Reading To Your Bump: When And How, And What Are The Best Books To Read?

Some women begin to bond with their unborn child from the very beginning, other’s take some time to get used to the alien inside of them being a little person. There are many different ways women can encourage bonding with their upcoming child and one of them is to read to them. You will most certainly be reading books to your child when they are born, so why not get them enthusiastic towards reading before the beginning?

The bond that is experienced between child and parent does not have to start after the birth. From around the age of 25 weeks in utero, a baby can here and recognise the sounds of their parents voices. Numerous studies have shown that reading causes the foetal heart rate to drop from the relaxing sounds of their parents voices. Early connection and communication with the baby by reading builds an amazing foundation to solidify future relationships with your child.

Here are a few simple tips on reading to your little one:

• Put aside a set time to read to your baby. Not only does this benefit you by providing a bonding opportunity, but it also provides an opportunity to stick your feet up and relax for a while.
• Include your partner. Reading to your unborn child doesn’t just have to benefit the mother. The baby is more than capable of recognising it’s father’s voice just as well as it’s mothers and this provides a golden opportunity for your partner to bond with the baby as well.
• Choose books with rhythmic language such as poems, or choose a children’s book that can be read with enthusiasm and differ your tone of voice.

Remember, a baby in utero cannot understand individual words, it is the tones and cadences of the voice that is more important that the actual words. The sorts of books that are best read to your child include any books written for children. It won’t be long until you start to accumulate a collection as gifts in your babies bedroom bookcase. Any books with clear rhythm and rhyme such as nursery rhymes, fairy tales and quirky Dr. Seuss books are all excellent choices.

Here are 5 good book choices that you could read to your unborn child:

1) The Complete Tales of Winnie the Pooh by A. A. Milne

2) Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss

3) Llama Llama Red Pajama by Anna Dewdney

4) Where is the Green Sheep? by Mem Fox

5) The Oxford Shakespeare: The Complete Works by Stanley Wells and Gary Taylor

It is unclear whether reading to your unborn child has any positive connection to later educational benefits, but it is certain that reading to them does not provide any negative connections, so give it a go, you have nothing to lose!