Our 11 month old baby doesn’t like me to read books to him very much. It wasn’t quite so bad a few months ago–I could read a couple books to him at a sitting. But now, he’s always on the go, and we’re lucky if we can get through one (except for Little Duck, with the built-in finger puppet, which he always loves). Now, I remember H. going through a phase like this about the time that he became mobile. He outgrew it. Still, I wonder if anybody has any bright ideas about how to keep baby interested in books.
Hi Larry,
I have an 11 month old who used to love books too until roughly 2 months ago, when she started to crawl, walk etc… now all she’s interested is discovering her surroundings… well, LR and all other programs are still hit, but I guessed the monotony of " reading books" were boring her.Animatedly reading the books didn’t help either… so guess what?
I started SINGING the books out loud to her, while running my fingers under the words (similar to when I read to her). I also realize that when I sing in rhythm, she likes it better, AND concentrates on the book. I can get through plenty of books this way… babies love music in any form, I guess.
Hope this helps!
In the early days, my daughter never liked to sit in my lap for a story, it was just too long for her. I relied on screen based learning & flashcards (LR & YBCR primarily) and they held her attention well. Her interest in words flourished. She adored flashcards, and then we graduated to sentences, and then short books, and now longer ones. She never wanted longer stories until she was able to both develop an age–appropriate appreciation for written words and read them herself. Now, I can read to her a bit above her level and she enjoys it and will gladly sit in my lap.
But in the beginning I followed her lead and didn’t focus on reading books, just on flashcards. Over time, her interest increased. Don’t worry, he’ll get there…he can’t help it, it’s in his genes. 
P.S. He won’t see you run your finger under the words, but you can always read to him in the bath!
I use interactive books with my baby who is the same age. We have a gazillion lift the flap books and a few pop up and slider books. He loves lifting the flaps and grabbing the pop ups and I always let him. I just reinforce the pages with clear packing tape so they don’t rip. Sometimes they still do but that’s to be expected.
Also, it seems obvious but make sure they are books that they like. My baby is very particular with the books he likes. He won’t sit still if it doesn’t interest him and we have plenty of books that don’t. He loves the baby books by Karen Katz. I also have home made books with his picture, family pictures and his favorite - the dogs.
We are in the same phase. Months ago, he used to ask several books in a day. But now he simply says NO at the very first sight of a book. So even I am looking for ideas from other parents. But for now this is what I am doing:
- I use ipad books for reading. ipad is used occassionally, so he loves it. He likes ‘I like summer, I like leaves’, etc from grasshopper apps. Also few of Dr. seuss books.
- Digital books in LR and razkidsa-z (but he is least interested)
- home made books with his photos. Surprisingly he doesn’t even like these but occasionally he opens and reads.
- I simply read books during his lunch or playtime and play lots of audiobooks in the background (whether he pays attention or not. But while I read if I stop in the middle and ask some questions he answers immediately)
Thanks Dr.mommy for the singing idea. I will try to use it.
Hey Daddude,
I have had the same trouble with my first DD who hated being read to. SO I just would sit across the room from her and read outloud and still ran my fingers under the words and if she cam over and looked at the book while I was reading that was okay and if she didn’t she was still hearing the words. Don’t worry too much. I’m sure baby e will come to love books again Miss S has and her reading is flourishing. The most important thing at this stage is that he is still read to to hears the language and eventually he will come back and sit in your lap.
Kimba
My daughter was very mobile from early on - at about 8 months all she wanted to do was eat the books - we had a few specially for eating, by about 12 months old she didn’t want me to read them because she had to turn the pages so I left her with some sturdy ones to turn the pages by herself. But all the time I just read to her even if she wasn’t in my lap and even if she didn’t seem to be paying attention. We did also use pop up books and slide the flap books but found these worked better from about 18 months. Its just a phase and there may be more phases like this - at about 2.5 years my daughter liked to sit and colour while I read to her or do anything other than look at the book and that was ok too. These days she sits for much longer chapter books. My now 7 month old is trying to grab the books when I am reading to her so we are starting all over again too.
Hi Daddude,
My younger son wasn’t particularly interested in books either. From the get-go, he was always more physical and could never sit still long enough to finish a book. Sometimes he just grabs the book or he’ll start try to turn the pages himself or close the book and crawl away. I would still do LR with him and that was fine because it was short and the pictures were changing quickly and the video segments were also attractive to him.
He was also very rough with books (bent the books backwards, crushed pages), so I put all his brother’s books on a shelf too high for him to reach and only left the board books which I “sacrificed” and let him handle. I pretty much gave up on the idea that he would enjoy reading as much as his older brother but I would still read books aloud while he played. I would also read aloud to his brother. Sometimes the whole family would read (Dad reads his own novel, I’ll read my own book, and his older brother will read his own books) while my younger son would wander around the room playing.
He’s 22 months now and he’ll take his books and ask me to read to him. He likes to stand on tiptoe to take his brother’s books off the shelf and pretend to read them himself. I have to watch him carefully and intercept if he starts getting rough with the books (which usually happens when he tires of the activity). He’s mad about Mickey Mouse so I bought him a book with a few Mickey stories in it. He likes to flip through the pages and we have had one accident with the pages (which I reprimanded him about).
I don’t know what it was specifically that turned him around but that was all we did. I think he started showing an interest in books when we bought the entire Mr Men set for his brother. He loved taking the Mr Men books but his brother would always take them away for fear that he would wreck the books. Maybe that was it - the fact that he was denied access to the books which made them all the more appealing to him. From there, he discovered that his brother’s bookshelf was full of books he wanted to look at. And since I would read to his brother, he started asking me to read to him, too.
So I guess if the environment is encouraging (which I’m positive is the case in your home), your baby will soon discover that reading is fun. Good luck!
What a great bunch of replies–thanks, everyone!
what has worked for my kids is just to leave the books where they can get them, true they have broken a few, but they love bringing them to you and siting, sometimes they last 5 seconds on your lap, but it goes increasing, and if your chils enjoy it before, I don´t see whay she woulden´t go back to reading once she has explored her new avilities. just imagen you get the avility to fly, would you want to sit and read?I know I woulden´t lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol
I try to read my son’s favorite books while sneaking some others in between. He is 12m and his absolute hits are:
- Dear Zoo, Rod Cambell (he loves the flaps)
- The very hungry caterpillar, Eric Carle (His little fingers can’t get enough of those holes)
- Brown Bear, EC (he loves the sheep, always says baa whenever he sees the book
) - The very busy spider, EC ( for the animal sounds too)
- From head to toe, EC (he loves the actions described and try to imitate me when I do them)
- Usborne touchy-feely books
HTH
Hi Daddude,
Is your eldestson interested at all in reading to his little brother. He may listen to his older brother because Baby e wants to be like him. It is worth a try.
@Kimba, we haven’t tried that recently–we’ll have to try it.
Oddly, in the few days since I first posted in this thread, baby E. has suddenly shown a renewed interest in books. I’ve read him books in the last few days and he has been back to his usual levels of interest…!
Good for you! Babies interest can fluctuate significantly for no obvious reason. Now my baby is interested in only ONE book that I read to him at least 10 times a day
I will kindly suggest to keep books in his reach and try to see you and mommy reading , They learn by imitation, also reading (I know you do : ) with the big brother will help.
I had this problem with my second child. I couldn’t read to her at all between the ages of about 10 months and 20 months. She would get angry if I tried. She loved looking at books herself and would often spend several minutes paging through a book. At 20 months, she would sit down to listen to a few pages of a book and then wander off. After she turned two, her attention span for books increased. She is 3 now, and will listen for 15 to 30 minutes at a time. I think this can be a problem for younger children because they have more distractions than an only child. The best advice I can give is to keep plenty of books lying around among his toys and keep trying to read to him.
Apparently, one of the big mistakes new parents make is to read to babies before bed or nap time. At this point, they are tired, fidgety and irritable. A better time to read is when they wake from their nap or during their play time, when they will be more alert and open to sitting still on their parents’ laps with a book.
Choose the right book.
The Very Hungry Caterpillar is wonderful for babies in its language and presentation, with holes that curious babies can poke their fingers through, numbers and a wide range of words and sounds. The “That’s Not My…” series is also popular with babies, introducing them to different textures, which can be beneficial for their development.
Respond to their interests.
Some children love trains and cars. Others are interested in animals and nature. Some love fairies. Others are fascinated by monsters. Find books that appeal to your child’s interests. Even if you can’t get through the whole story, you can talk about the pictures and make associated sounds (roar like a lion, toot like a train), which provides many of the benefits of reading.
Let children see how much you love to read.
Your interest in books will be infectious as the child gets older and they are likely to model their behaviour on you.
Don’t give up.
Even recognising how to open a book and turn pages is an advantage when children start school.