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celticjay
Joined: 27 Aug 2005
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 Posted: Thu Sep 13, 2007 2:23 am Post subject: Reading to your wife's belly while she's pregnant |
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This is for all the married men out there. I'm wondering how you felt about reading to your wife's pregnant belly. Honestly, I don't get too excited about doing it. It's not that I'm unexcited it's just that I forget about it sometimes. For her she is connected to the baby 24 hrs a day. Whereas all I see is a big stomach.
I guess I'm feeling guilty that I"m not more keen.... I'm very excited about being a father, and I'm eagerly awaiting the day.. I'm just not sooo keen on reading to the belly.
I'm just wondering if I'm having a different experience than others. Let me know your experiences with this |
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indytrucks
Joined: 09 Apr 2003
Location: The Shelf
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| Posted: Thu Sep 13, 2007 3:44 am Post subject: |
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| I never read to my wife's belly, nor was I ever encouraged to do so. Seems a bit silly. |
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Jeju Rocks
Joined: 23 Aug 2004
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| Posted: Thu Sep 13, 2007 4:01 am Post subject: |
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| I would have, but I didn't know she was pregant. I thought that she just had a beer belly. |
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excitinghead
Joined: 18 Jul 2005
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| Posted: Thu Sep 13, 2007 4:05 am Post subject: |
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My wife bought some Korean and English books of stories that were, somehow, specially designed for reading to her belly  . After my wife nagged me to read them once, I pointed out that my voice was more important than what was being said, so I started swearing and telling dirty stories about ex-girlfriends instead. Despite the validity of my arguments, my wife seemed to go off the idea after that. |
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nobbyken
Joined: 07 Jun 2006
Location: Yongin ^^
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| Posted: Thu Sep 13, 2007 4:35 am Post subject: |
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We knew what sex our baby was going to be, and we named her while she still had many months to do inside.
My wife read Koean/English books at nights and stuff.
It is ?Tae#?#, educating the child before it's born. You know every child needs a head start in Korea!
I sort of figured that content meant nothing, but the baby getting familiar with the parents voices and tones is important.
I used to joke to my wifes belly, talking to the baby and many times singing the ABC song, 
I tell you this, however you feel: your wife will be soooo happy and delighted with you, and the baby usually responds too.
Nothing to loose, in a while she'll be out on parol for 16+ years! |
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mindmetoo
Joined: 02 Feb 2004
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| Posted: Thu Sep 13, 2007 4:38 am Post subject: |
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The evidence this has any benefit is pretty thin. What babies and small children need is lots of stimulation to forge wider neural networks in their brain. You don't have to read them Latin either or play them Mozart. Just straight up stuff babies were evolved to be stimulated by. Colors, noise, their mother's voice. I would think any father that reads to his wife's stomach is going to be a hands on creative father after birth, hence the baby and child will get more stimulation and turn out to be smarter in the long run.
Last edited by mindmetoo on Thu Sep 13, 2007 3:51 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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jaganath69
Joined: 17 Jul 2003
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| Posted: Thu Sep 13, 2007 4:38 am Post subject: |
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| I did it a bit, mostly my International Relations theory text book I used for my MA. I figured it wasn't so much the words but the way you said it. |
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GoldMember
Joined: 24 Oct 2006
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| Posted: Thu Sep 13, 2007 5:04 am Post subject: |
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| I think the idea is too read to someone's wife's belly BEFORE she's pregnant. Idealy the Karma Sutra. |
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twg
Joined: 02 Nov 2006
Location: Getting some fresh air...
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| Posted: Thu Sep 13, 2007 5:22 am Post subject: |
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| Penn & Teller called B.S. on it. I'm going with them. |
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jaganath69
Joined: 17 Jul 2003
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| Posted: Thu Sep 13, 2007 5:47 am Post subject: |
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| twg wrote: |
| Penn & Teller called B.S. on it. I'm going with them. |
Thanks for ruining the happy mommy and daddy moment, you putz!  |
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blaseblasphemener
Joined: 01 Jun 2006
Location: There's a voice, keeps on calling me, down the road, that's where I'll always be
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| Posted: Thu Sep 13, 2007 6:24 am Post subject: |
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| It's good for a few reasons. The baby gets to know dad's voice. It's a time when you and mom can be together. It may have benefits to the baby, and who knows? Seems to me that from 1-3, babies/infants/toddlers are little sponges, learning language without being taught, so why would they be learning in the womb too? Anyway, I did it, and was happy with it. At 8-9 months, the baby kicked when I read to him, so whether he liked it or not, he responded to it! |
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steroidmaximus
Joined: 27 Jan 2003
Location: GangWon-Do
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| Posted: Thu Sep 13, 2007 6:55 am Post subject: |
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I did it, and I sang  |
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twg
Joined: 02 Nov 2006
Location: Getting some fresh air...
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| Posted: Thu Sep 13, 2007 8:17 am Post subject: |
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| jaganath69 wrote: |
| twg wrote: |
| Penn & Teller called B.S. on it. I'm going with them. |
Thanks for ruining the happy mommy and daddy moment, you putz! |
They cannot be denied.
And besides, if I were in the position to talk to a belly, I wouldn't be able to resist putting my lips on in and making fart noises.
I believe the term was "Zerbert" |
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billybrobby
Joined: 09 Dec 2004
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| Posted: Thu Sep 13, 2007 11:10 am Post subject: |
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| mindmetoo wrote: |
| The evidence this has any benefit is pretty thin. What babies and small children need is lots of stimulation for forge wider neural networks in their brain. You don't have to read them Latin either or play them Mozart. Just straight up stuff babies were evolved to be stimulated by. Colors, noise, their mother's voice. I would think any father that reads to his wife's stomach is going to be a hands on creative father after birth, hence the baby and child will get more stimulation and turn out to be smarter in the long run. |
mindmetoo and I have had our little run ins on occasion on this board, but this post is a good example of why I think he's definitely one of the more sound people on this board. Frankly, I think the whole reading to the baby thing is total bullsh*t, but i must admit it is a really sweet gesture that expresses the fact that you care a lot about your baby. There have been studies done (the links to which i'm too lazy to provide) about children who grow up in homes without a lot of money versus children who grow up in affluent homes, and they determined that affluent children are exposed to a much larger range of vocabulary and spend much more time talking to their parents than less well off families. So I think that anybody who would even take the time to think about reading some book through their wife's uterine tissue is going to eventually give their kid an advantage in some way. But we need to be careful that we don't think of kids as just some empty vessel into which we can pour our dreams of genius and success. Even understanding a story like Green Eggs and Ham is a heavy burden for a little infant who is just learning to suck his thumb. I say, wait until the kid is born, let him pee and doodoo and do all that baby stuff, and then maybe show him some brightly colored blocks, sing a few silly songs, and just play with him as she/he is -- as a kid. Forget the books, and just try to come up with some cool ways to arrange the colored blocks. Thats what kids are about.
Of course, I say this as a person who is not responsible enough to raise a dog much less a kid. |
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celticjay
Joined: 27 Aug 2005
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| Posted: Thu Sep 13, 2007 2:52 pm Post subject: |
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Thank you for all your responses.
I had a long talk with my wife and I basically told her I didn't like the pressure of having to read as if it was crucial to our babies development. I then proceeded to research online the science behind it and as Mindmetoo mentioned the evidence is pretty thin.
It says that children can't differentiate shakespear from the cat in the hat they can only recognize the voice vibrations. Which they can hear even if you're just talking with your wife in a regular conversation.
In the end I however, decide for the sake of my wife's happiness to read to the baby nightly. Yet, I read a Magazine (Macleans) of my interest rather than some a children's book that is frankly too boring to read. (We only have some ESL story books) Anyways, all is well in the household. Thanks for all your posts. |
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