Why would I read to my baby if they're clearly not engaged? Well, of course they're not. For starters, they can barely see anything. They're just figuring out breathing and feeding through their mouths, breastfeeding or bottle feeding is a battle itself. So why read?
There are several reasons why I recommend reading to your child from day 1. To begin with, the basic reason is: start and stick to a routine and make it a habit. Common internet knowledge says ones needs 21 days to make something a habit, but this is based on no research... further studies have concluded that it takes much more to make something a habit, BUT , 21 days might not be quite enough, evidence points to more of an average of 66 days (but depends highly on the task itself)*.
This gets me to my second point. If you want reading to be part of your child's life, you have to make it part of your life too. If reading is not part of your daily life already, I would even recommend starting to read to your baby sooner, when that baby is still in your belly. That way you have a routine settled when baby comes in. Also, parenting is the equivalent of riding Space Mountain, except it's your first time and you're blind-folded. So, personally, having something on my new-mom-schedule gave me structure and made me feel like I knew what I was doing. Besides, did you know that a fetus can hear outside noise at around 23 weeks of pregnancy? That seems like a great moment to start :)
Researchers have found that fetus’ heart rate increases when she hears her mother’s voice¹. Showing that, when you speak, your baby is more alert. Reading out loud, but also, carrying on conversations will help the baby be familiar with your voice. In that sense, reading is probably most beneficial done by your partner, because she/he (the baby) is already hearing a lot from you. This gives an extra chance for baby to learning dad's, grandma's or another loved one's voice, and a great way to start building that special connection. When I was pregnant, I spent a lot of my time at home alone, because, I didn't go to work; so reading was a great way to get some extra "talking" in the day. Plus, much funner than talking to myself, lol, just kidding, I did have friends to talk to! Thank you friends!
Researchers have also learned that newborns react differently to sounds that were repeated daily throughout the third trimester compared to those they never heard during pregnancy². So yes, they are actually capable of "remembering" some specific sounds. Babies can't hear clearly inside the womb, it's more like a muffled sound, however, they are able to hear the rhythm of speech and rhythm of music³. That's why I usually suggest books with nice rhymes in them. By reading you are also preparing your child to be familiar with your language, or a second language (or more) if you are a bilingual home. They are able to learn the foundations for their language development and are being introduced to specific speech patterns.
Once baby is born, she might not see well, but she can definitely hear! Hearing your voice reading, or grandma's or anyones in a calm environment gives them a special space and time. If this is done daily, they will expect this pattern and be comforted by it. Even if you haven't started from day 1, it's never too late to start. So start today! But remember, the aim is to make this a habit, just like brushing your teeth.
Above all, there is a number of other reasons why you should read to your child everyday. To begin with, books contain higher diversity of words than child-directed speech. Therefor, children are exposed to more sophisticated vocabulary. This will help with their own language development and academic readiness. The other day Victoria corrected me. I pointed to an animal and said: I think it's a Gazelle, and she said: "no, mama, Okapi" Seriously. My mind exploded (and so did my heart).
Second, you are also teaching them how books work, how to hold them, how to turn pages, how to look at the pictures, how to use your voice; and also, how to care for them and love them. Look at this video of Victoria a week before she turned 7 months.
Third, studies have shown that young children whose parents read them five books a day enter kindergarten having heard about 1.4 million more words than kids who were never read to. Yes, a MILLION. A friend of mine sent me this study and I couldn't believe it. If you think 5 books is a lot more than you can handle, the same study shows that kids who are read only one book a day will hear about 290,000 more words by age 5 than those who don't regularly read books with a parent or caregiver. (Logan, Justice, Yumus, Chaparro-Moreno, 2019). So, wow. I think it's worth the investment of time and energy.
Last but not least, in a fast-paced world filled with technology, it is so wonderful to just sit down and read a book to you little one. Think of it as an intimate moment, that can later evolve into powerful conversations about what you've read or experienced. I wouldn't change them for the world. My two year old daughter can sit and listen to many books, but don't expect your younger babies to do the same. Start with a minute of looking at the pictures and browsing through pages. And little by little built the stamina they need to enjoy a whole story. Like everything, practice makes perfect. Also use please make it fun for them. If you see the story is getting too dull or boring, change it! Use fun voices, my friend at the Reading Umbrella has a great post on this, check her out on Instagram, (click here for link).
This is Victoria "reading" with her other grandma. She was not interested at all, mainly she was sleepy already. While there were days she could focus her attention, not everyday was her looking patiently at the pictures. She had her moments. Don't wait until they're too tired and don't force it on them. If time before bedtime is complicated, make it part of the morning routine, snuggle up and read a book in bed, or right before lunch. Make it work for you.
If you have any questions, I'm happy to help out!
Thanks for reading! Oh, and stayed tuned for the list of books for babies!
Georgina
References:
Ohio State University. (2019, April 4). A 'million word gap' for children who aren't read to at home: That's how many fewer words some may hear by kindergarten. ScienceDaily. Retrieved February 22, 2020 from: www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/04/190404074947.htm
Eino Partanen, Teija Kujala, Risto Näätänen, Auli Liitola, Anke Sambeth, and Minna Huotilainen PNAS (September 10, 2013) Learning-induced neural plasticity of speech processing before birth Retrieved February 22, 2020 from: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1302159110
Beth Skwarecki (Aug. 26, 2013 ) Babies Learn to Recognize Words in the Womb. Retrieved Feb 22, 2020 from: https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2013/08/babies-learn-recognize-words-womb
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