Reading to Your Baby

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When I got pregnant with my first child, one of the first things that I did (to the amusement of my husband) was join a children's book club where I purchased such classics as Where the Wild
Things Are, Guess How Much I Love You?, and The Very Hungry Caterpillar. I did it because I never wanted there to be a time that my son didn't remember being read to. 
 
Why Read to Your Newborn Baby?
There is no better way to bond with your baby than by snuggling up someplace quiet where baby can enjoy the docile tones of your voice (docile is important!) as he looks at colorful pictures or illustrations that engage his attention and curiosity. Reading to your baby promotes listening skills, which you will be thankful for when he starts moving.
 
As for that docile voice... do you recall the 1987 flick 3 Men and a Baby? The Tom Selleck character is reading the details of a boxing match to the baby in his care in a docile, soothing tone. He explains to his friend, "It doesn't matter what I read, it's the tone you use. She doesn't understand the words anyway, now where were we?"
 
That special high-pitched, sing-song tone people adopt when talking to babies has been dubbed "parentese." It seems to happen naturally; we make ridiculous faces, elongate our vowels, and though we're not quite singing, we produce definite changes in pitch. Babies go bonkers for this. Studies indicate that babies prefer being talked to in parentese. They love watching animated facial expressions and are comforted by high-pitched tones. Parentese helps babies learn about speech thanks to the way it slows down vocabulary and accentuates important words and sounds. 
 
Reading to Your Older Baby
As your baby grows, using books is one of the best ways to learn the meaning of words. My two-year old twins are in speech therapy twice a week. The therapist and I use book illustrations to make sure they understand words before we try and get them to speak the words. Books are invaluable tools!
 
Reading books to your older baby will help him learn unusual words and will give him a sense of what print is and how it is used to read. Curling up with him will give him a sense of security. As your words bring forth new images and stories, you will stimulate his blossoming imagination and instill a love of books.
 
What Books Should I Read?
Books about the sport of boxing, of course! Seriously, there are too many excellent books to choose from... my favorites are Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown, Pat the Bunny by Dorothy Kunhardt (incorporates tactile learning!), Brown Bear Brown Bear What do you See by Bill Martin Jr, and Barnyard Dance by Sandra Boynton. So go ahead, pick a great book, and start reading to that baby of yours!!!
Alice Phua (not verified)

My baby (now a 1-year-old toddler) has very short attention span. Many a times, when I read to him, after going thru 1 or 2 or 3 pages, he will grab the back cover of the book and forcefully close it as if telling me, "Mommy, enough! I don't want to read some more!"

Location: Selangor, Malaysia
Position: Parent
Posts:

I started reading to my daughter(Currently 20 months old)when she was still in the womb at around 5 months old (When her auditory was well developed).

When I bought her a Nursery Rhymes book at 1 1/2 months, she paid full attention to it everytime I flipped the book. She started to flip the books on her own and babbling (As pretending she knows how to read) when she was 6 months old. When she was a year old, she was able to speak around 100 vocabs and if you asked her to show you the particular picture on the book, she would stare or point at the picture accurately.

Now she was able to sing some nursery rhymes or fill in the blank the lost words for most nursery rhymes. I never force her to read, indeed she would ask me to read for her from time to time.(To the extend my mind struggled, "Could you give me a break?").

It proves to me that the earlier you read to your children, the earlier they learn and it would probably become a habit for them to read!

Dawn (not verified)

The pic of baby and daddy just makes you go awwwwwwwww!
I am a firm believer in reading to your baby as early as possible! I read to my 3 girls while I was pregnant with them.

ps. following your blog from the MBC ;)

Dawn

Location: NY, USA
Positions: Parent Writer
Posts:

My little ones have short attention spans too some days! When they slam the books closed, I fight the urge to make them stay 'til the very end! I'd certainly hate to make them think that reading together is some sort of punishment!

I should've mentioned something in my article about reading to your unborn baby! What a fantastic way to bond with your child. (A better idea, even, than putting headphones on your belly and having your baby listen to Mozart!)

The picture is of my one and only daughter, Ella, and her daddy. She is the epitome of the term "daddy's little princess." Two years later, she will still lay still and cuddle with him like that.

Location: Colorado, USA
Positions: Parent Librarian, Administrator
Posts:

So glad to hear so many people are reading to their babies early and even before birth. I didn't start reading to my oldest son until he was a couple of weeks old but he was reading on his own at three. When he and his wife got pregnant he read the entire Chronicles of Narnia with his head resting on her belly. All three of my son's son's love books and reading. The importance of reading to babies cannot be over stressed.

Elaine Cajigas (not verified)

As a middle school reading teacher, I cannot express how important it is to read to your babies and toddlers. There are so many wonderful books out there and they are easily available. If you cannot afford to buy them, there are public libraries in every community. Use them! You can also get books at garage sales and thrift shops that are very inexpensive. I also want to stress how important nursery rhymes and classic fairy tales are. Nursery rhymes help our children learn phonics so they are better equipped to read. It saddens me when I refer to a particular nursery rhyme or fairy tale, and my students have no idea what I'm talking about. Read to your little ones and show them how enjoyable it can be!

Barbara Radisavljevic (not verified)

I can't stress the importance of this enough. I write on this subject often on both my web site and my blog to try to help people see the need to begin reading to their children at an early age. Some pediatricians are even prescribing it because it is so important to brain development. Check this article for some hints on making the most of reading aloud: http://barbsbooks.wordpress.com/2009/01/21/when-you-read-aloud-ham-it-up/. Reading aloud is not only fun for the child, it can be just as much fun for the person doing the reading, which makes the bonding even stronger.

Kim26 (not verified)

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