Author Topic: Story time for baby? When did you start? (Read 4201 times)

Naomi72 · « **on:** January 26, 2008, 11:11:38 am »

I was wondering when to start reading books to my son? He's now 9 months old and I was planning on strting when he reaches a year old!!
Thanks

Samuel's mum · « **Reply #1 on:** January 26, 2008, 11:56:38 am »

I would start now to be honest. By 12 months Sam was choosing his books and requesting certain books in the day. We started reading books very early - soft books, rhymes and songs. Regular 'storytimes' by 6 months for sure (bit of book chewing but principles were there).
No time like the present!

lilmonkey · « **Reply #2 on:** January 26, 2008, 13:07:25 pm »

We started at 3 mos for both of mine. DS joins dd in her room for one book as dh reads and then I take him to his room to feed and sleep.

esthere · « **Reply #3 on:** January 26, 2008, 14:22:34 pm »

We started straight away also

You lucky Mama , there are so many gorgeous books for that age

Enjoy !!

sparks19 · « **Reply #4 on:** January 26, 2008, 14:27:21 pm »

We started with hannah when she was only a few days old lol... at first I felt silly reading to her since she can't really understand what is happening... but she was in the NICU and when you are there for hours and hours everyday you can only find so many things to say to her over and over before it gets too repetative.... so i started bringing books to read to her just so she could hear my voice. the nurses would always AWWW about it... and the NICU Dr (he was wonderful) said "You are reading to her already?" then he laughed and said that it is never too early... they need to hear language as often as they can and reading is a good way to do that.

So I have been reading to her almost everyday since then.

Books are fun for me and her lol

jennyh · « **Reply #5 on:** January 26, 2008, 16:18:58 pm »

i have read to both of mine from a few weeks old,so i would start now.
its one of our special times together everyday.

{{{Angela}}} · « **Reply #6 on:** January 26, 2008, 16:34:45 pm »

We also started at a few weeks old. Lots of soft cloth books with textures and bright pictures. Now DD reads with DS at bedtime and we do both the baby books and the big boy books that DS has. DD often coos and ahhs while we're reading - it's like she's reading too, and she's very interested in the pictures.

chrissie1982 · « **Reply #7 on:** January 26, 2008, 17:07:03 pm »

I started reading to ds when he was about 5 or 6 weeks old. I work in a library (when I'm not on maternity leave) and I always loved flipping through all the baby books there myself so I couldn't wait for lo to arrive so that I would have a real reason to read them

He now gets so excited whenever he sees a book (so excited that there is no way we could have story time at bedtime!). His favourite ones are the touchy feely ones with all of the different textures. Even with just a 'normal' book he still feels all over the page for the textured bits.

amywiz24 · « **Reply #8 on:** January 26, 2008, 19:50:28 pm »

I started right away as well.
At 9 mos, he will love to hear the animal noises, feel textures and look at the big bright pictures!
Have fun.

NiknLily · « **Reply #9 on:** January 26, 2008, 20:02:53 pm »

Hi can I borrow this thread for a while?
I started reading to DD when she was about 3-4m, she is now 21m. She does love books we have stories at nap & bedtime but lately she has not wanted to sit and read at other times and I would like to read at least 1 time during the day other than bedtimes. Anyone have any tips on how to keep an active toddler interested in books as my reading is very slow and I read very little as a child and really don't want the same for DD.

She has her own stash of books, which she may well be a little bored with but we also go the Libray every 2-3 weeks and stock up on new ones.

sparks19 · « **Reply #10 on:** January 26, 2008, 21:20:31 pm »

Quote from: new mum on January 26, 2008, 20:02:53 pm

Hi can I borrow this thread for a while?
I started reading to DD when she was about 3-4m, she is now 21m. She does love books we have stories at nap & bedtime but lately she has not wanted to sit and read at other times and I would like to read at least 1 time during the day other than bedtimes. Anyone have any tips on how to keep an active toddler interested in books as my reading is very slow and I read very little as a child and really don't want the same for DD.

She has her own stash of books, which she may well be a little bored with but we also go the Libray every 2-3 weeks and stock up on new ones.

The only thing I can suggest is finding a couple of books and reading them A LOT... most of the time they don't get bored with the same book... especially if it's a favourite. And if you read it yourself a lot you will eventually start to sorta memorize it... that will help you not have to concentrate on the words so much and then you can really ad lib and make the story your own.

HTH.

esthere · « **Reply #11 on:** January 26, 2008, 22:23:14 pm »

You know, I have found with harry, that even if he is active , I keep reading the story if he goes off doing other things. He still 'takes it in' and will talk about stories later. This way, you can take your time, sit close to her and read ?

Reading at nap and bedtimes is great though, I love the snuggles

marensmama · « **Reply #12 on:** January 26, 2008, 22:30:31 pm »

I started to read to DD1 at about 3 months, she went through phases of loving it and phases of couldn't be less interested (let her take the lead and if not interested, don't push it but suggest it a lot). For awhile there she didn't want to even look at toys, it was books, books, books. The plus side to it is that now she has amazing verbal and comprehension skills. It has also taught her to respect books, we have lots of preschooler - not baby books - that don't have a single torn page. We found one character she liked (Franklin the Turtle) and read every Franklin book we could find. She still loves them! Which reminds me, time to start with DD2!

~S~ · « **Reply #13 on:** January 26, 2008, 23:10:26 pm »

We started in the womb with both of ours. My lo1 is 8yrs old and now has almost a 7th grade reading level.

(just a little proud). I was much more consistent with my lo1 than I am now with my lo2, and she runs around more than my lo1 did during reading. I agree w/ ppl it is helpful to read the same books over and over. We just found one of my oldest's favorite books I had put away, hadn't read it in years, she was going to read it to her little sister, and I still knew it by heart, they stick in your head forever. But then the lo starts to 'read' the books/stories and feel like they are, b/c they know the words that go w/ the page. It is also helpful to run your finger under the words as you go, it teaches them the direction to read. We always liked short books that rhymed when they get wiggly.

lilmonkey · « **Reply #14 on:** January 27, 2008, 00:38:21 am »

We have Franklin too! DD loves them. She can recite the stories as she flips through the pages.

amywiz24 · « **Reply #15 on:** January 27, 2008, 05:09:46 am »

I don't think Sam has gone through phases of not being interested in books yet; BUT, he goes thorugh phases where he doesn't like to sit still for them. I find if I keep reading, he will come and look at a few pages, go do his own thing and then come back again. If I keep reading, he doesn't want to miss out. Also, I try to do more "active" books during the day: lift the flap, push buttons to make noises, etc........and then more "passive" books before bed.
HTH

mom2ene · « **Reply #16 on:** January 27, 2008, 06:05:23 am »

I think the earlier the better. It really helps with language development. When my dd seemed bored I would juat start aking her where certain things were on the pages to get her attention back. We read a couple times a day together as a group(myself and both dds...3yrs old and 5.5 months old) and then we read at nap time and bedtime.

NiknLily · « **Reply #17 on:** January 27, 2008, 12:56:15 pm »

Thanks ladies. I think I will just suggest story time get her to choose a book, sit together and start reading and just keep reading if she gets up and moves onto another activity, I guess if I keep reading while she plays she will notice my attention is still with the book and maybe come sit and listen to the end of the story.

I know what you mean about memorizing them, most of DD small board books I know by heart

nap & bedtime stories aren't that snuggly at present either as we read in my room (she is still in cot so not practicle to read when she in bed) for the most part she torments the cat and mess's about it does nothing to wind her down at all

but thats another problem altogether I think

dmills · « **Reply #18 on:** January 28, 2008, 20:54:03 pm »

My ds would sit through books at all ages and stages. I will say that if he started to wriggle, we would read to him while he was having his bottle. My dd on the other hand just crawls all over while we are doing story time. Is she at least getting some benefit from it?

NiknLily · « **Reply #19 on:** January 29, 2008, 13:03:33 pm »

I think she's getting some benefit from it, occasionally she will sit and look at the book with me, then wriggle of down the bed

I have largely started ignoring it, just giving her a look

and she will come back. I think its just all becoming bedtime games to her but at this stage I can't be bothered to fight it. When she gets into big girl bed and our wind down will be in her room, then I will take things mores seriously as I will want her relaxed enough to not want to jump straight out of bed the second I leave the room, Ha! I can dream

We did however have quite a nice story time yesterday afternoon and she sat for most of the book, its quite a long one for her attention span, so I was pleased that worked and will keep that up from now.

thanks for letting me hyjack this thread

Naomi72 · « **Reply #20 on:** February 01, 2008, 06:34:09 am »

One of my concerns was that DS cant sit still even at night time he has to be running around... I have no idea where he gets his activeness from.... not from my side thats for sure

lol

Katet · « **Reply #21 on:** February 01, 2008, 07:59:38 am »

I've been reading since they were days old & infact when I had trouble getting ds#1 to sleep I used to put him in his cot & read to him & the sound of my voice seemed to lull him off to sleep, I still read my 2.5yo to sleep at nap time (he falls asleep during stories on my lap)
I think you will find that your ds will actually stop & listen & get involved if you make it a regular thing not just at bedtime, but during the day, show him books with flaps & pictures rather than actually reading stories... my 2 LOVED the "thats not my..." books & I remember at 9mo my ds#1 sat "reading" for at least 30mins one day, just flicking back & forth looking at the pictures.

Aly Mac · « **Reply #22 on:** February 01, 2008, 08:19:05 am »

I also have the same problem as newmum. I always try to read to L, but she changes teh pages back and forth etc. I tried early on to read at bedtime but it excited her too much. she has picture books that she like to look at and we go through the animals, but again, she won't look at it.

will try the advice with just a couple of books and persist as I would eventually like it to become part of her bedtime routine when we eventually wean.

Naomi72 · « **Reply #23 on:** February 02, 2008, 14:13:31 pm »

I read to him yesterday.... the first book he was okay and the second book.... the third book he just started giggling like he does when he gets tired and is about to go to sleep.... It was priceless!!

..... He didnt go to sleep though! But it was very cute........

esthere · « **Reply #24 on:** February 02, 2008, 15:45:13 pm »

Naomi ,

it does sound very cute, enjoy this time

Naomi72 · « **Reply #25 on:** February 16, 2008, 12:47:42 pm »

I tried again last night... DS just grabbed the book from me and rolled over with it!!
very funny!

GG · « **Reply #26 on:** February 21, 2008, 04:46:05 am »

I started showing him simple books at 6 mo. His first book was "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You Hear?" I ad libbed a melody to the words (I figured babies prefer songs) and the photos were simply for him to look at. He LOVED it and was "turning pages" soon after.

DD didn't care for books when she was younger. She never gave her attention so I only showed her books on occasion rather than every night. However, she loves books now, probably because of being around all these books and the influence of her big brother.

Ethans Mommy2 · « **Reply #27 on:** February 21, 2008, 17:55:39 pm »

We started reading to Ethan almost immediately, and by 8 months we could recite a phrase from his story book, and he would go and get the correct book. We read to him several times a day, sometimes when he is about to have a mini breakdown, reading is the only thing that helps calm him. IMO, I would start now, there is nothing better than giving your child a love for books!

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Author Topic: Story time for baby? When did you start? (Read 4201 times)

lilmonkey

lilmonkey