How to Get Child Interested in reading....HELP

A.,
Eating the books is perfectly normal! But don't give up. Try cloth books or vinyl books that she can chew. This is how babies this age explore EVERYTHING. Maybe give her something else to chew while you read board books. Then tap a few times on the pages as you read them to get her attention. Keep the books simple, one or two words, animal books that have words for animal sounds. Sometimes the ruff, ruff etc. will keep the baby's attention more. At this age the attention span is not much, but if you can get her to follow left to right or show any interest at all is great! Even if it seems she is not paying attention, KEEP READING. Her little brain is making lots of connections as she hears language. KEEP up the good work!
P.

She is being a normal 8 month old! Don't worry - if you really want to read her an actual book, try placing it just out of reach. Otherwise, you could tell her stories without the book, even make stories up about her.

Don't worry! It' so normal for a child this age to want to explore everything (even books) through her mouth! As she gets older, she'll become more interested in listening (not tasting) the words on the page!

My son is 15 months old and still does what you have described here. He has a cloth and plastic book that he holds while I read the book with paper pages.

Good luck!

HI A.. First of all CONGRATS!!!!! Having babies in your life is a wonderful and rewarding experience. I have three litle angels and they consume my life.
My first son loved to be read to until he was about 7 or 8 months-then he wouldn't sit still. I started reading books that were thick paged so he wouldn't be as apt to rip them. That didn't work for long. Finally I bought a book reader(Winnie the Pooh), placed it on the floor and played out the scenes while pooh read to us. I also had books on tape for children. We would play the stories out as they played in the cassette player. Hope this helps you out some.I now have two boys and a little girl. They all love to be read to and enjoy reading to Mom as well!!! Take care!!!!

This sounds typical. I agree with the others, you're on the right track! Keep having fun!

This is so normal. I wanted to also start my son out with books which he loves now. I just made sure the books had the thick pages, plastic, etc. Something that chewing and slobbering wouldn't harm. He loved the colors, pictures and the touch and feel. It wasn't until he was about a year old did he really start listening but still trying to turn pages on his own just to look at the pictures. That's when I realized that he loved to turn the pages and I would point to pictures and say what they were or imitate sounds. Now at 15 months old he takes my finer and points at what he wants to know. Just by making a routine with books makes them interested.

WHEN MY SON STARTED LEARNING TO READ HE WAS HAVING PROBLEMS SO I BOUGHT THE LEAP FROG. THAT WAS THE BEST THING I COULD HAVE EVER DONE BECAUSE NOW MY SON LOVES TO READ AND DOES VERY WELL.

No child is ever too young to learn how to sit and listen to a book. I am an educational reading consultant, and I have been reading to my son since he has been about three or four months old. You just need books that will keep her attention and that are full of color and other sensory things like touch. babies love to touch and put everything in their mouths. so if you have a book thick enough for her to hold while you read it to her in the same place every night then she will learn to love books. my son picks books over toys and he's not even a year old yet. here is a great place to get books for babies and toddlers that are pretty indestructible... www.thechildrensbookrack.com they are very affordable and if anything ever happens to them, you can get a new one at half off. the "thats not my...." books are great, and the fairies and mermaids are just the cutest things ever! let me know how this works out for you. good luck!

she is a little young to try to make her sit still while you are reading. I would read to her, but allow her to wander around the room and play with something else. She is still listening and you are not getting frustrated with her. Her interest will kick in around 12-18 months, where she will be able to sit still during a small book, but just reading outloud is terrific for them even if it doesn't look like they are listening. Good luck.

My son Ethan is 12 months old and we've been there! From what I understand, at this age the fact that you're sitting with her and attempting to read together is what's important. Letting her get familiar with books and pages is important too - board books are great, because they can stand up to some chewing and can't be ripped. Try to encourage her to look at the pictures and words rather than eat, but be willing to have some soggy books from this stage. A sense of humor about it will help - it's totally normal for her to want to chew books. She may just not have the attention span at this age to sit and listen to a story, you may need to do a page or two of a picture book then on the next activity. We read before bed too, but there are a lot of nights we move right on to songs because Ethan is too wiggly. You can look forward to adding some nicer, longer books to you collection once your daughter is a bit older.
Good luck!

Just keep on reading. I've read to my 3 yr. old since he was born and he is so into books. My 1 year old hasn't showed as much interest but that hasn't stopped me from reading to him anyways.
Let her eat the pages, and touch them, and carry them around. It's OK if she isn't sitting still and "listening". Trust me she is listening.
Try taking her to your local library or a story hour once a week. Exposure is everything.

babies are not going to sit still, she is showing you that she is interested by grabbing at the book. Just keep reading to her and you will give her the greastest gift you can, time with mom and the love of reading. I still read to my 10 year old daughter, it is a great way to spend time alone and bond. I will read a chapter and then she will read a chapter, and guess what I started reading to her when she was not even a week old. She loves reading and being read to, and she did the same thing your daughter is doing, grabbed,chewed on, tore the pages, it just all showed that she was interested in the book and wanted to explore the way it felt as well as hearing her mothers voice.
your doing great!!!

What you are doing is giving her early exposure to reading and that is awesome. It is not expected for her to sit still and look at the book. There are appropriate infant books that she can bite and mouth the pages as she hears you read the story. Right now she could be associating new vocabulary words and touching and feeling her books as positive story time. She will eventually surprise you with pointing to an object and attempt to babble its name and you will be so proud of yourself for teaching her. Take care and keep it up.

I agree with Sarah F. Give her some time and she will stop eating the book and starting really looking at it. My daughters did the same thing and now they both love books!! Keep it up!!!

I think you're doing exactly the right thing! Sounds like she IS enjoying it!!! In her own way. Her actual interest will come with time - but don't worry, she's paying more attention to you then you think! This is starting a foundation for her, so keep it up! You're doin great!!!

Hello A.,
My oldest loved to chew on books and stuffed animals. So to help get him interested in books I bought him a cloth book with a teething ring on the corners of the pages. So when I read him other books he could chew on his book and all went well. He is know 6yrs old and loves to read.

She's a baby and you are doing just fine. It will be a while before she looks at the pictures, she's paying attention to you in her own way.

Don't get frustrated. You don't even need to read the words just open a book and point out the pictures and make something up, its the experience more then the written word.

It's okay if she eats the pages. Just having books around is good. It may be a while before she wants to do anything but eat the books. Then she may want to "read" them herself--flipping the pages before you're done reading or reading them backwards. That's great too. Things like that actually stimulate their imaginations. It's important, even when a child is willing to sit and listen to the story, to not always dictate how the story should be read. If they want to read it backwards, or sit and look at the pictures on the pages, or linger over a page for a long time. Again- great for the imagination. My 3 year old would sit and let me read to her from the time she was tiny. My 15 month old has only become interested in books in the last two months. It was really worrying my husband that she'd never like to read. Now that she's discovered books, she wants to sit and "read" all the time. Just keep putting the books in front of her. Get books with lots of pictures and few or no words. You can talk to her about the pictures. Be patient with her- if you keep the books in front of her, she'll learn to love them.

Hi A.,

Yep, I concur with what everyone here says. My daughter is 6 months old and does the same thing. I bought a totally soft book from Barnes & Noble for about $8. It has different textures, etc., and it's her favorite toy. Even if she's chewing on it, she's getting used to what a book looks like. PLUS, when she hears your voice telling a story, she's getting used to the idea of being read to. I was read to from birth and it cultivated a love of books that has spanned my whole life ... I was an English major and I'm now a writer and editor. No matter what career path my daughter chooses, I'm hoping a love for stories/reading is cultivated in her. Good luck!
J.

I think wanting to eat the pages is a quite typical thing! Your baby is ONLY 8 months old!!! There is plenty of time to get her interested in actually listening to the story!
Meanwhile enjoy the chewing!!!

My kids favorite books have been the "Baby Signs" books (check them out here: www.babysigns.com). The nice thing is that even if they are not into reading yet, they like to look at the pictures of babies (babies LOVE to look at other babies!). I started reading these to my kids when they were about 7-8 months old and now my 1 year old and 2 1/2 year old both know all the signs!

A.,
Just keep reading to your daughter. Maybe provide her with another small book for her hands, but let her chew away if she wants to. The most important thing is to continue to read to her. She will grow to love books and reading because you will have instilled it in her. We have 3 children who love reading and lots of books with baby teeth marks embedded in them. I love reading those board books to my children now and reminding them of what they use to do with their books. I also have an 8 month old (he's my 3rd) and he does the same thing.
Good luck,
K.

:) It's great to see you reading to your baby! If she wants to eat the pages, buy some of those "board books" that are a little more chew-proof. You can look at the pages, and make up stories about the pictures. It doesn't quite matter just yet that the sounds you make don't match the printed words. What matters is that you spend time together, and she learns to associate books with Happy Times with Mom.

Remember, their first "input" with the World was through their mouths. This will continue for a few more months. If she LIKES a book, she's going to CHEW it! This is a GOOD sign!!

You can also let her hold the board book, while you read a different story to her.

Congratulations! And Happy Reading!!!

Hi, my name is Tarin and my daughter did the same thing. What helped her is that I stopped trying to read the words and just started pointing out the pictures in the book, and saying what they were. She then got into turning the pages. Don't get to worried though she still is pretty young. Pretty soon she will be bringing you the same book to read over and over and over!

Hi A..
Just keep reading to her. (And buy some of the board books that can take a little slobber!) Eventually she will be interested in the words and the pictures. My son is almost 14 months and I just let him hold the books and look at the pictures until he comes over with the book in hand and a curious look on his face.
Good Luck!
N.

I started reading to my daughter every day at the same time when she was three months old. She is now 4 years old and reading simple sentences on her own! It works, so keep with it. My advice is, let her eat the pages! Give her a board book that's designed for babies, and let her go to town with it. You could talk to her about the book while she's eating it. It's her way of exploring and familiarizing herself with it and it means she's interested. If you want, you can try to give her one to chew while you are reading another one. Also, keep the sessions short because her attention span is very short at that age. I used to lay my daughter on her back and lay next to her, then hold the book over our faces. It seemed to keep her attention better. But your daughter may be mobile enough at this point that she'd crawl away. I don't know - just experiment and see what works. Keep trying!

Hi! My oldest is now 2 years old- when he was 8 mths I was trying to read to him too, but had no luck. He too was eating the pages and interested in everything but the book. I think the key is to find something very short, with lots of pictures, bright colors etc. The board books work great for the little ones because they can't rip and tear the pgs. My 2 yr old now LOVES to read and can listen for quite some time, and then tell me what it was about. She'll get there. I think she's still just so little for listeneing any length of time. Good luck! Hope that helped a little.

Hello A.,

You are getting your daughter interested in reading by continuing to read to her every day - even when she eats the books. Everything goes in an 8 month olds mouth anyway, and books are no different. My youngest son, now 10 months, still eats books, though he now doesn't totally destroy them like he did a couple months ago (for some reason he loves to eat paper and cardboard!). Just keep at it and don't get upset that your daughter is mouthing her books - its just another way she is learning about them. You are doing a wonderful thing by reading to her, just keep at it and in time she will realize that books aren't the tastiest thing and will stop eating them. Enjoy your little girl!

C.

I had this same problem, my son is now 19 months old and last night was the first time he actually sat still and paid attention to the book I was reading to him. You can try books that have thick pages that won't tear and that she can't eat. You might just have to be patient and give it some time. If your still having a hard time, you could try replacing the activity with something else that is interactive that she would be more interested in, such as throwing some toys on a blanket and pointing out the different colors and shapes. Best of luck to you.

Everyone's advice has been right on. Try getting books with big, colorful pictures in them with a few words. The less time you spend on a page the less distracted she can get. Also try books that have touchy, feely things on them. That can get her attention too. Discovery Toys have some great eye-catching books and soft ones too that you make the story up as you go and they can touch the soft pages. www.discoverytoyslink.com/jhood

Yep, Yep Yep and Yep. I agree with other posters. You may want to put away the nice books for awhile.

I have an 8 month old who loves counting the fish in “Fish Eyes”. I take his hand and quickly count all the fish on the page touching his hand to the fish each time I count. By the time we get up to 4 or 5 he’s squealing with delight. Right now he’s not interested in the actual story (he also chews on books), but he is getting involved with the book and sees pages turn. Another book he likes is “Slide and Find on the Farm”, it’s a great sturdy large board book with interactive slide outs to keep baby interested.