Is there a "normal" age to listen to stories?

[rparker]

This may be a silly question, but is it normal for an 11 month old to be unable to handle being read even a super short picture book/board book? At what age do most children begin to enjoy being read to?

It is a struggle to read abridged Dr. Seuss board books or Goodnight Moon to DD2... but when DD1 was this age we were reading her the longer Dr. Seuss books as well as selections from things with fewer pictures, like the original Winnie the Pooh. I read DD1 basic board books and stories like Green Eggs and Ham starting at about 2 weeks, but I still can't manage to get through more than 1 or 2 pages with DD2 at 11 months. Does DD1 have a freakish attention span that has given me unrealistic expectations or do most babies enjoy being read to? 

[Daffodil]

Originally Posted by rparker 

Does DD1 have a freakish attention span that has given me unrealistic expectations

She was listening to Winnie-the-Pooh at 11 months?  Yep, freakish.  Well, unusual anyway.  My DD loved being read to by the time she was a couple months old and had a greater than normal attention span, but she wouldn't have been interested in something like Winnie-the-Pooh or even the longer Seuss books at that age.  DS was 10 months old before he was ready to listen to a whole board book. There are plenty of kids who aren't ready to listen to a whole book until they're even older than that.  I don't know what the typical age is for getting interested in stories, but I'm pretty sure not being interested yet at 11 months is not at all atypical.

[lifeguard]

Ds had zero interest in books until at least 15 months - maybe closer to 18 months. I remember thinking "how am I supposed to incorporate reading into a bedtime routine when all he does is push the book away & squirm off my lap?" Now he LOVES books so I don't think when it starts matters so much.

[dejagerw]

DS1 loved books right from birth. DS2 is 7 months and I cannot read that boy a book. He'd much rather eat it than read it. It's just one of the many differences between my two boys.

[MsDolphin]

DS just made 1year and I can't wait until he really enjoys being read to.

He will bring me board-books, but as soon as I start to read he either closes it or goes and gets another. My Mom said she reads to him and he listens.

[pippisvilla]

When our daughter was about to be born, I remember wanting a book to read to her, thinking that reading would be something we should start right away.  It has been different than I expected.  On some days we read and some we don't.  I wish I had more of a routine about it but it seems she also has different amounts of interest.  For us it depends on the day.  Some days my, now, 9 month old will sit still and listen through three different board books and others she will squirm and try to eat it.  I guess it sort of depends on her mood. What's I think is most important is to just keep talking and engaging with them about what you are thinking, what they are doing, what they seem to be interested in (which right now is those itty-bity things she finds on the floor or ground).  Eventually, I think kids come to love books.

[AutumnAir]

Neither of mine would sit still to be read to at that age either.  I think with DD1 her interest in books took off, along with her patience to sit and listen/look, shortly after turning one.  She's now voracious about books and would be happy to be read to all day long if I could manage it.

DD2 has just turned one and can sit still for a *very* short board book at bedtime or another time when she's tired/sleepy/ready to be still but then the squirming starts again and she tries to grab and eat the book.  Though she will sit and leaf through her books on her own at times, but if I try to sit with her and talk about what she can see then that's the end of it!

I think we feel under so much pressure to read to our kids from day one because that's the 'recommendation' that we forget that kids are all different in terms of their likes, preferences, attention spans etc.  Follow your kid's own interests, talk to them about stuff you see all around you, and every once in a while try looking at a book together - at some point or another they will show interest and then you can gradually start to do more actual book reading.  My 0.02c.

[nilatti]

My son likes it when I read to him while he's in the high chair eating finger foods. It makes meal time more interesting for both of us. 

At 1, he often brings me his books to read, but sits for only a few pages. He wants to explore them on his own, leafing through pages slowly and looking at the pictures or lifting the same flap over and over and over again. I don't think he really gets the idea of a "story" yet.

[IzzyTheTerrible]

I've been reading to my 8mo since we got him 2 months ago, but today he was able to sit and watch and listen for the first time.  It only worked with a book that has real baby faces (something I was told was great for young babies, and was the book he picked) abd was no more than a sentence per two pages, and as soon as I let him touch it, he was so excited to hit and chew on it. But when I held it away from him, he listened. 

I'm pretty sure that was a fluke though. ;) 

[LynnS6]

Originally Posted by rparker 

This may be a silly question, but is it normal for an 11 month old to be unable to handle being read even a super short picture book/board book? At what age do most children begin to enjoy being read to?

I wasn't able to read much to ds from the time that he started to crawl until about 18 months. He just wouldn't sit still. I felt horrible (he was my first) as here I was, a linguist, who was teaching about how important it is for kids to read, and what do I have? I kid who won't be read to! He's very active kid. Once the novelty of crawling, walking, then running wore off, he was a little better able to sit. But we had to do very short books, with lots of things for him to point at and talk about. It wasn't so much reading as conversing. (Our copy of "My Very First Truck Book" actually fell apart!)

Dd was different. she sat still for books much earlier. She had a much longer attention span. But I don't think she could do the longer Dr. Suess books until about 2-3.

Guess what? They're 10 and 7 now. The kids read for 30-45 minutes as part of the bedtime routine. Dd (7) sits on the couch and plows her way through the books. Ds (10) sits on the couch, reads a bit, ponders for a bit, asks a question (which is usually completely unrelated to his book), then goes back to reading. Dd read the entire Harry Potter series this summer. Ds started this spring and is only on book 5.

So, the quick answer to your question is: Yes, your first child had an extraordinarily long attention span.