By Tracey Deaux
Child Life Specialist

As a parent, you may be wondering about the importance of reading to your infant.  Sure, you’ve heard it’s important to read to your baby.  But, why is it important?  An infant won’t understand everything you read anyway, right?  However, you wouldn’t stop talking to your infant just because he or she doesn’t understand everything you are saying.

Research shows an infant has over 100 billion brain cells, or neurons, that store information received through different senses.  Each neuron is connected to thousands of other neurons that form synapses in the brain.  These synapses must be used over and over again or else they will be eliminated.

On a positive note, each time an infant uses his or her senses, the synapse connection grows stronger and shapes the way he or she thinks, feels, and behaves.  Reading to your child will not only promote the senses, but will also teach your child about communication, build memory and vocabulary, and give your child important information about the world around. 

Research also shows that when reading, your baby hears you using many different expressive sounds and emotions, which in turn, promotes social and emotional development.  And, when reading to your child, maybe the most important thing to you—your connection with your baby—is fostered!

Interestingly enough, it takes between fifteen and twenty years for a child’s brain to grow to its full size, but most connections are made in the early years of life.  Reading to your baby can only make these connections in the brain much stronger!