9 month old wants to eat the books, rather than listen to me read

[1sttimemamma]

Hey! My first never tried to eat books, this one loves to bite them. When I read to him, all he does is try to grab the books to start biting them. It's funny to watch him climb and crawl all over me to get them, but I don't know if I'm supposed to let him do that, or try to keep them away from his mouth.

[Florena49]

Dont know what the answer is, but we are the same here, will chew, dribble, rip them out of my hands and barely sit still when i read. I often just put him on the floor and let him crawl whilst i read, otherwise there isnt much reading happening.

[creations]

If it was me I'd stop him. I wanted DS to respect all books from day 1. I wonder if your DS would accept something else to chew on or fiddle with whilst you read? Sometimes LOs need something to touch and play with in order to hear a story and can't be expected to sit still.
There are some hard plastic books which might be helpful?

[amayzie]

It's funny how all bubs are different!! I have friends whose little ones couldn't sit to have a story read at all for ages- and would prefer to eat or grab them rather than sit... Their little guys now are older (as in around 3) and are very happy now to read and interact with stories. It's great to introduce books from very early- but some of the great things stories give you can probably make sure you are getting other ways. One of the great things about reading books at this age is actually taking the time to stop and sit with your little one and have close time while talking to them. If your little one is too busy for this then perhaps ditch the book all together and have a cuddle or a play while you tell them rhyming songs or nursery rhymes.. that way they are still getting that closeness and hearing your voice, and getting some of those early literacy concepts. It's better to not stress about it at this age and just think of other ways to achieve the same outcomes. Another option os using bath books- they can go into the bath and get a bit of a beating.

Both of my friends little guys who were too busy for books are bright little things with all the signs of early literacy now- it doesn't all need to happen before 1!

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

We have a whole bunch of board books for DD3 to "read"...she chews on some of them and not on others but I don't stop her unless she gets a small chunk off. I just read a different book than what she is chewing. Since all the books have had two sisters and a dog munch on them at various times she cannot do much more damage. They will be recycled when she outgrows them if they are in bad shape. We keep paperback books etc up out of reach.

[becj86]

L bit books with few words only, board books designed for LOs. I have the same thoughts on respecting books from the beginning as Creations explained, so took them out of circulation and one day we toddled off and got my book for me. I read aloud and he was so much happier to listen to me reading my book to him. He liked to hear the rhythm of language. He listened to a lot of parenting books as a young kid from 9 months on.

[lhurley168]

I have the same issue with my now 11 mo old DS. He started grabbing books out of my hands early on. I'd like to keep the books on the best condition I can so I won't let him go for the one with paper pages. I've found he's more interested looking at the pictures so instead of reading I ask him what he sees and just describe the pictures to him. As he gets older well start to focus on reading. I've also designated only 1-3 books he has free access to which usually consists of him bending them in half the wrong way or trying to pull the pages out. When he goes for a "good" book I tell him to find his books and he knows exactly what I'm talking about. He's defenitely learning, sometimes I catch him holding the book in the air with both hands babbling. So as long as you set those boundaries and still model how books should be treated your baby will eventually catch on.