How can cheap baby clothes be better for your baby? The answer is quite simple, by spending less on cute trendy baby clothes there will be money left over to buy something which will help your child’s educational development . . . . books. Research has shown that introducing books to babies at a young age helps develop their language, communication skills and their overall learning.

Experts will tell you that talking with your baby from birth helps with their brain development and helps them learn. Any time the baby is awake is a great time to talk to them but when feeding them it is a great time for them to learn the rules of conversation even though they cannot talk back to you.

Although you may not realize it, just by talking to your baby about the everyday things that are going on you are teaching him the art of conversation and communication. One of the best times for talking to your baby is while you are feeding him. Even if you are bottle feeding him, always hold him and talk to him.

You will notice that when your baby is feeding that there will be short breaks in the sucking. You may also notice that when your baby is sucking they are looking at you, especially if you are talking to them. These are the first steps in learning how to hold a conversation. The pauses in the sucking are baby’s turn to “talk” to you and as they get older the pauses will be filled with your baby cooing at you in response.

Not all new moms feel comfortable talking or singing to this little person who cannot talk back to them. Once you get used to the idea that your baby is actually listening to you and that hearing your voice is soothing and reassuring to her you will find it becomes a lot easier. It doesn’t have to be an intellectual conversation just talk about what you are going to do – she just loves to hear your voice.

So build on that – start reading to your baby from as young as six weeks old. Babies and children love rhythm so simple books with a rhyming text are very suitable. Favorites such as Goodnight Moon, Guess How Much I Love You and The Very Hungry Caterpillar are great early readers. Not only are you introducing your baby to the early reading skills but teaching them the concept of counting, numbers and the names of things in their world.

Singing nursery rhymes is another great way of communicating and teaching your baby. You can start off with the simple lullaby type like Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and Hush Little Baby to soothe and calm them when they are distressed. Doing rhymes like This Little Piggy, Patty Cake and Incey Wincey Spider helps them with their motor skills and co-ordination.

Not only is it fun to sing, read, talk and generally interact with your baby it is beneficial to her. It has been shown that the greater your child’s vocabulary at three years old then the greater it will be at five years old when she starts school.

So you see by buying cheap baby clothes and perhaps spending more on books for your baby you are making an early start on their education.