Hellobee Boards

We started going to babies and books at 4 months- and have continued to 2 year old storytime. (DS just turned 2) and he still has a hard time sitting through it. He usually walks around and listens (sometimes runs) and participates when she plays games and does singing. I don't usually worry about it because there are always other kids that are worse than him!

I started taking DS at 20 months and he did NOT sit still! He was all over the place. I asked the librarian if it was okay and she said it was totally fine and normal for his age. He was definitely the only active kid when we went though lol. I kept going but only for a few months. We went back at 2.5 and it was better.

We went to baby (non-mobile) and toddler story time and there were always kids running around. The librarians got more upset when parents were talking.

We used to do weekly classes that included story and music time from when my oldest was about 6-15 months. He would not sit and participate from the moment he started crawling and was usually the only one. We took both kids to storytime at the library recently and at 2.5 his attention span was maybe 5 minutes. He loves to read at home so I think it's just the environment maybe? Too many new things to check out so who wants to sit still!?

I've gone to tons of story times and they are all different. When LO1 was 1 we were at a story time that understood children's needs so I let her wander if she needed. It was taken over by a new lady as she got older and she was less okay with kids wandering, but not unreasonable. One here requires you to take your kid out of the room if they are being too disruptive (basically unrealistic for most kids 1-3). The one we currently attend kids of all ages wander freely but the lady who was doing it recently quit do I'm not sure how it'll change.

I would keep going and/or check out the library story time. People have to be understanding that you have two little ones to keep track of! Our library story time is for 12-24 months and they have a 5 or 6 week session a few times per year. We just finished our first season and T did well but he's not walking independently yet. It ends up being about 15 min of stories and songs and bubbles etc before the kids get some time to look at board books and then get to go play in another area. Most of the kids were closer to 2 so it will be interesting once he is no longer the youngest. And fwiw there was one little boy who always got up and no one seemed to mind.

Please take even your wildest babies and toddlers to library storytimes!

I manage children's services in a large urban library. I also have a very active 2.5 year old who is allll over the place at storytime, and I totally understand that feeling of having the only child not sitting still. Of course I can't speak for all library systems or librarians, but I can tell you that the overwhelming consensus in the library profession is that it is highly developmentally inappropriate to expect young children to sit still and listen to books, particularly in unfamiliar group settings. Most libraries that aren't still stuck in the Victorian age will provide storytimes with many opportunities to get up and move and sing, as well as built-in time for play. Parents are often reluctant to bring their children under 3 to the library, but that's unfortunate because libraries provide a wonderful space for very young kids to learn early social-emotional and preliteracy skills and for families to come together, build community, and perhaps feel less isolated than one might hanging out at home with a little one.

If you end up with an old-school librarian with unreasonable expectations, please complain and let the library management know what you'd like to see.