When I was pregnant with maxi one of the things that I was most looking forward to was reading bedtime stories to my future child.  I have always had a love of books and I knew that I wanted to foster this in my future children. I always knew that bedtime stories were important, but I never realised quite how important they were.

I am delighted to be working with Carpetright on their bedtime stories campaign.   Carpetright has teamed up with Storynory to release a free audio book each week throughout March. This week’s book is  ‘The Selfish Giant’.  I have said in the past just how much I love audiobooks and believe that they are a great addition to any parents bedtime routine and that audiobooks are not cheating.

The importance of Bedtime stories

What kids gain from Bedtime stories

I think it is common knowledge that bedtime stories not only help foster a bond between parent and child and also help encourage children to sleep but bedtimes stories do so much more than that.  Bedtime stories are magical.

Research has shown that reading to young children stimulates their development. Research from the department of paediatrics at Boston University school of medicine shows that children who are read to from an early age have better language development and tend to have better language skills later in life.  Not only that but sharing a bedtime story with a child promotes their motor skills, through learning to turn the pages.

Reading to your child at bedtime is also fantastic for spending quality time together.  There is nothing better than snuggling together whilst reading and helps cultivate a great bond.  There is something comforting to getting all cosy whilst reading.

Being read to allows your child to visualise and use their imagination, rather than concentrate on the words and learning to read them, they can let their minds wander and you are stimulating their imagination and opens up a whole new world of ideas and we all know that imagination leads to creativity.

Stories and fairy tales are a fantastic way of instilling morals and values to children.   Stories often cover difficult to explain situations and expectations to life and give you a great building block for discussion your expectations to your child.  It’s so much easier to talk about a tough issue outside the context of your immediate life.

What parent gain from bedtime stories

The longer I read to and with my boys, the more I realise that it is a two-way street.  I gain so much from them too. I love the conversations that that a story encourages.  I relish the time we spend reading as it is free of distractions and quality family time.

I am not going to say that sometimes bedtime can not come fast enough for me and I am tempted to just put the kids to bed, but really once we get started with the story or even the audiobook I realise it is just what we all needed.  It really is an unparalleled opportunity for me to bond with my boys and put right anything that might have gone wrong earlier in the day. The fears and concerns that sometimes the boys don’t readily give voice to during the day often come tumbling during bedtime stories.

Some of my most precious memories are of me snuggled on the boys beds reading to them.   I am going to admit that I found Mini’s mid sleeper bed really challenging for cuddles and reading and was glad when we moved to a single bed, so that I could lay next to him or if I am reading to both the boys we sometimes all snuggle up. I have loved introducing them to characters such as Pooh Bear and Piglet and Peter Rabbit from my childhood and in recent years enjoying books together such as The Maze Runner and the Percy Jackson series.

Win £500 and An Amazon Fire Kids

Throughout March, you can  win £500 vouchers and an Amazon Fire Kids with Carpetright.  All you have to do is share what is your favorite bedtime story by commenting on the Carpetright Facebook page or on twitter using the #BedtimeStories and @carpetright.