The Benefits of Reading To Your Newborn

As a lifelong book lover, sharing my favourite childhood stories with my children has been one of the greatest joys of parenthood. Watching their eyes light up as they discover the magic within those pages is simply priceless. Now, with my son at eight and a daughter who's seven months old, our shelves are overflowing with books, ready to be explored.

When my daughter was a tiny newborn, I wondered about the best way to introduce her to the world of books. Was it really necessary so early on? The answer, I discovered, is a resounding yes.

The Powerful Benefits of Reading to Your Baby

Weaving reading into your daily routine with your newborn offers a wealth of developmental advantages:

• Boosts Early Language Skills: Even from birth, your baby is absorbing the sounds and rhythms of language. Reading aloud exposes them to new vocabulary and sentence structures, laying a crucial foundation for future communication skills.
  
• Strengthens the Parent-Child Bond: Cuddling up with your baby and a book creates a special, intimate time. The warmth of your embrace and the soothing sound of your voice foster a strong and loving bond.
  
• Cultivates a Lifelong Love of Reading: Introducing books early and making them a consistent part of your family life helps to nurture a lifelong appreciation for reading. You're planting the seeds for future bookworms!
  
• Establishes a Relaxing Bedtime Routine: A bedtime story ritual can be a wonderful cue for your baby that it's time to wind down for sleep. The gentle rhythm of your voice can help them relax and drift off more easily – a win for everyone!
  
• Stimulates Brain Development: Exposure to language, even before they understand the words, helps to stimulate your baby's developing brain and supports cognitive growth.

What to Read to your Little One: 

Forget diving straight into the classics just yet! While your newborn is more attuned to the tone of your voice than the actual words, there are plenty of engaging options:

• High Contrast Books: Very young babies are captivated by strong contrasts. Seek out books with bold patterns and shapes that they can engage with. Books with black and white images are perfect for this.
• Books with Faces and Emotions: Babies are fascinated by faces. Books featuring clear and varied facial expressions can help them start to recognise emotions like happiness, sadness, and more.
• Nursery Rhyme Books: Timeless nursery rhymes are a fantastic choice. The rhythmic language helps babies learn about communication, and many beloved Australian rhymes are available.
• Durable Board Books: Paper and baby drool are not a great combination! The first year or so is probably not the time to get out your treasured Winnie the Pooh paperback to share. If your baby is anything like mine, it will go straight into their mouths. And with good reason - babies use their sensitive lips and tongue to learn about whatever new object they've found. You'll want hard wearing books for now!

How to Make Story Time Special:

• Cuddle Close and Point: Snuggle up with your baby and, as you read through the story, point to the pictures on the page. Don't only focus on the words written down; add your own narrative based on what you can see. Is there a butterfly hovering over a flower in the corner of the page? Point it out to your child: "Can you see the butterfly with it's pretty wings? What colours can you see?".
• Embrace Repetition: Return to the same books over and over again. Babies love and learn from repetition. You'll soon see your baby smiling at familiar images or phrases. One of my favourite home videos is of my son sitting on his Daddy's lap, as they read “Penguin and Pinecone” together, with my 2-year-old filling in the ends of the sentences by memory. And now my son is reading the same book to his sister.
• Use Engaging Voices: Don't be shy about using different voices and inflections to bring the story to life. Your enthusiasm will be contagious!
• Keep it Short and Sweet: Don't panic if your baby seems to lose interest after a few minutes. Their attention spans are very short. Keep it little and often, and soon, they will be grabbing their favourite books from the shelves and pushing them into your hands.

Sharing story time with your baby is a wonderfully rewarding experience. So, grab a book, cuddle up close, and start creating precious memories together that will nurture a lifelong love of reading for your little one.

About the Author

Peta O'Brien is a blogger from the UK. She is mum to Ethan, aged 8, and Erica, aged 7 months. She writes about her parenting experience at www.secondtimearound.blog