reading to my toddler not going well any tips?

[mummysgoingmad]

I have tried and tried to read to my ds (18 months) but he's really not bothered.
He pushes the book on my hand if he's on my knee and if he's not on my knee he walks away.

He will watch and listen to me sing nursary rhymes etc.

I'm finding books dont work at the moment for me, and i'm useless at making up storys in my head!

Any tips would be great

Give it a break for a bit and come back to it in a couple of months if it seems a bit pointless at the moment. Nobody will tell the middle class parenting police on you, honest

yes, take a break. it is not essential to read to him. if he likes nursery rhymes do those instead.

I'd agree with the others. Just give it a little break. I don't read to my ds's every day.
When you come back to it, just start off by looking at the pictures.
Look for some short books that only have a few words on each page, maybe get some touch and feel books so your ds can get a bit more involved.

We normally look at all the pictures first and talk about the different colours etc, then read it the 2nd or 3rd time we look through it, depending on their moods.
Mine are 2.9yrs and 15m

I think 18 months is too young. We started DS1 with having bedtime stories only about a month ago (he is now 2.3) and he loves it. Will try to get us to read as many stories to him as possible! I just can't imagine him wanting to do so before that to be honest...

I don't think you need any tips. Your son is not interested at this time. Not a problem. No guilt needed at all.

I agree with the others that you don't need to force it if he's not interested, and don't beat yourself up about it.

However, if you really want to keep trying, you could go for some of the more interactive books which will hopefully keep him entertained for a bit longer (I like the Noisy Peekaboo series from DK, where you look for something that's lost and when you find it by lifting the flaps, it makes a noise) - noises, different textures, very colourful pop ups etc.

If he really won't sit still and you want to tell him a story without a book, you could read a story book yourself in advance and re-tell the story to him when he's listening and in the mood(they won't have a long enough narrative for you to forget in a hurry ).

When you do try again, I'd say the two most important things are picking the right time - when he's settled, content and ready for a cuddle, (i.e. probably tired!) rather than playtime and throwing away your inhibitions - put on silly voices for the different characters, use your whole body to act out what's being described, sing etc.

When are you reading to him? We never really read much during the day - always more exciting things to be doing.

However from about 3 months old, DS has always had a bedtime story. Tired, snuggled up in bed, a captive audience.

I did also used to read sometimes when DS woke from naps at that age - he'd be sleepy and needed time to come round, a story would do the trick.

What kind of books are you reading?

My DD is now 21m and she's loved being read to since about 18m but we keep the books very very simple. For the first few months we took turns reading our collection of 'That's not my...' books which she loved but she's now rejecting them in favour of some small Charlie & Lola books and a book called Ten in the Bed which has a button to press that plays a tune.

Some simple books let you incorporate baby massage into the telling. My favourite is 'Sqelch squelch in the mud' which is a Bookstart book. I rub her feet for the muddy bit, the rub her legs and tummy for the scrubba dub bit. Then stroke her hair for the 'gently stroke your hair bit', then it ends in a tickle. Boys might prefer that to staying still.

ds3 will not entertain looking at a book in the daytime (far too many other things to do!) but he does love to snuggle up with a book (or 6!) at bedtime.

We have a 'story box' in his bedroom so he can choose his own bedtime stories. We've got a real mixture of board books, lift the flap books, touchy feely books as well as stories and rhymes. We've filled the box by going around charity shops and nearly new sales and it really does keep him enthusiastic about books.

I agree with everyone else though, no rush

How about books that are just a song written down then sing and turn the pages?

I was also really concerned that DD wouldn't sit and allow me to read to her from an early age, she is now almost 2 and only just starting to hold her attention long enough to get through a very short book. And I don't read to her every night, sometimes we spend some time in her room before bed playing with her toys and generally have some "us" time.

Agree with everyone else - there's no rush.

With DD one of the books she did like eventually was the very busy spider by Eric Carle where she got to run her fingers along the spider's web. Also most of the lift the flap /interactive books.

I'm sure you have probably tried most of these so take a deep breath and relax. I think as long as you are doing SOMETHING with them it's fine and anyway - all kids love singing. Enjoy your LO

Does he like looking at books on his own? If so you can just leave them around and he will have fun with them, and may well come back and ask you to read them in his own time. Either way it is probably just a temporary thing.

Our DS loves books but he had a phase where he wouldn't let anyone read them to him - especially his favourite ones! He was the only one allowed to touch them. But it passed and now he loves having stories again. Just wait, soon you too will be being pestered to read the same book 5 times in a row

Wow thanks for all the replys! He doesn't really look at books much, he loves watching the mr men on youtube, but maybe this isn't helping ? I might try different kind of books, ones with textures etc, i already have pop up books but he's not really interested in them either.

I think i won't be as obvious when reading and maybe he'l be naturally enticed

My two older children loved books almost from day one. So I was really worried when my third one really had no patience for or interest in books at all. I was worried about her development and also it was hard on me as I loved cuddling up and reading to my toddlers. In the end, DC3 didn't get interested in books until well after her second birthday - actually closer to age 3. She's now a complete book worm, loves stories and can sit and be read to for hours on end. She now enjoys more complex stories for her age than the other two did. So don't worry - the time will come. Give it a rest and try again in a month or two.

DD 12 would never let me read to her when she was little, always far more interested in whatever else was going on.
She virtually taught herself to read and is now loves reading.

My dd had no interest pushed books away- ignored the stories walked away etc. Then one day she started bringing books to me and looking at them herself. Before bed and nap she'll ask for' stogie ' and has recently been caught sat at her bookstand surrounded by books quietly looking at all the pictures- this was at eleven pm three hours after bedtime, she'd got out of bed and been sitting there for god knows how long, when i thought she'd been fast asleep. Shes 20 months. Your ds will start to take an interest when if's ready. Same goes for everything at that age

I don't think it's anything to worry about. I'd just leave it until he's forgotten and then casually give it another go.
Nothing wrong with Youtube in moderation - my DD (8) loved watching the children's programmes from the 1970s on it!

Have you tried the "that's not my..." series? Ds (13mo) loves touching the different textures and turning the pages himself (usually backwards so makes reading a bit difficult!) Agree on trying the silly voices - ds giggles madly if I do that!

Try just turning pages and saying 'where is the X,Y or Z', can you see the x,y, or z' to him - my two loved this from before 18 months old. They get bored with you reading the words but love looking at familiar items and the praise they get when they point to them!

My First Words is particularly good and also the Richard Scarry books like this one are great.

oh and New House for Mouse is fabbo - gorgeous colours plus it has a hole on every page to look through!!!