Reading is one of the most vital talents a child needs in order to be successful in life. Books are one’s best friend and the earlier we inculcate this habit, it is excellent for the child. Do Reading Books During Pregnancy Make The Child Smart?
Well, reading books during pregnancy not only increases knowledge but also helps in making the bond between the mother and the baby stronger. It also triggers better concentration, and a good attention span, distressing the mother of her tensions, resulting in a smarter baby.
In This Article
- Why Is It Important To Read To Your Baby?
- When should I Start Reading While Pregnant?
- Benefits of Reading to a Baby in The Womb?
- FAQ’s
Why Is It Important To Read To Your Baby?
As stated earlier reading comes with its own pack of benefits for a baby. However, a few points can be taken to notice which help in illustrating the importance of reading to a baby. Given below are a few of them:
- Reading to a baby helps in grasping the rare words thus increasing vocabulary.
- Reading helps foster a good attention span and also in memorizing.
- Babies can easily understand the meanings of the word.
- With reading, the closeness between the mother and the baby increases.
- Babies already get used to reading and this love helps them with their learning in the future.
- Reading at an early age helps in brain development and speech improvement.
- When rhymes and stories are read to a baby in a repetitive manner, it makes the process interactive. Also present it with full of fun, making it easy for the baby to remember.
[Read: The advantages of reading stories to kids]
When Should I Start Reading While Pregnant?
Reading at the right time will have more considerable effects than just starting at any point. Hence it is extremely crucial to know the precise time to start reading to a baby in the womb. A womb of a mother is more like a play arena. Here, from around the 10th week, the baby starts twisting and turning her body and eventually moves.
- By about six months of pregnancy, a baby does get acquainted with the sounds inside the womb. The baby gets familiar with the sounds from digestive ones to even the mother’s heartbeat.
- It can even hear external sounds quite clearly. But the magnitude is ranging to 10-15 decibels lesser than the internal ones.
- It is believed that a baby by the end of the second trimester or close to 23 weeks starts reacting to it by moving towards the sound and even start showing reactions to the food habits.
With the help of these actions, babies start training and grooming for the life that beckons. Therefore Interaction in any form with the baby in the womb helps in cognitive development. This could be by the medium of singing, reading or talking aloud to the baby.
Benefits of Reading Books During Pregnancy
Pregnancy is a phase that makes the mother vigilant about her eating habits, health, hygiene, fitness, and likes-dislikes, for giving the nutritional best to the baby and also creating the best environment possible. This at times can be stressful and reading a book to your unborn baby works like a good detox!
“ Did you know that a newborn baby who has been read by the mother in the womb can easily distinguish between the mother’s native language from any other foreign language and that too in a couple of hours of taking birth”? As per research, reading to your unborn is loaded with benefits for the mother-child duo. Some of the benefits are discussed as under:
1. Reading While Pregnant Helps in the Reduction of Maternal Stress and Anxiety
Reading to the baby helps in reducing pre-natal stress and worries. A study shows that when a mother reads to a baby in the womb, the heart rate of the baby seems to drop and she calms down and shows less movement stating she is enjoying the read.
2. Reading While Pregnant Improves Bonding Behavior
The bond between the mother and the baby becomes stronger by reading to the unborn baby as the baby starts getting familiar with the mother’s voice and can identify soft and loud tones of music. She feels more relaxed when soft music is played as it helps in resting due to its comforting quality just like a lullaby.
Whereas if the baby is sleepy and loud music is played, it, in turn, kicks as it dislikes it. Even the father y just participating in the reading activity, singing or talking to the baby will help in making the bond stronger.
3. Enhanced Concentration and Attention Span
Once the mother starts reading to the baby, they pick up the melody of the song, even though the words do not mean anything to them but they start identifying the voice of the mother. The child also tends to listen to it for a long time, resulting in increased attention span and concentration levels. Repetitive words also get stored in the memory of the unborn and this helps them further when they start their schooling.
Find out some free books to read for children here
Now you know Does Reading Books During Pregnancy Make The Child Smart? Thus, it can be seen that with an early start by reading to the baby far-reaching results are achieved. So it is best to kick start early for making the mother, and baby bonds stronger and help the mother’s distress from maternal worries and stress. Finally let the mother enjoy gradually along with the baby, relax, be calm, and enjoy the enjoyable moments of parenting leading to strong and firm relationships and a happy, secure, and comfortable future that beckons.
Also Read: Importance of storytelling for kids here
FAQ’s
1. How Many Books Should I Read To My Baby?
Try to read at least one small book every day and try to complete the story. Books for infants should contain clear illustrations and language that is repetitious and easy to understand.
2. Should You Read To The Baby Before Bed?
Reading a story to your baby before bed can be a wonderful way to help them wind down and relax. Reading on a daily basis reinforces the idea that books are fascinating to them.
