Reading books to babies since they are 2-3 months old is a perfect activity for parents to help baby's brain development and also for strengthening emotional bond with baby.
The habit of reading to kids can go a long way in making your kid smarter. Therefore, as a parent, it becomes your responsibility to get your kid habituated with reading. A loving environment is created when you read out to your baby and the activity often comes to represent warmth and positivity.
Here we list some of the essential tips for reading books to young babies:
• First things first. You need to position yourself and your baby in a way that both of you are extremely comfortable. Also, your baby should be able to see the pictures. You can also snuggle up with your baby and a book. This will increase the feeling of safety and security in the little one and will automatically lead to a love for reading if practiced on a regular basis.
• Obviously you need baby friendly books, for example the ones that have bright and bold illustrations and therefore easily attract the baby’s attention. Books with cardboard pages are easier to handle when it comes to reading to young babies.
• Make sure that you keep the books at a place where your baby can reach and hold them easily. You need to remember that babies have an inclination to put everything into their mouth. They will try to do the same things with books. Therefore you need to keep the ones close by that are unlikely to hurt them.
• Talk to your baby whenever you can. Talk about the pictures in the book or what you see during walks. By listening to the constant conversations the child learns to understand ideas and words and gradually picks up the language.
• You need not worry about reading a book from the beginning to the end. It would be great if you can but stop when your child wants to and even reread the same section over and over again. This is how babies start gathering information about the world around them.
• Point out or read aloud the names of the pictures. Later on, you can ask and see if your baby remembers which one is the ‘horse’ and which one is the ‘cow’.
• You can gradually increase the length and complexity of the books that you are reading out to your babies. Some babies as little as one year old enjoy listening to short books that have a simple story-line.
• While reading, you need to pay attention to how your baby reacts. This will enable you to understand whether the little one likes it or not. Discontinue if you witness that your baby loses interest after a while and pick up a new book.
Make time for this reading session on a regular basis and you will see that your baby will gradually start getting used to this habit and even start developing fondness for it. Reading to your baby will help to develop their vocabulary and help them to express better. The more you read to them, the stronger the bond becomes.