https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Thu, 16 Apr 2026 06:59:54 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/reading-to-your-squirmy-lo#post-1677116 Wed, 04 Jun 2014 08:05:47 +0000 looch 1677116@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@mrbee: yes!</p> <p>And don't feel like you have to always look at books to expose your kids to words! You can do word labels on every day objects too! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/reading-to-your-squirmy-lo#post-1677111 Wed, 04 Jun 2014 08:04:00 +0000 Cole 1677111@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I have had a lot of luck with the same tactics @mrbee: mentioned. Another hit has been photo books. Sometimes I actually order ones from snapfish or wherever but other times I just get inexpensive photo albums and slide in photos. One side gets a photo and the other side gets a phrase or short sentence usually, like "K went down the slide". They aren't top notch literature but it makes reading more interesting for the wiggly toddler set. Also, remember that this is phase too. Maybe right now you only read 5-10 minutes a day but in a few months she might shift and you will be ready to throw The Very Hungry Caterpillar out a window after reading it for 30 minutes on repeat! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/reading-to-your-squirmy-lo#post-1676760 Tue, 03 Jun 2014 21:00:16 +0000 shopaholic 1676760@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We managed 2 books during her super slow lunch today! I read with one hand and fed with the other. Talk about multi-tasking! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/reading-to-your-squirmy-lo#post-1676072 Tue, 03 Jun 2014 15:45:57 +0000 Mrs. High Heels 1676072@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>J is really squirmy too! He'll bring books to me, and then he starts flipping the pages faster than I can read... then he somehow flings the book and then grabs another for me to read! So it's hard... I just start reading from memory, or if he wanders off I just continue to read while he's doing his thing just so he gets exposed to books and words! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/reading-to-your-squirmy-lo#post-1676002 Tue, 03 Jun 2014 15:25:41 +0000 cascademom 1676002@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@shopaholic: Hmm, maybe if you try changing the time of reading books when her concentration is the best, just a small adjustment to one of her routines could get her interested in books. </p> <p>Even when we do reading before bed, LO does still need to burn off energy. Sometimes, we let him play a bit in his room and then encourage the books after he's gotten some of the extra energy out. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/reading-to-your-squirmy-lo#post-1675997 Tue, 03 Jun 2014 15:24:18 +0000 autumnlove 1675997@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We just read while she wandered around. She started paying attention around 18 months. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/reading-to-your-squirmy-lo#post-1675994 Tue, 03 Jun 2014 15:22:59 +0000 Kimberlybee 1675994@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I let her play and read out loud. I've memorized a few books so if she grabs at the book, I let her grab it, and just recite those books from memory (even if it's not the same book title she just grabbed). </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/reading-to-your-squirmy-lo#post-1675989 Tue, 03 Jun 2014 15:21:46 +0000 mrbee 1675989@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@shopaholic: We really struggled with this! <a href="http://www.hellobee.com/2013/11/12/favorite-interactive-books-for-babies-and-toddlers-who-dont-like-to-read/">Interactive books</a> were the most successful, but even those were tough.</p> <p>I learned from an EI therapist that the goal isn't as much to read the kids every word, but it should be to get your kid comfortable with books. So instead of reading every word on every page, I'd point to an item and say what it was and then say, "turn the page." She'd turn the page, and we'd continue. She wouldn't get frustrated waiting for me to finish reading, so she would work through the whole book.</p> <p>We also did books at dinner and breakfast, which was huge too:<br /> <a href="http://www.hellobee.com/2013/12/10/how-to-get-your-reluctant-reader-to-read/" rel="nofollow">http://www.hellobee.com/2013/12/10/how-to-get-your-reluctant-reader-to-read/</a></p> <p>The combination was a huge breakthrough! She was able to sit through books much more easily, and now we read books cover to cover all the time!</p> <p>Good luck!! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/reading-to-your-squirmy-lo#post-1675976 Tue, 03 Jun 2014 15:17:45 +0000 shopaholic 1675976@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@cascademom: We used to do it before bath time, but she is still squirmy and wriggles away. We don't have a playroom, but I keep a rotating stack of books in the living room play area, which are the ones I will read if she grabs, or read at her everyday. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/reading-to-your-squirmy-lo#post-1675955 Tue, 03 Jun 2014 15:10:38 +0000 cascademom 1675955@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@shopaholic: Is reading part of your bedtime routine? We made reading part of the bedtime routine around 5 months old or so whenever we did CIO or right before it. For us, it established that reading would be part of the calm down, ready for bed routine. Some nights, he pages through books quickly or doesn't want to read many at all. Other nights, he wants to read all the books. </p> <p>Also, do you have play books for her in the playroom? We have a bunch that LO can play and ask to be read during that time. It also encouraged reading for him. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/reading-to-your-squirmy-lo#post-1675934 Tue, 03 Jun 2014 15:03:23 +0000 shopaholic 1675934@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Bookish: @littlebug: This is what I end up doing too. Reading *at* her mostly. I figure 5 min. 4 times a day could add up to 20 min. But I had the impression most people sat their LOs on their laps in the rocker to read books. And Kaitlyn "don't got time for that!" :silly: </p> <p>@Adira: @Radish: Thanks for sharing! Makes me feel a little more normal! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/reading-to-your-squirmy-lo#post-1675915 Tue, 03 Jun 2014 14:54:48 +0000 JerricaBenton 1675915@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Lately if LO brings me a book or at all seems interested in reading n I'll sit and read and she'll stand and play and look over at the book. I'll skip around to favorite pages to keep her interested. I hope LO will be wanting to sit and read soon but I can't imagine it would be better to force it. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/reading-to-your-squirmy-lo#post-1675913 Tue, 03 Jun 2014 14:53:59 +0000 Radish 1675913@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>No advice, just know that you are not alone. It has gotten better now at 18 months and she doesn't turn the pages rapid fire anymore. I have a stack of books by my bed and there aren't any toys in there, so whenever she is in the bedroom she is drawn to them and throws them at me to read. Sometimes she listens, sometimes she doesn't. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/reading-to-your-squirmy-lo#post-1675907 Tue, 03 Jun 2014 14:52:47 +0000 Smurfette 1675907@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I just read while she plays. She will usually sit for 2 books right before bed but that is all. Half the time she is moving around/climbing on me. </p> <p>@littlebug: NO WAY could we get 20 mins from R. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/reading-to-your-squirmy-lo#post-1675900 Tue, 03 Jun 2014 14:51:27 +0000 mrsjyw 1675900@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>A was super squirmy or would tire of books half way through, then suddenly after his first birthday, started really getting into them. We just kept reading and let him wander his room around while we read before that... and now he picks a book and pats our laps (for us to pikc him up)... he can't get enough of books now! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/reading-to-your-squirmy-lo#post-1675898 Tue, 03 Jun 2014 14:50:30 +0000 littlebug 1675898@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Yeah, that post kind of made me feel a little crappy, cuz we don't get anywhere close to 20 minutes with D. We try! And he even grabs a book and brings it over, but 30 seconds later he's flipping the pages, crawling back off our laps, flinging the book away.... He's already torn the covers of 2 books and irreparably damaged the pages of several others. The ONLY time I can get him sit still for at least a few minutes is right before bedtime, but 20 minutes would never fly, and besides - ain't nobody got time for that. </p> <p>Sometimes, even when he crawls off my lap, I just keep reading. I figure that way he's at least still kind of hearing the words even if he's not actually listening. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/reading-to-your-squirmy-lo#post-1675897 Tue, 03 Jun 2014 14:50:28 +0000 Bookish 1675897@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I read *at* her. She will very rarely sit through an entire book, but I'll just keep reading anyways. I figure at least she's hearing the story, even if she's only half paying attention. If she grabs the book I just wait til she's bored of it, take it back, and start back up lol. I've also noticed if I get really animated while reading, it makes her giggle and pay attention more. But sit on my lap and be read to? Ha!. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/reading-to-your-squirmy-lo#post-1675893 Tue, 03 Jun 2014 14:50:03 +0000 Adira 1675893@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We have the same issue! Xander's just not interested in being read to at the moment and always squirms away or ignores me! No advice. :( </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/reading-to-your-squirmy-lo#post-1675887 Tue, 03 Jun 2014 14:48:35 +0000 jetsa 1675887@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We give him another toy to play with while we read and that sometimes works. At other times, I give up and we try again later. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/reading-to-your-squirmy-lo#post-1675867 Tue, 03 Jun 2014 14:43:16 +0000 shopaholic 1675867@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Mrs. Lion's post magnifies a problem I'm sad to admit. We don't read to K enough. I keep buying a ton of books and trying, but K is and always has been, SUPER SQUIRMY and active! She doesn't want to be cuddled or sit in my lap, next to me, or stay still for reading time. Sometimes I hold her tight. Sometimes we sit in the high chair - but that's not popular for book reading. Most of the time, we play on the floor and I just read aloud to her, or in the glider for a couple of minutes before she's wriggling away. Usually she wants to close the book, flip pages, and basically damage the books until I don't want to let her touch them. lol. </p> <p>What do you do to read to your squirmy, active LO? </p>