Why I love reading to my baby

Some parents read aloud to their baby in the NICU. It is the sound of the parent’s voice and not the subject matter that is important, so you can read anything you like. The nurses at KEMH told me about one father who read his premature son “The Silence of the Lambs”! My husband and I preferred to sing to Talia, and only started reading to her some months after she came home.

Here are some of the things I love about reading to my baby.

- Board books. Wow, such a big change since I was a kid. Now you can safely leave books at floor level without the risk of them being torn to shreds because your child loves the sound of ripping paper. (I use junk mail for that activity!)

- Books with flaps, textures and mirrors. Even more wow! Talia cannot get enough of looking under flaps, putting her fingers through holes, touching squishy/fluffy/scratchy things and (best of all) looking at her own reflection.

- Making up new words. Some books just have too many words per page, especially for a baby who likes turning the pages quickly. It’s good to have your own “short version”, especially if you’ve read that particular book three times today.

- Finding things in the pictures. Some days the illustrations are more fun than the story line. I point out the mouse, the boat, the sun, the flower, etc in the background. Then I ask Talia to find those items for me.

- Silly noises. Reading to a child gives you complete freedom to make as many silly animal noises and other sound effects as you like. So I mooo, pop, bang, miaow, grrrr, brrroom, woof, oink, squeak and boo to my heart’s content. Go on… you know you want to!

- Opportunities for karaoke. Are we on a page with a star? I launch into Twinkle Twinkle. Is that a picture of a frog? I start singing “Galumph went the little green frog”. Your baby will love it. Well, mine does anyway! If you’re in WA and you received a copy of Baby Ways from your local library or child health nurse, you can sing the entire book to the tune of Here we go Round the Mulberry Bush.

I’m listing some of Talia’s (and my) favourite books on Talia’s Bookshelf - this will be updated as time goes by.

Some other good reading links

Mem Fox’s Read Aloud Commandments

“Reading with babies” , also available as a leaflet from your local child health centre in WA