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The minute you find out you’re expecting, you probably have visions of relaxing in a comfy spot with your hand on your belly, connecting with your baby, as the baby books advise. You may have also read in those same books that talking to or reading aloud to your unborn baby has significant benefits, and it’s true. There are valid reasons why you should read to your baby in the womb.
“There’s ample evidence that fetuses are picking up information from the outside world. They’re especially receptive to sounds from the mother’s body and the external environment.” Rick Gilmore, associate professor of psychology at Penn State, explained on the university’s website.
With so many engaging, classic children’s books on the market though, choosing the right books to read to your baby in the womb can be difficult. We’ve compiled several titles you may not have previously considered.
Should you read to your baby in the womb?
As soon as 16 weeks, your developing baby can hear what’s going on in the world around them. So once you find out you’re pregnant, it’s important to take steps to reduce stress and anxiety in your environment. This is true not only for your mental health, but also for your baby’s development. Referencing a well-known University of South Carolina study on prenatal learning, Gilmore illustrates this point.
“Mothers were instructed to read Dr. Seuss out loud while they were pregnant,” Gilmore explained. “When the babies were born, researchers tested to see if they recognized Dr. Seuss against other stories, and their mother’s voice against other readers. In both cases, the infants were able to pick up on the vocal patterns they’d become familiar with in utero.”
If you do choose to read to your baby, you’ll be creating the beginnings of a family culture around books and reading, something that you truly won’t regret.
Books to read to baby in the womb
Nine Months: Before a Baby is Born
For growing families with small children, this book by Jason Chin is the perfect addition to your bedtime read-aloud collection. Not only will your baby in the womb get the benefit of hearing your voice, but their older sibling will enjoy hearing this family of three’s 9-month journey until the arrival of the new baby.
Red: A Crayon’s Story
On the surface this looks like a simple children’s book. But Michael Hall’s, Red: A Crayon’s Story goes much deeper with the message of being true to your inner self, no matter what others expect from you.
Diversity and inclusion in children’s books
Reading books or listening to audiobooks in a variety of dialects and languages can also benefit your baby in the womb. “There are studies that show a two-day-old infant’s preference to the mother’s native language, even when spoken by unfamiliar voices,” Gilmore explained.
If we’re to raise the next generation of global citizens, exposing them to diversity in utero is a great beginning. Consider listening to or reading one of the following diverse and inclusive books to your baby.
Where Are You From?
We’re more than ethnicity and race, and Yamil Saied Mendez describes perfectly that the young protagonist is a wonderful mix of the places, people, emotions, and landscape of her family and her ancestors.
Besos for Baby
This sweet book, authored by Jen Arena, alternates between simple English and Spanish words like Mami and Papi, and perro and gato. This bilingual read-aloud is the perfect way to introduce Spanish words to your little one.
Quiet
This is a fun and interactive book from Kip Alizadeh that is great for reading to babies, but will be invaluable once your little one becomes a toddler. It is a dual-language book that comes with a translator that allows you to hear the book read in a variety of languages, like this Mandarin version.
What Makes a Family
This inclusive book covers families of all types, from blended and foster families to everything in between. Written by Hannah Bruner, What Makes a Family is a nice change from the typical mom-dad-baby books across mainstream bookshelves.
More from Mom.com: What Can My Baby Bump Hear?
Baby books that are also popular children's songs
In addition to familiarizing your child with certain tales and getting them to recognize your voice, you may also want to read books that have content they will encounter as they grow up. Some songs are particularly common to hear in daycare, on television shows, and in preschool, so why not read these songs to baby in the womb? The following children’s books are inspired by popular children’s songs.
The Itsy Bitsy Spider
Rosemary Wells is a popular children’s book author and creator of the ever-popular bunnies, Max and Ruby. Her book, The Itsy Bitsy Spider, highlights a little spider’s journey as it makes its way along the waterspout, encountering a cat, a mouse, and other challenging obstacles. Wells also published a similar book for Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star.
Baby Beluga
This fun song by Raffi, written in 1980, has long been a child favorite. The illustrated song about the sweet white whale will be one you reach for again and again.
Read to Your Baby Every Day
If you’re on a path to minimalism and don’t want to collect a library of baby board books before your little one even arrives, Read to Your Baby Every Day by Rachel Williams is a collection of 30 classic nursery rhymes that include some favorite children’s songs.
Now, if the idea of singing, reading, or listening to nursery rhymes just isn’t your jam, you’ve got some options. New mom Melissa (@navigatingmumlife) recently went viral on TikTok when she shared a video of her son calming himself down after hearing a song she played often while pregnant. The song? “Get Low,” by ‘Lil John.
Embedded content: https://www.tiktok.com/@melissak096/video/7223093550206962949
“It gets him everytime” she wrote in the caption. “He was fast asleep by the end of the song.”
