When did you start reading bedtime stories to baby? And what books did you read?
I have so many good memories of my parents reading to me. Can't wait to read with our LO. But as a FTM I have no idea what is realistic!
When did you start reading bedtime stories to baby? And what books did you read?
I have so many good memories of my parents reading to me. Can't wait to read with our LO. But as a FTM I have no idea what is realistic!
81 votes
grapefruit / 4903 posts
We've always read to DD. We even had a high-contrast picture book for newborns! That said, we didn't make stories part of her bedtime routine until just after a year when we changed things up to a more toddler routine (brushing teeth and reading books instead of nursing and rocking).
grapefruit / 4085 posts
We started reading to her from the day we brought her home. I wanted to make reading part of our routine. We do it everyday and now at 15 mo she's a bit more squirmy but she'll usually sit and listen to a story.
GOLD / pomegranate / 3688 posts
I started reading to my belly, but DD wasn't actually interested in listening to books until about a month ago (she is 14 mo). Now she will bring me a book and climb into my lap to read.
wonderful grape / 20453 posts
I think when she was around 9 months, she was interested. I think it's only been 1-2 months. I always wanted to read to her, but until she was interested, it was just one of those things we never got around to doing.
hostess / wonderful persimmon / 25556 posts
At 3 months we set a consistent routine and since then we have been doing the same thing:
Sit down in the glider, nurse (when we were doing that), read three books, sing three songs and into bed. I love it. We also read throughout the day.
persimmon / 1304 posts
6 months for bedtime stories when she moved to her bedroom. Before that we read often but it wasn't part of the bedtime routine.
pomegranate / 3895 posts
Ever since we started a regular bedtime routine at around six weeks.
She's 11 months now and the kid's obsessed with books. We read four books before bed every night and countless books all day long.
honeydew / 7283 posts
M is obsessed with books and asks to be read to all day long. We didn't start a bedtime book routine until she dropped her pre-bed bottle. Now there's no way she would let us forget her two books before bed!
blogger / pomelo / 5361 posts
Can I answer for when we started TRYING to read bed time stories?!?!? My boys just refuse to sit for books still, and they're a year old! They have started liking to look at them on their own, but they do not have even a tiny bit of interest in being read to. We keep trying, and I know one day it will click. It's so sad to me that they haven't got into books yet because reading to them is one of the things I most looked forward to doing as a mom.
honeydew / 7811 posts
Maybe 6 or 7 months? I added books to a bedtime routine. Made it a really consistent thing and never looked back! We just read one (sometimes two) short board book. Some nights I let LO pick which one he wants and it is so cute! He's 11 months now.
We started with The Going to Bed Book, then added Pajama Time, On the Night You Were Born, and Goodnight Moon.
I need to add a few more to the rotation.
pomegranate / 3113 posts
Right now, we read at other times. Eventually, I'll add a book into her bedtime routine, but right now (almost 4 months old) she goes from playing happily to needing bed NOW in about 3.6 seconds. The second she shows tired signals, I'd better be whipping out the sleepsack and the boob...forcing her to sit through a book would be cruel. I'm sure this will evolve as she gets a little older, though.
GOLD / wonderful coconut / 33402 posts
We tried starting around 2-3 months but it was 10 months before she regularly would sit still and be interested.
bananas / 9118 posts
We started at around a year, he just would not sit still for even the shortest board book until then and it wasn't worth a war before bed to us.
GOLD / pomelo / 5737 posts
Lo loves books and it isn't a part our bedtime routine. I know she would just say "again!" and we may never sleep!
kiwi / 524 posts
LO has loved books since he was a few weeks old, but we don't read them right before bed unless it's clear that he isn't ready to sleep yet. He gets really excited about books, so they don't really help to get him relaxed!
kiwi / 673 posts
From the time we got home from the hospital, both at bedtime and at several other points throughout the day. We also just leave them within his reach, so he can flip through them as he likes.
coconut / 8681 posts
We read all the time and DS has always absolutely loved books. I started reading to him as a newborn and we've been going strong ever since.
However, we didn't start reading at bedtime until he was 14 months old. Until then the last part of his bedtime routine had been a bottle. We weaned from the bedtime bottle by replacing it with 3 books.
persimmon / 1447 posts
We started consistently at 12 months. She needed something to help her wind down before bed, so now we put her in her sleep sack, give her milk in a sippy and her lovey, and read 2-3 books. We also read to her throughout the day as well.
blogger / wonderful cherry / 21616 posts
I remember taking a picture the first time we read a book at bedtime, he was 4 weeks old!
eggplant / 11408 posts
I don't know what our bedtime routine will look like yet, but we read to LO while still in my belly all the time
cantaloupe / 6730 posts
We started regularily at 3 months as part of the bedtime routine. At the beginning I had to read really fast to get through it before she got antsy. Then she would mainly try to eat the books. Now, at 6 months, she seems to be looking at the pictures and she grins at the stories she recognizes. We read The Going to Bed Book, Hungry Hungry Caterpiller, Brown Bear Brown Bear, It's Time for Bed and Goodnight Moon.
pear / 1946 posts
She was super colicky and would in no way sit still long enough for a story for the first 5 months. We were constantly rocking and bouncing. So I'm guessing we started maybe around 6 months.
cantaloupe / 6669 posts
We started at the very beginning but did not keep up with it. Lately we have been reading books while the bath runs (she is 5 months old) but we are not consistent.
grapefruit / 4582 posts
It became part of our nighttime "routine" at around 14 months when we took away her bottle. Before that, books mostly excited her and I was too tired. She was read to plenty during the day. Now it's the only way she can "wind down" from her activities enough to sleep
pineapple / 12566 posts
Our actual nighttime routine with bedtime stories for our son started around 9 months. Now that our DD is here, she has been sitting in on DS's story time since she was conceived
pear / 1614 posts
We actually brought books to the hospital with us, and read them to LO, and I swear he acted more interested in the same page every time so we knew that was his favorite Reading has been part of our bedtime routine since day one. And he has always loved it.
pomegranate / 3890 posts
Lo #1 I think around 6 weeks old is when we started.
Lo#2 in the womb BC I'm reading to D's and baby sibling gets to hear!!
kiwi / 689 posts
We read a bathbook at bath time and read whenever she picks a book up during the day. We had to cut reading out of her bedtime routine because it just riled her up. She wants to eat books and throw them around and gets cranky at bedtime when we try to read to her.
ETA: She's 13 months old.
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