My baby is currently 9 months old. Very active and naughty. Sometimes I wonder if I haven’t done anything to make her a reader. Also she is in a stage where she puts everything in her mouth. So even if I hand her a book it is going to end up chewed. So what do I do? Any experienced mothers please help me out
by Josephine_KnowItAll
38 Comments
Not a mother (so don’t know if you want my advice)
What do you mean by “introduced to books”?
Our children had soft toy books from birth, they then had cardboard books that they would open, close, eat, throw etc
But they were read to daily from birth
Are you reading to her?
We read to ours before they were born, continued every day. Always had soft books and boards books everywhere, in easy to access baskets for the kids. We also had ones that were made for baths and chewing – they could get wet. Both of my kids loved those!
Give them a wipe down regularly, it’ll be ok!
Just surround them with books.
I agree you should surround her with books – the board books are fairly heavy duty, but it’s not a bad thing for her to learn to be careful with books as she gets older. Also, if you tell her stories, that’s the oral story tradition we had until relatively recently. The Andrew Lang story collections are out of copyright and available on your Kindle (or whatever you use) – I used to tell stories if we were in the car or waiting for appointments. A bedtime book is useful as a signal that it’s time to settle down and sleep – there are a lot of beautiful books out there specifically designed around bedtime
Mother of 3 very active boys here. For that age, my kids liked sensory books like “that’s not my baby” type books with sensory panels on every page. They also loved bath books, busy books, board books, the ones that played music, and simple word books. My more docile child was able to sit and listen to any sort of book I read to the eldest from a very small age, he’s still the biggest reader of them all. My two more active ones did well with lift the flap types (like spot) from about 12-18 months.
If you want to just hand her a book, the busy books, bath books and music books are great for that. Word books and picture books you’ll want to read with your baby as an activity together.
I read to each of my sons the day they came home from the hospital. There are plastic and board books for babies that assumes they will get chewed on, so definitely look into some of those.
As for reading in general, the more you read to them, the more benefits your child will get. Time with you, learning how to speak and understand language, early literacy skills and so many other things. Even understanding how to hold a book and turn pages is important. Start now for sure!
I was super excited to show my baby books. She’s 2.5 now and loves books, we read her two books before bed and she’s got a shelf low down where she can access the books during the day. She will pull them off and recite the stories and enjoy the pictures. I love reading and illustration so I already had a couple kids books in my collection before I got pregnant, so I’ve been reading to her/showing her books pretty much from the beginning, at least since she was able to sit unaided. One that was great to start with was a board book with only two or three colours, the high contrast is more engaging for their developing eyes. In the grand scheme of things you haven’t lost any time in making her a reader (not that you can really, they may just not like it), but I know when they’re so young we can often feel like we’re not doing enough, soon enough (having one of those days myself)
If your kid is under 2 years or so, I think there’s very little point in trying to make them read themselves or give them cardboard books (for anything other than tactile play or looking at the pictures), but you can read them books aloud and tell them stories, and sooner or later they’ll want to read themselves.
I’ve been reading to my son since he was born for the most part. When he was a newborn I read my own books aloud so he could have some quiet time and hear my voice, then gave him soft cloth books to play with during tummy/floor time and then cardboard ones. He’s currently 2.5 and ADORES story time and especially loves alphabet and number books
Indestructible Books are great if you’re worried about wasting money on things a baby could easily destroy
Read to her. You don’t just give a baby a book and expect it to start reading, you have to set an example.
A baby your age would love sensory books or a book with pictures, like others mentioned. One thing that my kid absolutely loved at that age was a cardboard book with pictures of babies. She just loved flipping through it and looking at the babies.
The “That’s Not My…” series is also really good. My kid loved “That’s Not My Monster”, “That’s Not My Monkey”, and “That’s Not My Airplane”.
We read very short books to her every night, like Goodnight Moon and bedtime reading became one of her favorite things.
If your kid is 9 months, you’re not too late, so don’t stress too much. As a new parent, you’ve got a ton to stress out about already. Just get a few books and let your kid enjoy them and enjoy the time reading together.
My mom used to read to me as a baby, you have to read to her. Your baby isn’t going to start reading by “handing her a book,” of course she’ll want to put in her mouth.
Grandpa here. First of all 9 month olds are not naughty. They are 9 months old and do what 9 month olds do. They are not adults.
Second you have already missed the time to “start” books. Put that child on your knee and read to them. Even if it’s just a picture book without any words.
We bought those thick board books and naturally they went right in her mouth which was pretty adorable. At 9 months I was reading to her, but in addition to the baby books with pictures and words, I’d also read my adult books while holding her. I’m an avid reader so it was just natural for me.
I’m an experienced father, shur what would I know
I started reading to my baby before he was born, and gave him soft books to play with as soon as he could hold them, and cardboard books when he got a bit bigger. They will be chewed on, that’s normal and nothing to worry about.
baby books exist,ya know but they are mostly just pictures and float in the tub.
​
so when should you introduce a baby to books? you don’t. you wait until they are at least toddlers where the likeliness of them having the attention span and ability to understand it are much higher. a baby isn’t going to care about books as anything other than as just another thing to chew on so it’s pointless to try that early and best to wait and even then the books should be fit for their age.
There are textile books and other book that are harder to chew up. It’s never to early to read to your baby. Just go for it. If you read to your children, they will associate books with love and safety. Additional help may be necessary later on (my mum’s trick was to stop reading at a cliffhanger) but the most important thing is just reading to kids.
Edit: don’t feel bad if you haven’t read to your baby so far. It’s far from too late, she’s still a baby after all.
Elementary teacher here. Please please please read to your kid. While they are eating or taking a bottle, when you lay them down, when you are in a drivethru waiting in your car
When they are in moms belly. I tead to my spouse and baby the whole pregnancy.
I started right off, but it’s never too late.
One of my favorite early “books” was a vinyl book that you slippes family photos into to get them to learn family (and is just make up words).
Some early books just repeat a word or phrase and are understood by pictures, such as Huh or No, David.
For me, the best books for toddler years are interactive: ones that have you dance or that have little flip up sections. Also, ones about handling emotions ( ex How I Feel.
Right away, I think. As others have said, there are sensory books and board books. Plan for these to get a little chewed up. Your baby can get used to books being around and interacting with books even if they can’t read.
I started reading to my baby before he was born. I’m a big reader, so I selected several children’s books to read aloud while I was pregnant. I wanted my baby to know my voice and get used to the rhythm of reading. Plus, it was a good way to feel like we were already bonding.
When you start reading now, try word books and simple picture books. Good luck and happy reading!
See if your library has a baby story time program and ask the librarians for age appropriate book recommendations.
Now is a great time to start! Many have already mentioned board books and I agree. I want to add that the public library will have a huge supply of age appropriate books that you can rent for free!
At that age they just will enjoy looking at the pictures or being read too. They won’t follow the story at all. But even if they don’t understand it, it’s great for them and a fun way to play with your kid. Don’t feel any pressure to finish the story, if they are enjoying a page just stay on that page. If they seem bored with a page feel free to skip to the next page. You don’t always have to read the words on the page to them, sometimes you can just look at the pictures together. At this stage it’s just about having fun together.
Some great books for that age (or just slightly older):
Chicka chicka boom boom
The going to bed book
Shake your sillies out (you can find the song on YouTube so you know the tune to sing)
You’re greatly overthinking this and making it more complicated and stressful (and guilt-inducing) than it needs to be.
*Just read to your kid.*
At this age, they’re just enjoying the sound of your voice and becoming more familiar with the range of words and sounds they’re hearing, so you could read *The Little Prince* or Stephen King aloud and it wouldn’t make a difference, lol. So mix it up – take whatever you’re reading, and read it out loud as you feed your kid, before bed, etc. Turn it into a habit. Incorporate kids books, too (Dr. Seuss has a fun cadence, for example) and give your kid some of the board books or whatever to play with.
As they get older and start understanding language, incorporate more beginner books, but even then, read stories of all levels. My parents read to me every single night for much of my childhood. They read books well above my reading level, including ones I picked out and ones they thought I’d like, and I have incredibly fond memories of it. Heck, my mom read *The Lord of the Rings* to me before kindergarten. I loved it then, and it’s still one of my favorites. It also did wonders for my reading comprehension, because she could explain words and concepts I didn’t understand.
Just read to her. 🙂
Your baby isn’t naughty- she’s chewing and messing with things (including books) as that’s how she’s making sense of the world at the moment. Looking at pictures and learning to associate books with enjoyment and quality time with her parents is what’s important at the moment.
My eldest is nine and we still read together before bedtime. It’s also important that she sees her parents enjoying books and talking about them. Go to the library or look for cheap second hand books you don’t mind her playing with. It’s not too late to start, but it’s not as simple as just reading to her – let her see books are a big part of your life as a family and reading will become more of a habit as she grows up.
Board books are for babies. They’ll be gross and fall apart from her trying to eat them. Buy them anyway. Start reading to her, whether it’s a board book or whatever you’re reading. Now’s the time to instill language by reading.
If you’re in certain areas of the US, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library will send your child a monthly age-appropriate book until age 5. Yep, cardboard chewable books with high-contrast pictures for now. Takes all the guesswork out of books for baby.
As others have already mentioned, the time to start is now, but you’re not too late.
You hold the book while she is in you lap. Get the books with thick board pages. Talk about the pictures on the page. Before you know it she will be able to help you turn the page. Start NOW
You can get her little soft books to have but you can also make her a reader by just reading out loud a little of what you are reading that’s fine too
We read our son his “first book ” in the hospital when he was 2 days old. I love books. The main thing that made me a reader, though, was watching my mom read. On our (her) days off, we would cuddle up on the couch with books. I think being a good example is important. My son is still really young and probably doesn’t understand when I read him books, but I still do. We read lots of things. I also have sensory books for him that are soft and mostly just pictures or few words.
Reading books is a big part of our “get ready for bed” routine, we’ll read them at naptime and nighttime. But your kid isn’t going to do it alone for a long time yet. They might be able to practice turning the pages with you, but it’s just a good opportunity to talk to your baby about about random things. Look at the pictures and talk about them. If the kid isn’t interested, try later or try another book. There’s a lot out there!
The second best time to start introducing books is now. Never too late to Imbue a love of books in children. And if getting lots of books is too costly, look at Dolly Parton’s imagination library https://imaginationlibrary.com/, it’s 1 free book a month catered to the age of your child. And the dollar tree has really great board books that will withstand babies and toddler abuse, plus they are only $1.25. Goodwill, salvation army, once upon a child, also all have second hand books, if you’re concerned about the books being destroyed because babies will be babies, then get them books that already have some signs of wear and tear and when they are ruined it’s not a huge loss.
Just chill. Read what you read and do it aloud. It is nonsense to judge yourself harshly over this.
You can start reading to your kids at birth. The material doesn’t even really matter at that point. You can read from a book you’re reading. Additionally the reason why babies have board books is because they know babies are going to chew on them. That doesn’t make them naughty, that’s just what kids do.
Also just because you haven’t started yet doesn’t mean you’ve done anything wrong or set your kid back. Reading to your kid now is more about bonding with them not necessarily setting them on the path to reading.
…Do you not have baby books? My nephew was read to/shown pics/etc since he was born.
Okay, this has to be a troll, based on your comments below.
Birth. All three of my niblings came home to bookshelves full to bursting of picture books, board books, and cloth books.
Make reading a habit in your home from day one, for everyone.