I've heard that you are supposed to read to your LO at least 20mins a day. I find I can barely keep my 5 month old's attention for 5 minutes when I sit down with a book. After that she starts wriggling out of my lap, tries to eat the book or is just plain disinterested! Is it just me or does 20 minutes seem like a lifetime!
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It does! But if you read for 5 minutes 4 times a day does that count?
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I put LO in her Bumbo and force her to listen to me while I read to her and turn the pages. I don't get 20 minutes in for sure but I try for about 4-5 books throughout the day. And I read it slowly and let LO look at the pictures, grab at the pages, etc.
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I think it's not just the reading, but the exposure and experience with books. Talking to her about the pics and letting her interact with the books is also important and should count.
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@artbee: I do the same thing! I'm sure its good for something.
@rubies: its funny how my LO already has preferences for the books I read. Some she scoffs at and others genuinely hold her interest!
@maisy: that's what I try to do, I usually read her the book and let her touch and feel the books. She loves the cloth books cuz she can jam it into her mouth! -
I don't think you HAVE to read 20 mins.. I read maybe 3-5 mins when I remember! I'm always talking to her though.
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I try to do it when he's a little tired so he doesn't climb all over me. Sometimes it's a losing battle, though. 20 minutes is a lot for a baby.
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i'm with @artbee - i figure 20 minutes total should be sufficient - so 5 minutes here, 5 minutes there....
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Honestly, I think it's better if you don't force it. The point is to help children enjoy books. If you're making them do it and they don't want to, they'll just learn to not like reading. My daughter wasn't interested when she was a small baby, but around 10 months she got really into a few specific books. It grew from there and now she's two and LOVES books. I could read to her for an hour and she'd be thrilled. (Granted, I have to read the same friggin book like twenty times in a row, but it makes her happy, so I suck it up.)
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Books are part of our nap and night routines, so we easily spend 20 minutes a day looking at books. I keep books with the toys, do my son plays with them regularly. I also expose him to words in other ways so that he becomes familiar with them. He started bringing me books to read at about 10 months.
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i would say we spend 20 minutes a day most days. when charlie was a baby we read 3 books before each nap. that only took like 5 minutes, but he was napping 3 times a day. now that he's older he wants to read and do flashcards for a good 20 minutes.
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