Dads don't read bedtime stories

[Ravenfire]

Less than half of fathers regularly read bedtime stories to their children, research has suggested.

Some 42% of fathers said they were bedtime story readers, compared with 76% of mothers, a poll of 2,207 adults for the National Year of Reading found.


But 60% of fathers blamed long hours and stress. Television was children's most common pre-sleep activity.
Children's Secretary Ed Balls said reading opened doors to everything.

Boys are consistently outperformed by girls when it comes to reading.

Last year 87% of girls reached the required standard of reading at the end of primary school, compared with 81% of boys.

Do your children's dads read to them? Do you read to your child at bedtime?

[Boom]

I must confess that I never read bedtime stories to my 2, but they have both been reading fluently since toddler ages, so they read to themselves or each other.

I do feel bad about it sometimes.

I think their dad reads to them at his house - but only from the bible (he's a bit of a religious maniac - no offence to anyone of any faith, he's even considered extreme by his fellow churchgoers!)

[Emsickle]

DH hardly ever puts them to bed, let alone read to them.

Mine tend to read to me before bed though :happy72:

[fifib]

Me and my DH read to our DD at bedtime, he puts her to bed the most so he reads the most and I get her ready before work.

[Purplecat]

DH is the one who ALWAYS reads the bedtime story, he gets in from work between 6.15 and 6.40 and the kids go to bed at 7 so this is his time, he gets them dressed, they sing their bedtime song while going up the stairs (which he made up) then he read the stories.

They love this time with him, and he loves it too.

[Rainbowwitch]

My hubby never read bedtime stories to the kids.
Now they are older the youngest reads to himself and most of his books are about volcanos, history, planets

[barbgold]

HBV here - DH doesn't get a choice as I am often at work at bedtime.:cheesy:

[smirnoff]

Marc has read stories.. The girls prefer their story cds now! LOL

[Peridot30]

I read most nights before bed dh will read a book to them if they ask but they rarely do. THough ds is 6now and loved factual books and will sit for hours with dh looking at these books.

[MrTempleDene]

I do

DD always gets a bedtime story when she's here, although sometimes she prefers to read it to me :D

DS gets read to sometimes, but he isn't always that bothered, also it has to be downstairs for him, as they sleep in the same room.

He often joins us when DD gets her story though.

[Patti odoors]

Emily reads everynight before going to sleep and when she wakes up too if its before we get up, that kid always has a book in her hand :cheesy:

Dh and I both read stories at bed time when she was younger. Dh really enjoyed that time that they got together with no other distractions :happy72:

[squeakysue]

My dp reads to one of the kids every night- we do one child each at bedtime so whoever he is putting to bed he reads the story to. It is normally ds he puts to bed and he loves reading interesting books with him like solar system/kids encyclopedias etc cos ds takes a huuuge interest in stuff like that and wants to learn more.

[darwins]

i dont read them as much as i should, but then with the disylecxia i get fed up, with the kids correcting me :hysterica

[Daffs]

Lex tends to read to me rather than me read to her. Her dad has never read to her AFAIK. My dad reads to her a lot when she stays with them on a weekend. My mum doesn't read stories.

[Fudge Cake]

Dh will read if i nagg him too, i read to ds1 if he wants me to but its not every night.

[storm]

i used to with ds1, do sometimes with ds2 but he gets bored....

ds2's dad hasnt with him but he does with his other 2 kids

[Girlzmum]

My dh reads to the girls every night, in fact they both sleep with the books that they've read, madam keeps hers under her pillow and K keeps it at the bottom of her bed.

[Bear]

My dh reads to our kids, although ds is not particularly interseted! dd on the other hand, is rarely seen without her nose in a book and when dh puts her to bed every night he reads to her.

[sanjan]

I did with madam and cam

the kids dad would love to but he would find it very hard as he is severlly dyslexic and finds it easier to read from a pc screen them from the printed page

he even apologised to cam for not being able to do it when he was asked as I was out of action with a bad headache

[Debbie32]

Jake wont go to sleep without a story, when paul isnt working away he always does the reading and I do it when he is away

paul likes doing it as its there time alone

[Nics n Jeevan]

We don't read Jeevan a bedtime story, we have a song that i sing while bringing up his wind, then he goes straight to bed... dp's wouldn't know how to put him to bed, as iv always done it...

We do read to him in the daytime though, but he gets bord really quickly and wants to rush ahead 3/4 pages at a time...He preferrs to point out the pictures and say what they are!

[NorfolkPoppy]

I used to read all the time to my sons when they were little....well, it beats doing the housework!
When my dh read to them I would go upstairs to find him fast asleep on their beds and the boys still awake!

[Jacks Aunty]

We read to Jack & he likes to read to us too.
My hubby mainly takes Jack to bed.

[*debbie*]

We take turns depending on what shift dh is on...if he doesnt finish until 9pm then i do it. I love reading to ds, and enjoyed reading to my eldest 2. My dh loves reading to ds, especially thomas the tank, i can hear dh putting on a different voice for each train :cheesy:

[sanjan]

We take turns depending on what shift dh is on...if he doesnt finish until 9pm then i do it. I love reading to ds, and enjoyed reading to my eldest 2. My dh loves reading to ds, especially thomas the tank, i can hear dh putting on a different voice for each train :cheesy:

I used to do that with some of the stories I read to cam when he was younger

like the big bear little bear stories e.g. go to bed where I did the big voice for the big bear

and he loved it

[NorfolkPoppy]

I loved Ivor the Engine so that I could do my Welsh accent!

[CarerQuie]

We read to them when they were younger but now my youngest is 10,they'd rather read for themselves.xx

[jd28]

We usually end up reading dd several books so we can take turns. She's not at all a cuddly child, so it's one of the few chances you get to have her sitting still, snuggled up. Baby due August, so wait and see how it works then - I guess we'll be doing on each. He loves to read to her, but he is a very hands on dad and always has been.

I wonder about the research - it doesn't sound like it's so much about Dads, as about the fact that more children are going to sleep with the telly than being settled by either parent with a story. (The In the Night Garden DVD I borrowed from the library has a 'naptime setting' where the credits are replaced by calm music and pictures of Iggle Piggle asleep in his boat "so you can share a quiet moment with your little one". Mmm, right...)

[Seren]

dh reads to the kinders they prefer him to me, but they have stories every night.