As a parent or parent-to-be, you may already realize the importance of reading to your child at an early age. According to Child Care Aware, studies have shown that kids who are read to every day from an early age have a higher chance of being successful in reading once they do start school. Research has shown that babies can recognize the vibrations of their mothers' voices while still in the womb, so talking and reading to your little one before they are born can only be of benefit to him.
Calming Benefits
According to Oprah's Real Age, fetuses hear in the womb in very much the same way as neighbors who share walls can hear one another. Sounds must make it through bone, tissue and the various fluids in and around the womb. By their sixth month in the womb, babies can recognize and are calmed by the sound of their mother's voice. It can feel a bit silly to hold a conversation with a bump in your belly, but reading a book is a good way to focus your "conversation" with your baby and strengthen the mother-baby connection once they are finally born into the world.
Brain Development
Your Baby Today reports that Dutch researchers discovered a connection between hearing and learning for babies still in utero. Fetuses were exposed to a certain noise and then observed. They found that every time the fetus was exposed to this same noise, they began to react even sooner. This evidence supports the fact that babies can learn. While it may be pointless to read biology textbooks to your little one in utero to prepare them for a career as a marine biologist, it can be helpful for brain development and the development and recognition of language skills in their early years.
Parent-Child Bonding
It can be difficult for many parents to make actual connections with their baby while they are still in utero. Reading with your child is a great way to establish a bond, and doing so before the baby is even born is no different. The book that you choose doesn't have to be anything special; select a book that you find interesting or that you enjoyed as a child and read it aloud to your belly when you have a few spare moments. Encourage your partner to do the same.
