Does My Baby Know I Love Them? How Babies Experience Love Before They Understand the Words There are moments in parenthood when love feels enormous. It is there when your baby falls asleep against your chest, when they recognise your face across a room or when a tiny hand closes around your finger. Then there […]
How to Help Your Baby Crawl Without Trying to Teach Them to Crawl There is a strange moment in babyhood when the floor suddenly becomes very interesting. Your baby spots the muslin cloth, the remote control, the dog’s tail or the one object you were absolutely certain was out of reach. They stretch, wriggle, rock, […]
How to Encourage Your Baby to Talk: The Conversations That Begin Long Before First Words Your baby may be months away from saying “mama”, “dada” or the name of the family dog, but that does not mean language development is waiting to begin. From the moment your baby starts to recognise your voice, watch your […]
Does My Baby Get Bored? What Your Baby’s Brain Really Needs From Play There is a particular point in the summer holidays when the days begin to feel very long. Your usual groups may have paused, friends are away and the weather cannot decide whether it wants to deliver a heatwave or torrential rain. You […]
Does My Baby Need Entertaining All Day? Why Doing Less Might Be One of the Best Things for Your Baby There is a moment that almost every new parent experiences, although very few of us admit it out loud. It’s usually sometime around three o’clock in the afternoon. The morning has disappeared in a blur […]
How Do Babies Learn? The Surprising Science Behind Your Baby’s First Year “Have we actually done anything today?” It’s one of the questions I’ve heard more times than I can count. Usually it’s said with a little shrug while parents are packing away the changing bag after class. “We had a slow morning really. […]
Why Does My Baby Love Looking at Other Babies? The Beautiful Reason They’re Fascinated by Each Other There is a moment that happens in almost every Adventure Babies class. It isn’t always during the big exciting parts of the story. It isn’t necessarily when the bubbles appear or when a puppet suddenly pops out […]
How to Read to a Wriggly Baby (Because They Were Never Meant to Sit Still)
You imagined cosy story times.
A comfy chair.
A beautiful picture book.
Your baby snuggled on your lap, gazing up at every page while you read in your best storyteller voice.
Instead…
You get halfway through the first page before they’ve rolled away, grabbed the book upside down, crawled towards the dog or decided that chewing the corner looks far more interesting than listening to The Gruffalo.
If you’ve ever closed a book thinking, “Maybe they’re just not interested yet,” you’re certainly not alone.
It’s one of the questions we hear most often from new parents.
“How do I read to my baby when they won’t sit still?”
The answer might surprise you.
You don’t.
Or at least, you don’t expect them to.
Because babies weren’t designed to experience stories by sitting quietly.
They’re designed to experience them with their whole body.
We’ve accidentally given ourselves the wrong picture of story time
Most of us grew up with story time looking the same.
Sit down.
Be quiet.
Listen carefully.
Turn the page.
It’s a wonderful way for older children to enjoy books, but babies are in a completely different stage of development.
Before they can concentrate on the words, they’re learning through movement, touch, sound, faces, repetition and relationships.
For them, the story isn’t just inside the book.
The story is you.
It’s the way your voice changes when the bear appears.
The smile on your face when you turn the page.
The feel of the cardboard under their fingers.
The excitement of reaching for the puppet before you’ve even introduced the character.
They’re absorbing so much more than the words.
Movement isn’t getting in the way of learning—it’s helping it
When adults struggle to concentrate, we often sit more still.
Babies tend to do the opposite.
Movement is one of the ways they process information.
That little wiggle while you’re reading.
The reaching.
The rolling.
The kicking.
Even crawling away for a moment before coming back.
It’s all part of how babies learn.
As they move, they’re connecting what they hear with what they see, feel and experience. Those repeated experiences strengthen the brain pathways that support attention, memory and language over time.
So if your baby keeps standing up halfway through a story, it doesn’t mean they’re not enjoying it.
It simply means they’re being a baby.
Your baby is listening… even when it doesn’t look like it
One of the biggest surprises for parents is discovering just how much babies absorb while appearing completely distracted.
You might be reading while they stare at the ceiling.
Or while they’re fascinated by the ribbon sticking out of the page.
Or while they’re trying to post the book underneath the sofa.
It can feel as though your words are going in one ear and out the other.
But babies are incredible listeners.
Long before they understand every word, they’re learning the rhythm of language.
They’re recognising familiar voices.
They’re hearing repeated sounds.
They’re beginning to predict what comes next.
Every shared story is helping to build those foundations, even if your audience has wandered off halfway through.
Why babies love stories they can touch
Have you ever noticed how babies instinctively reach towards books?
Not because they’re trying to turn the page properly.
Because they’re curious.
They want to hold it.
Pat it.
Scrunch it.
Sometimes chew it.
That exploration is every bit as important as hearing the words.
Touch helps babies make sense of what they’re experiencing.
It’s why sensory books, textures, songs and movement feel so natural during the first year.
They’re meeting babies exactly where they are developmentally.
This is why sensory storytelling works so well
At Adventure Babies, we don’t expect babies to sit in a neat circle and listen quietly from beginning to end.
If we did, we’d all leave feeling disappointed.
Instead, we build stories that babies can step into.
A splash of bubbles becomes the sea.
Silky scarves become butterfly wings.
Puppets peek out from behind the pages.
Songs invite little hands to wave, clap and reach.
Parents often tell us afterwards, “I didn’t think my baby would sit through a story.”
The truth is—they didn’t.
They experienced it.
They explored it.
They laughed, reached, wriggled, listened, watched and joined in.
And that’s exactly what early literacy should look like.
The pressure to ‘do story time properly’
Social media has given us some beautiful images of parenthood.
Perfect nurseries.
Perfect bookshelves.
Perfectly behaved babies listening to stories.
Real life looks rather different.
Books get chewed.
Pages get turned too quickly.
Stories get interrupted by hiccups, feeds, nappy changes and sudden fascination with your shoelaces.
None of that means you’re doing it wrong.
In fact, those everyday, imperfect moments are often the ones your baby learns the most from.
Reading isn’t about finishing the book.
It’s about sharing the experience.
So what does ‘reading to your baby’ actually look like?
Sometimes it’s one page before nap time.
Sometimes it’s singing the same rhyme while they bounce on your knee.
Sometimes it’s pointing to one picture because that’s all they’re interested in today.
Sometimes it’s reading three words before they crawl off, then carrying on anyway because they can still hear your voice.
It all counts.
Every shared moment around books is helping your baby build positive associations with reading.
And those positive feelings are what create lifelong readers.
You’re not just reading a story. You’re building a reader.
One day your baby will sit beside you and ask for “just one more story.”
One day they’ll finish your favourite rhyme before you do.
One day they’ll proudly turn every page themselves.
Those moments don’t begin when they can finally sit still.
They begin now.
With the wriggling.
The reaching.
The giggling.
The interruptions.
The cuddles.
And yes… sometimes with a slightly soggy board book.
Because learning to love books was never about sitting perfectly still.
It was always about sharing them together.
Keep exploring
If this reassured you, you might also enjoy:
- Why Do Babies Put Everything in Their Mouth?
- How to Stimulate Your Baby’s Brain
- Why Babies Love Repetition (Even When You’re Tired of the Same Book!)
Helpful resources
For more evidence-based information about reading and early communication, visit:
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How to Develop Your Baby’s Fine Motor Skills: Why Crinkly Things Are Doing More Than You Think How to Develop Your Baby’s Fine Motor Skills Have you ever handed your baby an expensive toy only for them to become completely fascinated by the crinkly wrapper, the corner of a muslin, or the label on a […]
