Chatting to your baby about daily tasks and what is happening in their local environment is more beneficial for their development than reading them a bedtime story, according to a new study from the University of Limerick.
Researchers from the Economic and Social Research Institute and the University of Limerick interviewed the parents of 7,845 nine-month-old babies about the kinds of activities they do to educate and communicate with them, including reading books together, showing them pictures, and talking to them.
Led by psychologist Suzanne Egan, the study found that showing pictures to the child was the most popular activity of the three with 94% of infants in the study being introduced to images. This was followed by reading, which was done with 80.5% of the kids, while 69.5% of mother respondents reported that they “always” talked to their child while busy.
Psychologist Suzanne Egan told The Sunday Times that the study showed significant impacts on reading and talking to the child, saying those who were spoken to on a daily basis had “led to higher vocabulary skills at three years. Also at three years of age, the more days of the week they were read to, the higher their problem solving skills and the higher their vocabulary.”
Although there were obvious benefits to reading to your child, the research team found that those who were spoken to regularly tested higher points in reasoning, understanding their environment and problem-solving abilities.
