Reading to your newborn? yes!

How to read to your baby!

As parents, we spend so much of our time just staring at our newborns.  Their little nose, that tiny curl of hair, THE EYELASHES!  We ooooohhhhh, and tickle, and stare.  And there they sit, just staring back.  It’s too early for laughs and coos.  Isn’t reading to a newborn pointless?  Not at all!  Reading is a form of play!  In the first six months of life, your baby’s brain is building emotions, cognition, and social skills.  Play (and reading!) can support these developments. Here are some research-proven benefits.

1.     Bonding

2.     Parental voice and language exposure

3.     Early literacy awareness

4.     Improved later language outcomes

5.     More Bonding!

Now we know the WHY, here’s the HOW. 

1.     Prop your baby on your knees or lap facing you.  Make sure you can easily engage them in eye contact. 

2.     Hold the book in between you and the baby so the baby can see the pictures. 

3.     Talk about the cover.  Point to animals or objects.  Be silly but gentle.  If there’s a cow on the cover, give a big silly “MOOOOOOO” while pointing to the cow.  Say things like “This cow is so big!” 

4.     Open the book.  Say “It’s time for us to read, let’s open the book” with a calm, happy expression.

5.     Read ALL the words!  Don’t worry about pointing to the words as you read.

6.     After reading each page, don’t turn yet!   Point to the most engaging pictures and just talk about them “I bet this red car can go so fast, VROOOOOOM”

7.     If your baby is old enough to track and turn their head, follow those cues!  Point out and discuss what they seem to be looking at.

8.     At the end of the book, say “all done!  We finished reading the book, The End” while closing the book. 

9.     Smile and tell your baby you love reading with them. 

10.  Pick up another (or the same one!) and start again! 

Jenna and Baby Z showing us how it’s done

Scala M, Seo S, Lee-Park J, McClure C, Scala M, Palafoutas JJ, Abubakar K. Effect of reading to preterm infants on measures of cardiorespiratory stability in the neonatal intensive care unit. J Perinatol. 2018 Nov;38(11):1536-1541. doi: 10.1038/s41372-018-0198-4. Epub 2018 Aug 17. PMID: 30120423.

Neri, E., De Pascalis, L., Agostini, F., Genova, F., Biasini, A., Stella, M., & Trombini, E. (2021). Parental Book-Reading to Preterm Born Infants in NICU: The Effects on Language Development in the First Two Years. International journal of environmental research and public health, 18(21), 11361. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph182111361

drafted 2/29/22