me. He will also bring me books in the day so I read those to him then even if he wanders off half way through. He odes like to eat them too! It pays to have books that you like to read as I think my enthusiasm come through. You could start with one quick story, I have a couple that take just a minute or two to read. I do two a night and judge how tired he is vs the length of them. It works well for us and it signals to him that the relative excitement of his bath is over and it really is bedtime. I've also read that you can try reading to them in the bath to get them used to the idea but I guess at 6 months you still need both hands for the actual bath!

[Cicatrice]

DS will eat anything. He's particularly persistent on the Economist. But I had to pay £16 the last time I returned books to the library for damage. He doesn't always swallow though!

[ImpatientGriselda]

thanks, folks; Cicatrice, we have the same problem with books being more fun to eat than read at the moment...the only time she shows any interest in literatue is if I'm trying to read a book while BFing, when she'll do her best to grab the book and turn a few pages...

[biscuitsmustbedunkedintea]

I would read books to my DD before her naps, when she was that age (still do, and she's now 21months). We only introduced the bedtime story at about 17 months, mainly because similar to whats been said, she was too drouzy to listen.

[rookiemater]

I wouldn't worry too much about doing a book at bedtime if it doesn't work for you. Read her a book at a different time of day, the important thing is that she gets to see books and understand why they would be of interest to her.

[TeeBee]

I got bath books at this age.

[Ledodgy]

When I say later on I mean when they're a bit older and not in the middle of the night.

[Ledodgy]

I sing to them before bed at this age and read later on.

[Cicatrice]

I'm in the same boat. DS is a riot of movement through the day. If I try to read to him he grabs the book and tries to eat it. I would like to read at bedtime but he's either awake and trying to eat the book inthe bath or winding down and feeding.

I may start trying before his after noon nap.