Reading To Your Baby

Even when your baby can't speak yet, reading to your baby is great for their language skills. Reading books to your baby instills a love of books and stories early on, which will help carry them through childhood and into adulthood. Babies are also soothed by hearing their parent's voices, and reading together is another way of building on the bond between you and your baby. Very young babies will respond to stories being read to them by excitedly moving their hands and feet, cooing, smiling, and trying to touch the book. Pause occasionally, and let your baby respond. Your baby will enjoy this verbal interaction with you, which also helps them learn about conversations.

Helping Your Baby Learn New Words

For older babies, books are a great way for them to learn new words. You don't always need to read the story, especially if your little one won't sit still for long enough. You can make up your own words to the pictures, pointing out familiar objects and scenes, for example, 'those children are on the slide, you went on the slide earlier when we went to the park'. Or 'there's a picture of some children swimming, you like swimming, don't you?' Reading helps babies get information from the pictures and the stories that go with them. Reading to your baby also promotes listening skills and increases attention span. At first, your little one might pay no attention to the books or try and squirm away. If you keep exposing your baby to books however, in time they'll be picking up books and holding them out to you to read to them! Keep books within easy reach of your baby so they can sit down by themselves and look at books if they wish.

How To Read To Your Baby

1. Make sure your baby can see the pictures.
2. Use parenthesis in your voice to emphasise certain words and convey moods. You can also put on funny voices when different characters speak (you can really let yourself go, your audience is sure to be an appreciative one!).
3. Don't rush through the book. Take your time, letting your baby look at the pages and giving them time to respond or linger on the page if they're particularly interested in it.
4. Let your baby see your face as your read the book, so they can see your reactions to what you're talking about.
5. If your baby seems to get bored halfway through a book, try a different one.
6. If your baby is desperate to hold the book and turn the pages without giving you a chance to read the story, let them do it. Even though you can't actually read to them like this, it's great to get them familiar with books and associate them with playing and having fun.
7. Just before bedtime is an especially good time to read to your baby as reading books is a relaxing activity to do before bed. Incorporate reading books into your baby's bedtime routine.