Read to Your Baby

In today’s world of virtual interactions, nothing can beat the warmth of snuggling next to your children and reading with them. It is quite impressive to see how this simple yet endearing practice can help your child in a number of ways.

Infants whose parents read to them regularly are able to say and understand more words than those whose parents do not. A child who is read to experiences stimulation in the part of the brain that helps in understanding the significance and meaning of language. This is essential not only in reading but in everyday communication too. 

Let us now dig a little deeper to know why you should start this bedtime routine of reading with your little one and how it helps in different aspects of your baby’s development.

Social and Emotional development

Your baby hears you using different emotions and expressive sounds, which support the social and emotional development in them. Making your voice go higher or lower where it’s appropriate, or using different voices for different characters, helps in engaging your baby and builds in the curiosity of exploring more.

Enhances language and communication skills

A bedtime reading routine at any early age is incredibly useful in developing language and communication. By witnessing interactions between the characters in the books you read, and by interacting with you during story time, your baby gains valuable communication skills.

Increases attention

When kids are read to, their observational as well as visual and motor skills come into play. By consistently reading to your baby every day, your baby will learn to concentrate and sit for longer periods of time, which can help later on when they go to school.

Provides quality time with your child

Spending time with your baby while reading develops a healthy relationship with your baby, wherein they learn to express themselves better. The feeling of being close to you and your focused attention will help the bond between you and your baby.

Boosts imagination and creativity

Reading is one of the best hobbies and an exemplary habit to have. It opens up the window to imagination by raising curiosity levels through creative story lines and relatable characters.

When to start reading to your baby

It’s never too early to start reading to your baby. Research suggests that the sooner you start reading to your baby, the more positive impact it will have as your baby grows. 

You can start to read to your baby in the womb. This serves the development purpose of the infant to get familiar with your voice, and your baby will love listening to you talk, sing, and read aloud from the moment he/she is born.

What to read 

During the first few months of life, your baby just likes to hear your voice. So you can read almost anything, especially books with a sing-song or rhyming text. Even reading your own book or magazine out loud while you feed him is good.

As your baby gets more interested in looking at things, choose books with simple pictures against solid backgrounds (high contrast images and graphics). Books with mirrors, pictures of babies, and different textures (soft, spiky, crinkly, scratchy) are great. Soft, waterproof plastic and cloth books that can go in your baby’s mouth and into the bath are a good option too.

How to read

The great thing about reading is, it doesn’t need special skills or equipment, just you, your baby, and some books. Read aloud for a few minutes at a time, but do it more often. Do not worry about finishing the entire book; instead, spend some time on every single page so help your baby focus on the image and learn which page your baby enjoys the most.

Try and read every day, most preferably before bedtime and naptime as it gives you and your baby enough time to cuddle and connect. It also sets in a routine that will help calm your baby. Choose times when your baby is fed, dry and alert.

Also try to minimize environmental noise such as TV sounds from the background as babies are not born with the mature ability to efficiently process auditory information, which makes it difficult for them to pick out important sounds in a noisy environment.

You need to have considerable patience if you want to help build your baby’s future literacy skills. When you turn reading into a daily routine, you will instill in your child a love for books. You are not just teaching your baby new words or language, you are teaching them to enjoy books.

Finally, parents should also enjoy the book they are reading to their child, because “shared enjoyment” starts with “the parent’s enjoyment”.

Happy reading!