Hi, my DS is 9 half mnths. He has never sat still enough to read a book to , anyone else like this?? many of my friends started reading to their babies at sucha young age, but the minute my DS sits on my lap, he is pulling at the pagers, and then trying to get off my lap after like 2mins. I would love for him to be able to sit for 5mins to listen to me read to him.. anyone else have this problem??
Yep we had the exact same problem as well, so we started reading to him when he went to bed of a night. He was in the cot & we'd stand next to it reading, that way he couldn't reach the papers & he was quietly drinking his bottle whilst we read.
Now at 2 he brings book after book out for me to read! Sometimes though, like yesterday when we went to storytime at Borders he just didn't want to site for the story.
I find it depends on what we read.
Ash will sit thru books that have different textures on the page to feel, pop up books, and books with flaps. All those she loves.
She will sit thru some others that don't have the above but only if they are very simple and not too long.
Maggie, I have had that with both my boys. Thomas, at 9 months, is still there. We get around it by reading cardboard books so it doesn't matter so much if he grabs them (although I still have to hold them at arms length). Jack loves books and spends a good deal of time reading or being read to now that he's 2. I'm not sure when it got to the point that we could read to him without him trying to eat the book. It was probably not much after 9 months. We persisted with him too, reading cardboard books, or paper books held at a distance and it has paid off. He really, really loves books and by 18 months could read all the letters and a few words. It is worth persisting, even if it feels like you are fighting a losing battle. I am sure that by reading to them anyway, you are helping to develop a love of reading.
At that age I think it's best to stick to really short interactive books like the ones shellbell mentioned.
Imran and Yasin both loved Mr Brown Can Moo at that age (lots of silly noises), Hairy McLary From Donaldson's Dairy and Scattercat (go to town on the sound effects lol), Maisy books and the board books with only one picture per page.
Since they are both very rough on thier books I buy them second hand so that if they get a tear or ruined it's no biggy. They're both very enthusiastic readers but quite a few books have been collateral damge along the way. Yasin has loved 3 copies of Hairy McClary From Donaldson's Dairy to death.
Charlie is 14 months and still pulls at his books, yet DH has read to him everyday since he was about 8 weeks old. He is pretty patient and pretty persistent with it, and for the longest time, It looked to us like Charlie wasn't paying attention.
But when Charlie was about 9 months old, he started to point characters out when DH asked him to. He now can point out most of the characters in his favourite books - and he has about 20 favourites! - even though he then spends a bit of time pulling his books apart after. I just have got the job of sticky-taping everything back together again after!
Annika loves her books, we've read to her since she was a newborn. At this age, reading a book is more about the enjoyment of it, rather than the actual 'reading'.
You might find that bubs likes certain types of books better than others. I've always found that Annika is really into the track me back books, and the touch and feel ones. She's slowly starting to like flap books as well.
It might work to put a book into his bedtime routine, when he's a bit less on the go, and hopefully a bit more cuddly!
i think its a personality/temperament thing - some babies love reading books, others don't! my friend's baby will sit happily on your lap and read until you fall asleep, while another friend's baby does what yours does - squirms, tears at the book, whinges, etc. my bubba is somewhere in between! perhaps keep trying each night or each week, but if he doesnt want to read, dont force it - maybe do something else he loves doing until he's a bit older!
DS is just starting to get like this . Before I could keep him anchored down, now he hits the book a lot - we have been reduced to just the textured books (like the That's Not My... series). When we are pacing the floors I grab a book and read it to him, but it has to be one without pictures because he just will not look at the pictures! So I now know various poems (like Bad Sir Brian Botany) and stories (like the Hungry Caterpillar - our bedtime story) by heart! He likes the stories, just not sitting still for them.
Ok, 2 mins and pulling the pages is much better than not reading at all! If he sits for 2 mins then read 2 minute books! At this age, they're just as interested playing, and touching the book, as anything. There are some excellent tactile, lift the flap, etc books with only two or three words per page that he no doubt will enjoy playing with while you talk to him about the pictures. Remember, the book is for the baby, not the baby for the book!
We started with mostly board books, Lucy particularly loved the textured ones. Another hit was the ones that have a button that makes a sound when you push it. And one sentence to a page, nothing too long once they can wriggle.
Now Lucy is great with normal paper books and I'll often find her 'reading' to herself. She brings me books too. She loves anything with lift-the-flap or other interactive type books. Especially with animals, 'cause I make all the noises. She also likes little nursery rhyme books that I sing to her.
My tip is also to check out your local library - ours has HEAPS of board books and I can change over what we have at home to keep her interested. We also borrow out CDs, DVDs and videos to add some variety to what I listen to as well. Lucy even has her own library card. Storytelling sessions are held at most local libraries, but Lucy's nanny has taken her to a couple and atm she's a bit young to sit still long enough.
Last edited by Jennifer13; June 29th, 2007 at 02:15 PM.
: Added library stuff
reading to your child?
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. Before I could keep him anchored down, now he hits the book a lot - we have been reduced to just the textured books (like the That's Not My... series). When we are pacing the floors I grab a book and read it to him, but it has to be one without pictures because he just will not look at the pictures! So I now know various poems (like Bad Sir Brian Botany) and stories (like the Hungry Caterpillar - our bedtime story) by heart! He likes the stories, just not sitting still for them.
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