It’s never too early to start reading to your baby!
It’s great to read right from the start 🙌🏻
In fact, you can begin before they’re even born.
Reading to your baby is a such a special, bonding experience which is extremely rewarding and beneficial for you both.
The beginning of my baby’s reading journey
I started reading to my youngest when she was just a week old and before that I had begun with singing nursery rhymes. Both provide your baby with the opportunity to hear your voice, be soothed and comforted. My eldest was born in December and one of the very first books I read her was a book I clearly remember being read to as a child on Christmas eve; ‘Santa Clause has a Busy Night.’ I absolutely loved that I was able to read it to my little girl and continue a tradition that I hope stays in our family for a long time.
One of my favourite places to read was in the bath. I used to prop my little girl up in her snuggle bath and then I would have both hands free to hold the book in front of her. Some of the stories were baby bath books, or high contract baby books, others were longer stories, far too advance for her but that’s ok. Because actually the purpose for reading when you little on is just a newborn is simply to create an enjoyable moment for the two of your where they are listening to your voice. I also used to find it relaxing and calming particularly if we had a tough day. It’s also really beneficially to start creating that winding down time at the end of the day ready to bedtime.
Benefits of Reading to Babies:
Reading to our little ones from a very young age is highly beneficial for a number of reasons:
- it’s the perfect opportunity for you to bond as you snuggle down together with a book.
- your voice will naturally be soothing and calming
- it will start to expose your baby to a broad and rich range of vocabulary.
- they will be able to hear the different rhythms of language
- the more words your little one has been exposed to the better their speech will be
Studies show that children who are routinely read to from a young age develop improved language skills and increased interest in reading, which helps their overall future development. Find out more about this in my blog: ‘The Importance of Reading.’
How to read to your baby?
It may feel strange or awkward reading to your baby, especially when they don’t understand yet what your saying.
You may feel like you don’t know how to hold them and a book.
Or you may feel like it’s better to wait until your baby can talk or know the meaning of different words.
But reading to your baby from newborn has so many benefits for both of you and I promise you you’ll be surprised how much babies are absorbing from such a young age.
Top 5 Tips for reading to a newborn:
- Find a comfortable position – this could be lying, sitting, in your arms.
- Read anywhere – inside/outside or even in the bath.
- Use books with flaps, feely sections, buttons or interactive elements as well as high contract books (read on to find out more about ‘Books for Babies’)
- Don’t worry about how much you read, or even what you read. Although there are so many create books for babies you can actually read them anything! Your own book, the newspaper, a magazine!
- Choose board books that won’t easily rip and when they’re ready start to let them turn the pages.
And an extra tip…
Bring stories to life for your little ones by creating stimulating their senses.
At Little Story Shapers, we take our little ones on magical journeys into the wonderful world of make-believe stories. All of their senses are stimulated allowing the story to unfold around them. In dong this, our youngest babies are able to access story books on a whole new level and we make a lasting impression on their learning and development.
When can I start a Little Story Shapers Class?
As soon as you feel ready to leave the house with your newborn and come along to class.
It’s often worth waiting until your little one is a wake for longer periods of the day. Having said this, we often have sleeping babies in class or babies that are feeding and changing during the class. This is absolutely fine and your little one will still be engaging and benefiting from the class. As a parent, you will also be learning things you can do at home with your little one and having the chance to bond with your baby and socialise with other Mums.