Music Will Help Your Baby Sleep Better At Night

Why Use Music To Help You Baby Sleep At Night?

When your baby has a good night’s sleep it is a bonus to all the family! Whether you have a beautiful new baby who sleeps well or an older baby who has problems settling, it is well worth incorporating some music to sleep for babies in your daily bedtime routine.

Certainly it is good to establish a routine as babies and small children benefit greatly from having one and will soon learn that bath time, followed by a cuddle and bedtime story is the preamble to sleep time.

Music to sleep for babies can be easily incorporated in your routine and this routine can be used wherever you are for example during family holidays or stays with other family members.

Music to sleep for babies is not a new idea! The most popular form of music is the lullaby, gently sung by one of the baby’s parents.

Lullabies have existed since earliest times and can be found in most countries. Lullabies are usually simple melodic tunes and words that are soothing and repetitive.

Most children experience having a lullaby sung to them and this is proven when they look at the lyrics as adults of such favourites as ‘Rock-a-bye-Baby’, ‘Twinkle, Twinkle’ and ‘Sleep, baby sleep’ as more often than not, most of the words are already deep rooted in their memory!

Sing A Lullaby To Your Baby

If you have never sung a lullaby, there is no need to worry as babies are not critical and are not expecting you to be word perfect or to give a performance like Elton John or Adele!

The important points to remember are that you should have minimal eye contact with your baby as this will excite him and when you sing the lullaby, sing it slowly and rhythmically.

If you are holding your baby, slowly rocking him will help too as this movement replicates the comforting movement the baby experienced in the womb. If you don’t want to sing, slowly hum the melody as this will have a calming effect on your baby too.

The value of music to sleep for babies has long been appreciated and as wealth as a wealth of popular lullabies, several well known pieces have been written by famous composers such as ‘ Good evening, good night’ – the Brahms’ Lullaby  and the beautiful music for babies composed by Mozart.

Research Evidence

There is a wealth of medical evidence that supports the fact that music to sleep for babies is very beneficial. A study that appeared in the Journal of the American Academy of Paediatrics in May 2013 said that;-

‘lullabies sung in person can influence cardiac and respiratory function’

It is proven that babies are calmed as they listen to the lullaby.  Other studies have found that music can have a very positive effect on the development rate of premature babies.

Over the years there have been several different types of music used to calm babies at bedtime as well as recordings of sounds from nature, white noise and more recently, the sound of a mother’s heartbeat as this reminds the baby of the warmth and security of the womb.

Lullabies can be found on CDs and online so there is no excuse not to start singing to your baby and if you are currently pregnant….even better because lullabies are really soothing for mums-to-be…