Ask Mr. Dad: Do you read me, Baby?

Dear Mr. Dad: I have a 2-month old baby, and I love to read to him. My wife thinks I’m wasting my time and that there’s no sense reading before he starts learning words. Is it too soon to be reading to my son? If not, what should I read?

You’re definitely not wasting your time. In fact, reading to your child is one of the most important things you can do.

Admittedly, for the first few months, your reading won’t seem to be having any effect. And it doesn’t really matter what you read: a Wall Street Journal article, the menu from that Chinese takeout place down the road or your high school calculus textbook.

It’s not about education. Besides being a wonderful opportunity for the two of you to snuggle together, the goal is simply to get him used to the sound of the language and to have him associate reading with comfort and fun.

“When children have been read to, they enter school with larger vocabularies, longer attention spans, greater understanding of books and print, and consequently have the fewest difficulties in learning to read,” writes Jim Trelease, author of “The Read Aloud Handbook.”

If that doesn’t persuade your wife, try this: A large percentage of prison inmates are illiterate, and many juvenile offenders have reading problems. I can’t guarantee that reading to your baby will keep him from getting arrested 13 years from now, but there’s no question that reading is an important habit to develop – and there’s no such thing as “too early” to start.

If you read to him regularly, you’ll notice that he’s getting more and more interested over time:

▪ At about three months, he may start holding your finger while you read. That might not sound like much, but it’s a tiny but clear indication that he’s starting to become aware of the book as a separate object and that he likes what you’re doing.

Look for: Books with simple, uncluttered drawings as well as poetry and nursery rhymes.

▪ At four months, your baby will sit still and listen attentively while you’re reading. He may even reach out to scratch the pages of the book. Don’t get too excited, though – he’s a while away from being able to identify anything on the page.

Look for: Nursery rhymes, finger plays (this little piggy went to market and so on), and books with pictures of other babies.

▪ At about five months, most babies are just starting to respond to pointing. There are two ways to take advantage of this new development: first, watch your baby’s eyes, then point to and talk about what he is already focusing on. Second, point to something and encourage him to look where you’re pointing.

Look for: It’s now time for the five Rs: rhythm, rhyme, repetition, repetition and repetition.

▪ By six months, he’ll have developed clear preferences for certain books and will let you know which ones he wants you to read. He may also bounce up and down or chuckle a page or two before you get to a familiar part of the story.

Look for: Whatever he wants you to read.

Two important things.

First, babies this age want to put everything in their mouth, including books. You can either try to distract him with noises (the cow says “moo,” the airplane goes “whooosh”) or give him something else to chew on while you’re reading.

Second, pay attention to his behavior. If he starts looking around, pushes you or the book away or starts fussing, stop reading right away. You’ll both be a lot happier if you finish the story late.

This story was originally published August 21, 2015 at 10:00 AM with the headline "Ask Mr. Dad: Do you read me, Baby?."