[Sunnycat]

A lot of my friends Read books to their toddlers, they do story time and bed time stories. I have tried countless times reading books to DS but he will not sit still for long and has no interest. He ends up either snatching the book out of my hand to chew on it or tear the pages out. He doesn't seem to be interested in sitting in my lap and looking at the pictures. He is nearly 14 months old.

I'm aware that reading has a lot of benefits and my friend's toddlers seem to be enriched by reading but I'm not sure what to do with DS. I can't force him to sit there and read.

Does anyone have any ideas how to get him interested in books? Does anyone have a toddler who will not sit the and be read to or shows no interest in being read to?

[jayskette]

14 months old is hardly old enough to be enjoying a proper book and being read to! Don't be so hard on yourself. Buy him some fun texture based books, bath, fabric books and let him "play" with them first. Then you can point out and sound out the words that are in them. There are books that make sounds too

[epl0822]

Don't stress. My DS did something similar too. It can be discouraging to feel like you're wasting time with nothing coming to fruition. But we did persist and I think it made DS have more and more interest in books over time. He started off flipping through the pages after every sentence, sometimes we could barely get in one or two words. Some time after he turned two he started developing greater attention span and now can sit through the whole page. Keep going sometimes parents have to develop their kids' interest in books but in the long run it will be worth it.

[Riotproof]

I wouldn't stress about it, they can't all like books, just like the won't all like sport or ballroom dancing. 14 months is pretty young.

BTW, DS was the same at that age, he had no interest at all in me reading him books, but he liked reading them himself. By 18 months, I could barely get off the floor before he hand he another book to read. They grow, they change.

[Sunnycat]

I met up with my friend who has a boy 6 months older than DS and she has always read to him and he has such a good vocabulary at such a young age and she credits this to reading.

I really have tried to read, nothing too long but things like Spot and Mr Men and he doesn't want a bar of it.

[PB2]

Chat to your librarian about age appropriate books/picture books and what friends are reading and hoe thy do it for the same age level.

Good luck - worth perservering

[TopsyTurvy]

I found the best way to get my DS interested in reading was to sit there with the book and read aloud to myself. Soon enough he would come over and show some interest.

Now he loves reading!

Also those noisy electronic nursery rhyme books were also great at first too as they provided lights, noises and bits to move around which really helped engage him.

[Bunsen]

DS1 was like that for a while. I just kept lots of books around, he would pick them up and play with them but never sit and be read to. We did lots of trips to the library too, on our own or with mothers group friends.

When his little brother came along, who did like being read to, his interest picked up - he didn't want to be left out. He's much keener now and is starting school next year so is quite excited about learning to read.

[MAGS24]

What kind of books are you reading? I bought sparkle books for my DS when he was a toddler, and I used it as a way to teach him colours and told him the words for everything in the pictures etc, but I didn't really read the book because reading didn't keep his attention. He was always happy to sit if I made the book for interesting for him. I often made up my own stories to go with the pictures to make it more interesting for him.

[~Mintie~]

My 14 month old isn't very interested in books, neither was his brother until he turned about 2. Now he enjoys 5 bedtime stories every night and absolutely loves it. I'm hoping my 14month old will be the same.

If he doesn't like it now, or is like mine and just wants to rip or eat the book, maybe just try every now and then, maybe once a week. I'd leave basic, tough books lying around for them to explore and if he picks it up and brings it to you, don't read the whole thing, just open a page or 2 and point at the pictures.

Not all kids take to books, I guess some never do but most show an interest at some stage. So I say keep trying and let him explore for himself.