How to Read Aloud to a Baby from 2 to 4 Months Old

Reading to a baby who is between 2 and 4 months old can be a truly rewarding experience. At this point, your baby's vision is improving. Your baby can see objects and will visually track and reach for objects. Also, your baby is smiling in response to voices. Therefore, the sound of your voice reading will likely elicit many smiles from your baby. Remember that learning to teach your baby to read is a process. Your baby is your guide.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Baby books

1. Select a book with appropriate visual stimuli. Since your baby's visual skills are developing, you should be looking for books that have bright and simple pictures. Also, choose books with striking black and white patterns are a good choice at this point.
2. Hold your baby so that he can see the pictures. At this age parents may lay their baby down on a bed or prop the baby up using pillows. This provides support to your baby's head, freeing you to turn the pages and interact with the text and your baby.
3. Allow your baby to grasp the book you are reading. They may not be able to turn the pages yet, but by touching the book they are starting to interact with the pages.
4. Make regular eye contact with your baby. You should be watching your baby's eyes, noticing what images they find most interesting. Talk to them about these images.
5. Listen to your baby's coos. You may notice that when you stop reading, your baby will coo, taking turns talking with you.
6. Incorporate parentese talk, which is a sing-song, high-pitched way of speaking. Your baby will respond positively to such talk as babies love to hear variations in the pitch and volume of your speech.
7. Put the book away as soon as you notice your baby losing interest.

Tips & Warnings

• It's okay to select books that are free of words. Talking to your baby about the pictures is a powerful reading activity.
• Continue to read books that you read to your baby when they were newborn. Babies enjoy repetition and research suggests that they enjoy hearing books that they have heard before.
• Remember that learning to teach your baby to read is a process. Your baby is your guide.
• Don't force your baby to read with you if they are not showing interest.
• Don't feel the need to read the book from cover to cover.