Reading Book to Babies

Babies that age want to put everything in their mouths...completely normal. I used to lay next to my daughter on the floor and hold the book up in the air so we were both looking up at it and read. She loved it. She also loved chewing on them till they fell apart. She eventually outgrew the need to chew on them but her love for books remains.

Just keep reading to him, even it he tries to put it in his mouth. He'll get the point in a few months.

Good for you! Keep it up!

OK I read many of the responses and mine is similar to some and quite different from others.... I read to my daughters starting the day I brought them home from the hospital. They both ended up being early talkers and pretty articulate. When my oldest was in 3 rd grade I ask the school to test her reading ability. Long story short, I ended up having her privately tested and the tester said she never saw a child like her. She was off the charts scoring between a 9.6 grade reading level and a 11.7 grade reading level. (she was in 3rd grade) The school did their own testing and had similar results. Her IQ was off the chart (she achieved nearly a perfect score) in the verbal section but she was average in the other 3 sections. Very odd results. Now my younger daughter is excelling in reading as well but has not been tested.
I would love to know how much of this was just an inherent gift given by God or if M. reading to them so much through out the day (probably about 1-2 hours throughout the day) contributed to their abilities. Probably some of both but it sure can not hurt. To answer your question... I definately do not think he is too young to be read to. I would try reading to him in his highchair where it would be harder for him to grab the book.

My 20 month old son, has never been a fan of us reading to him. He will flip through books and point out what's in the book and pretend to read to himself. We also read the book out loud while he is playing and he sees us reading our own books. My pediatrician said the real key, is to offer it to them, and to have them around books often. My son LOVES book, he just doesn't like being read to. Another thing reading to do them does, is it helps them develop language. My son is on point for language, because we talk to him all the time. We don't babble to him, or do baby talk. The whole point, is the more they hear your voice and your speaking, the better it is for their language. I really wouldn't worry about it. My mom said I HATED being read to and would never allow it. They did talk to M. all the time. My reading skills were always very advanced and I still live to read. My husband loved being read to as a child, but he has never been any good at it and still doesn't like it. Yes, it CAN and does help kids...but just because they don't like it now, does not mean they won't in the future. Just keep books around, read around him, he will be fine.

Everyone here has given you wonderful answers.

It's funny, but we adults perceive 'learning' as our own adult pursuit, and not as the child sees it.

Let M. reassure you, your child IS learning. He is learning WHAT a book is. Much of this exploration is oral, as the tongue is still your son's most primary and accurate sensory organ. He is learning that books are not food, that they have parts that move in some ways. What you are seeing is common, and this is why board books/fabric books are wonderful at this age.

Keep on reading to him, as much as he'll enjoy, and sing a lot to him. Nursery rhymes, anything you enjoy singing; reading poetry. When my son was about a year old or so, and had trouble nodding off to sleep some nights, I'd just let him lay next to M. and I read him Stevenson's "Treasure Island". Reading classics teaches their 'ear' how language works; how sentences are composed verbally, and introduces the sounds of thousands of words to them.

By the way: choose books with very simple illustrations when you do choose books for your little guy. I'm amazed at how many books feature illustrations that are so "busy", the child has a hard time picking out the subject and action of the story. He'll likely have a little more time before he begins to scrutinize illustrations.

And don't forget, another fun thing to do with babies and toddlers is to give them 'tours' of their environment. Picking them up and carrying them around, telling the child about what you see. "Here is the refrigerator. Look, there's cold food inside"..."This is the window. Let's look outside. I see our tree. Do you see the black bird in the tree? It's a crow?" Narrating what's happening also gives the child language and context. "It's time to change your diaper, because it's wet. Let's lie down now. Time to take off the pants. Ooohhh! Here we go, right down over your legs. Now it's time to take off your diaper. Legs up, bottom up." Believe M., I KNOW this sounds moronic to some, but this is actually giving them a ton of applicable language that, with repetition, the child will retain and store away for use later. It also helps them to understand the sequence of transitions, and as they learn these words, it will help them better predict what's coming in.

And of course, modeling reading yourself, throughout life, helps to create readers. I know there's a lot of pressure on parents these days to 'smarten baby up" pretty early, but it's not based on any science and not in accord with the child's natural patterns of development. Just relax, there's going to be so little time before you hear "Mama! Read this!" and are presented with your kiddos favorite book for the 10th time that day!

H.

We started reading to our kids as part of their bedtime routine at maybe 2 or 3 months old...whenever we started the bedtime routine. I think it's very important to read to your son...even at this young age. Give him one book to chew on, then read him another. OR, give him a teether or something else. Just keep trying each night & he should come around.

At 9 months a simple baby book that he can put in his mouth is what you can read to him..

Or I used to give our daughter a soft book that she could chew on while I read a different book.. At this age they are more into exploring.. Sometimes, if she wanted to sit in my lap while I was reading to myself.. the newspaper, People magazine, a novel.. I would continue reading, but as though it were a children's book..

If he sees all of you reading he will be fine..

he is NOT too young for books. however, all children are different and have different interests. I started reading to my daughter at 6 mos. she has always loved it.

try books that have bright colors, big shapes etc. my daughter never liked ones with pastel pictures...babies LOVE Elmo...something about the color red.

maybe if you read to him at night, he would be more tired and would sit and enjoy a little more. maybe during the day, he's too full of energy!

keep trying!

mine enjoyed a book, but still at almost 3, she won't allow M. to finish the words on the page before she turns it to see the pics on the other side!
The only books she would sit through are the "thats not my " whatever books, which are the usborne touchy feely, or something they are called

oh sweetie....i'm not trying to make you feel bad, but those people that told you you should be reading to a 9 month old either never had one, or had robot children. no 9 month old i know will sit still for a book - unless, like another responder said, you confine them to their crib, although i'm not sure that is really necessary -shoot mine was walking by then and NEVER sat still! the world is too exciting and fun to just SIT there! keep books around, give him age-appropriate ones that won't get ruined if he chews on them (because THAT is what he's supposed to be doing at this age) and be patient. 2 or even 3 years old is more likely he may want to sit still for a few minutes for you to read to him. every child is different. but 9 months is super little. just try again after a few months. but don't get discouraged. mine is 4 and just in the last couple months has my fantasy of "mom will you read M. a story!" come true :) it was so worth waiting for.

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i also want to add, bookworms are prominent in my family. so i never worried about my son "loving" books or not. i concentrate on just teaching him everything i can, talking to him about all kinds of things (like someone said, no baby talk) and explaining things that he is interested in. just like you would anyone else. at 4, now, he is a jabberbird, and asks questions constantly, and like i said, he is now getting to the point where he LOVES M. to read to him - and on the early reader books, even has picked up some words and can read parts of the books himself. don't put pressure on yourself. so much of who your child is depends on HIS personality. you're doing great by being aware and wanting to help him be exposed to books.

One thing that I did with my son is, I read to him while he ate. I actually was reading The Hobbit. Now that he's 15 months he'll grab a book and sit in my lap and he does love to turn the page.
At nine months, they don't know what you are doing and they just see an item to chew on.
I'd also read aloud while he's playing with toys.

You absolutely heard right about the importance of reading to your kids!! I would read to my twins while they were in their cribs. That way, they couldn't grab the books and they were contained so I could be more efficient with my time and read once. Even if your son isn't looking at the book, just hearing the words is good enough. Success in school and reading has a ton to do with the vocabulary a child has when entering kindergarten. The more you talk to your child and the more words he hears, the better he'll do. So, even if he doesn't see the book, he's hearing language and his vocabulary is growing. When he is looking at the book, point to and name everything on the page. Keep, keep, keep on reading to him!!! It's one of the best things you can do for him. Yes, he's young, but keep on doing it.

one at 3 and one at 2 but he wont let M. finish it and the one that started at 3 is a avid reader. loves to read thick books. my oldest I started at 3 used to bringme 20 books to read per sitting you will get your time more than you want probably.but the one I started at 3 was reading at 4 :)

Try singing to him. He is really too young for books. Two year olds can listen to Dr. Seuss from cover to cover. Nevermind school and it's routines. He's best off exploring the world and satisfying his curiosity.
I come from and raised a family of high achievers. We are generations of high achievers allowed to explore our creativity and our intellectual potential. My youngest brother explained how a heart attack worked to M. his 12 year old sister. He was 4 when he learned to read on his own no one coaching. Is it great that he was a 15 year old high school graduate? It did nothing for his peer relationships. My first daughter graduated at 16 and so the deal was Jr. College I had no intention of foisting her on a dorm situation so early in life.
Let him develop his self esteem and his talents and find out who he is before choking off his growth by insisting on some nonsensical timetable for reading.
Go get yourself some child development books and read up about how children develop.
Sing songs to him so he gets language skills. Look into Motherese and do it as all children learn language in this manner.

My daughter was enjoying books by the time she was 3 months old - she would turn the pages herself. She still, at almost 9, loves to be read to and has great comprehension and a large vocabulary. (Her father, bless him, read the entire Harry Potter series to her, just as one example). But, until recently, she hated to read! After a lot of extra tutoring and help, she is at grade level for reading now and is starting to enjoy reading herself.

So, we overestimate our ability to influence our children one way or another. Keep books around, offer them, read to him, and he'll be fine.

Have you tried any of the touch/feel books? My daughter is very similar, and it's rare that we make it through an entire book. But she does like "That's Not My Bear" and a couple of the other interactive ones. Some other things that have worked have been to put her on the floor, sit facing her, and hold the book out of arm's reach and read upside down. Then give her some kind of teether or small toy to keep her occupied. Also try letting him just play with the board books by himself, with no pressure of reading. I feel like as long as you keep trying, it'll eventually work out. Good luck!

I put my DD in the jumperoo sometimes to read to her because she does the exact same thing as your son. I usually give her one board book to chew while I read another one to her.

I started mine early and usually didn't read per se, but really just pointed to the pictures and named the things there and by one, my daughter could point to over 200 things correctly when asked, "where is the ___?" Son followed suit, but just not sure exactly what he knew vs. her cause they are 14 months apart and she would "help" him lots. So i wouldn't worry or frustrate her or you right now about it. My kids are 4&5 & we check out about 20 books a week from our local library. They love books. I think just giving that time to her is great. 2.5 is when my two really paid attention or asked questions.

You are doing fine by just introducing books and reading them to him, whether he looks at the books or not. It's normal for him to want to put them in his mouth. But I would really try hard to also read to him when he is tired, before a nap or before bedtime. That's when he's more likely to just sit in your lap and let you take the lead. Having that special routine before bedtime will help foster that love to read later on.

You are so right about how reading to them early is so important. Also having books in front of him, reading your OWN books in front of him so that he sees it's also important to you, and making reading time fun, like at the library when he is older, will help. We would have summer library time when my kids were 3 and 4 years old, and they could pick out ten books at a time. We'd bring them home, read them, write down the list for the library contest, and bring them back and exchange them for more. It was more work for M., to be honest, but they loved the library for it, and enjoyed the prizes for most books read. My kids have loved reading ever since and are very academically advanced now as older teens.

Have fun with the continued reading!
Dawn

at his age really all you want is to introduce the concept. open the book. point out the stuff on the pages. board books are best at that age as he is too young to understand being careful of pages and also to young to get that your reading him a story lol. but point out stuff on the page. "see the bunny" "where's the red ball? here it is" and point it out. Reading is great for kids but the attention span is about 1 minute per year of their age. so you will want stories that are short and sweet. good luck. just keep it up.

lucky my now 1 and half yr old girl loved to open books and let M. read to her, but I tryed not to focus on reading the whole book to her just the first and second page and I use books that contianed lots of pictures. I also read at bed time. But if that doesn't help he proably love if you sing songs to him, that always got my children to focus. hope that helps

Here's a confession:

I almost NEVER read to my baby / young toddler. Occasionally, sure. Maybe a couple times a month for a few minutes. We spent a LOT of time at Barnes & Nobel... but it was because he liked playing with the trainset/ *I'm* a bibliophile/ and it was warm/dry/not our apartment.

Despite nearly never reading to my son when he was very little... he was reading fluently by age 3. As in he started in on the alphabet just after age 2 (when I DID start reading to him regularly), was doing short words by age 2.5 (1 and 2 syllables), and had moved onto things like fairy tales / picture books by age 3, things around 1000-1500 words in length. Chapterbooks by age 4 (magic treehouse, black stallion, etc.).

It MAY help kids out in school, it may just also be a sign of an involved parent... which is a stronger indicator for doing well at school than just about any other thing.

Prior to age 2 I mostly just sang (badly), and recited a lot of poetry. By 2.5 he had all of Eugene Fields poems (wynken, blynken, nod; sugarplum tree; gingham dog & calico cat), several of Rudyard Kiplings, and scores of songs memorized. From Nina Simone to Greenday to Bob Marley to Lorena McKennit to USMC cadence.

He is being age appropriate.
A 9 month old baby... does NOT have any attention span. AND their eyes.... an vision... are STILL developing.

They get tired/over-stimulated very easily.... and when a baby turns away... it means... that they have had enough.

And YES, babies 'mouth' things.... it is normal. And they do grab things... lots of things... it is normal development and they are exploring.
It is instinct.

He will not be 'reading' yet nor having any attention span for it at this very young age.
Sure, read to him... but don't expect a baby to sit and listen... like a 6 year old. Even 6 year olds... get antsy.
Put it this way... for my daughter who is in 3rd grade, their daily 'reading' requirement is to read for 20 minutes. This is an 8 year old. That is their least amount, that they 'should' read for.

I sit the child in my lap, criss cross applesauce style and they don't have much room to get away. Read and hold the book where they can see it at all times, make different sounds to emphasis the different characters, point to the page often and run your fingers over the shapes and colors...make each time short and fun. The shorter the book at this age the better. Let the baby have something else to chew on at this time, that's how they are learning at this stage, by tasting it and feeling of it, etc...if something else is in her mouth the book you are reading will be left alone for a moment. Board books are good for chewing too.

I read a lot of different times through out the day too. That way it's not associated with bedtime or naptime.

You are doing a good job sounds like. Try seeing if there is story time at your local library that is for all age children, we have some that is for open reading and it's geared to younger ones then there is time for only kids 3 and up. That will help with the stress of the reading while trying to manage the baby and you can make friends with the other moms and find out what they do. It's always nice to make new friends with kids the same age. Eventually you may have an already made up group of moms and have play-dates and other stuff too.

Books y Sandra Boyington are good fun, peek-a-boo books that have pages that fold out to show different activities are fun too and hold their attention well, any book that will actively engage them.

I know your pain! My daughter who is one also has a very short book attention span but it's getting better. Just keep reading to him. We point out her favorite things. dog! cow! cat! What does the cat say? She does love the lift the flap Peek A Boo books. But until recently she just wanted to chew on the books. My son who is now 6 was very different. When he was one he would sit for 30 minutes and really pay attention when I read to him! It has been surprising to M. how little interest our daughter has compared to him. Different personalities I guess. My advice is to just keep reading every day and keep it simple for now...and I'm sure his attention span will improve.

Try getting shorter books, or just point out one thing on each page and ignore what's already written. At that age my son's favorite books were the Peek-a-Boo books, they have flaps to lift and touch & feel on some of the pages. Don't give up! We started reading to our son when he was 7 months old, he just turned 3 and he LOVES to be read to or just look at a book himself.

Keep trying and he'll come around. Have a basket of books available for him along with his toys. Would it help if he had a book/toy he could chew on while you read?

I wouldn't expect a huge attention span at his age but by having books available and trying to read, it will help nurture a love of books and reading.