Anyone not enjoying reading to their LO?

amywalt1684

I really want to read lots of books to my LO. I know it is good for her brain, her language skills, etc... HOWEVER - everytime we try to read to her she is constantly grabbing the books chewing on them and getting completely PO'ed when I try to keep the page open long enough to read it. It gets super fraustrating. I figure we will do what we can for now and in a few short months she will probably want me to read her books so often that it will make me crazy. LOL!

What about your LO? Any suggestions?

Duffgurl

For the most part I really enjoy reading to our LO but yes I understand on getting frustrated at times when they want to grab the book and they throw a little fit when they don?t get it. My tip is the thick hard books rather than the paper ones (since they like to pull and not intentionally but will rip the paper) Also if it is really hard and your LO won?t sit DH & I will both be there and one of us reads while the other holds or lays with our LO.

The good thing is at least we are trying to read to our LO's.

tracee129

Duffgurl:

For the most part I really enjoy reading to our LO but yes I understand on getting frustrated at times when they want to grab the book and they throw a little fit when they don?t get it. My tip is the thick hard books rather than the paper ones (since they like to pull and not intentionally but will rip the paper) Also if it is really hard and your LO won?t sit DH & I will both be there and one of us reads while the other holds or lays with our LO.

The good thing is at least we are trying to read to our LO's.

 

This

NotSharknado

DD does this with all books accept for one. Her favorite book. She will sit and smile and only touches the book when it's over. So we read the same book and it's a very pleasant experience. Maybe try finding a favorite. Also I hold her when we read ds's homework and she loves it. She thinks we are reading to her. Any kind of reading does the job IMO. Ps. That very same book was also ds's favorite. It's called 'How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight'.

vstevens

shanado:

DD does this with all books accept for one. Her favorite book. She will sit and smile and only touches the book when it's over. So we read the same book and it's a very pleasant experience. Maybe try finding a favorite. Also I hold her when we read ds's homework and she loves it. She thinks we are reading to her. Any kind of reading does the job IMO. Ps. That very same book was also ds's favorite. It's called 'How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight'.

This exactly.  He will sit quietly and listen to Goodnight Moon, and put his finger gently on the pages as I'm reading.  Every other book is a wrestling match until I give up.

So now I can recite Goodnight Moon from memory from beginning to end and backwards and forwards.  Oh well, I figure at this point the content of the book is nowhere near as important as the habit of reading.

NotSharknado

I also think it depends on how you read the book too. She loves all of the sound effects I use(even though I sound like a loon) and now has come to expect them. When ever there's a dramatic part(because I make it dramatic)she looks at me and waits for the ROAR, or cry sounds I make.

heathlyn9

We're right there with you. It is a rare day when C will sit quietly & let us read to him. He's always trying to grab, rip or eat the book. We don't read at bedtime often anymore for this very reason since it tends to wind him up more then relax him. I have taken to reading to him while he's playing with something else. Even if he's not really paying attention to me or the book I figure it's still good for him.

BabyQuizzle

I definitely let her grab the pages and eat the books.  If I didn't it would just be a fight and I don't to associate reading with lots of redirection or frustration KWIM.  So I let her have the book when she wants it, and when she opens it up, I read as many words as I can in two second or just make up words and explain the pictures.

Another thing that has worked for us is giving her another book to hold while we read one.  This usually gets us through a few pages.

melissa0726

Some days she will sit quietly, some days she eats the books, and some days she goes off and plays with her toys - in which case I just keep reading. But, we do try to read at least part of a story twice a day every day. I figure at the very least we're starting a good habit. We only have board books out right now, I put away all the books with real pages so they don't get ruined.   A lot of times if she is playing, I will read aloud parts of whatever I'm reading to myself, just to expose her to different words. I think it's so great we're all trying to read to out LOs, even though they dont always enjoy the actual stories

Pinaysis86

I guess I'm a rare one? My LO never reaches for the books! Haha I nurse him while I'm reading to him and he just looks at the pictures. He loves Dr. Suess though!

homediva

I think it is important to remember that at this point, they aren't following the story. Whether they enjoy books by listening to the lilt of your voice, looking at the picture, banging on them, eating them or playing with them, it doesn't really matter as long as books are part of their life! How your child enjoys books will evolve as they grow. 

amywalt1684

homediva:

I think it is important to remember that at this point, they aren't following the story. Whether they enjoy books by listening to the lilt of your voice, looking at the picture, banging on them, eating them or playing with them, it doesn't really matter as long as books are part of their life! How your child enjoys books will evolve as they grow. 

 Great point!

ClickMama

DD puts everything in her mouth but books are the only thing she doesnt. We don't have a huge selection of books that are board books. Her favorite is The hungry caterpillar. She loves all the Eric carle books because they are so colorful. I just bought her everybody poops but it's paper, we will have wait for that one. 

bundymommy

DD definitely used to try to eat the books 100% of the time. Like everyone else said, I just tried to read what I could.

In the last two weeks, though, she's started to be more into just looking at it. She still likes to play with them (which I let her do) and we can usually get through one small board book at a time. I try to read one book several times a day. She has just started to really enjoy the touch-and-feel books, so we read those A LOT.