Bedtime stories: the new baby

October 3, 2014

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What books are current bedtime favourites in your house? Eliza is going through a Topsy and Tim phase, as my mum recently found all my old ones from the 80’s. She also has her classic literary loves – Peepo, her Paragon books, and Postman Bear.

Ever since I found out I was pregnant, we were really conscious to involve her and make sure she understood what was happening, and books seemed like the obvious answer. We have a Miffy book – Miffy and the New Baby – that we used to talk to her about it, and we were recommend others including There’s a House Inside my Mummy.

Alex’s mum – Grannie Gill – found us one called Billy and the Baby, that luckily enough Eliza loves and asks for each night pre-sleep. Billy and the Baby is about a boy who’s due to become a big brother. His parents go to great lengths to over-involve him in every part of the process, while Billy just wants to have a bit of peace to make a memory box for his new sibling. It shows that children are actually smarter and understand a lot more than you’d think.

I like to tweak it to make it really relevant –  Billy goes to stay with his Gran when his mum goes into labour, but one of our relatives will come to our house, so this is how I tell the story. If Eliza was a bit older I think it would be fun to also make a box like Billy does.

Betta Living recently conducted a poll of 2,000 parents to find opinions on bedtime stories and nocturnal reading habits (find out more). The Gruffalo came out top, followed by The BFG and The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. We’re already huge fans of The Gruafflo, and the latter two were firm childhood favourites of my own, and I can’t wait for Eliza to read them – hopefully along with her new sibling.

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