There’s nothing in the world parents wouldn’t do to make their babies sleep better. Mothers and fathers will try all sorts of tricks and techniques to help their babies fall asleep more easily, while taking some time for their own rest along the way.
It turns out that music is one of the finest and most beautiful ways to put your infant to sleep and make them rest peacefully. Why music?
Well, music is inherent to human beings. It’s a universal medium of communication that binds people together and transfers subtle messages across all age groups easily.
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Music helps babies to relax and calm down
Have you ever seen your baby struggling to fall asleep? We bet you have because it’s a common thing among infants. Only a few months after birth, a baby will sometimes get angry for not being able to fall asleep easily.
In such circumstances, music can help you out by creating a calm atmosphere and a relaxing ambiance for your little child. How come?
Well, it’s a well-known fact that music makes an impact on our moods and babies are by no means an exemption here. Studies reveal that music can lift a person’s mood, boost happiness, and reduce anxiety.
The same logic applies to everyone, from grown-ups to young children to babies. Therefore, you should take advantage of music to help your infant relax and fall asleep quickly.
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Music helps you create a pre-sleeping ritual
Do you know how psychologists always say that people should create daily habits in order to become more productive and improve sleeping patterns? Well, they say it for the youngest kids as well because everybody feels great when following the same rhythm day after day.
In this case, the purpose of music is to create a familiar environment and help babies figure out that it’s time to sleep. After all, infants’ lives are all about following the same patterns and embracing a common daily schedule.
This means that babies can learn that it’s time to sleep whenever you play a particular song. You should pick a slow and relaxing song for pre-sleeping rituals in order to make your baby feel cozy and ready for a good night’s rest.
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Music reduces stress
If you are struggling to calm your baby down before going to the cradle, perhaps you should try doing it with music. A beautiful song can have a superior relaxing impact on a baby’s mind, particularly if you are playing a quiet classical composition.
According to the study, this type of music can have a beneficial effect on our physiological functions, slowing the pulse and heart rate, lowering blood pressure, and decreasing the levels of stress hormones. It also helps babies to start breathing calmer and reach that much-needed level of mental stability before falling asleep.
However, the fact remains that infants can have various reactions to different songs, so we strongly encourage you to test many compositions and figure out which one really calms your baby down.
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Music boost brain development
Music definitely looks like a magical phenomenon because it also boosts brain development in babies. It seems like songs encourage infants to keep in touch with their emotions, understand common patterns in compositions, and figure out new and invisible concepts.
For example, a study by the University of Washington’s Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences found that playing music to nine-month-old babies led to an improved understanding of rhythm in speech and music.
Music obviously serves as a very special communicator that teaches the youngest kids important lessons before they can even walk and talk, which means that you should incorporate it into everyday interactions with your child.
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Music is a relationship-builder
Another aspect of music that many parents tend to forget is its significant relationship-building effect. Many researchers say that joint movements and dance lead to the release of oxytocin, a hormone in charge of mutual bonding. The same hormone is generated while nursing.
At the same time, psychologists explain that all genres produce pretty much the same effect. While most parents choose to play classical music, the fact is that it’s much easier to enjoy and sing along with your infant if you are listening to a familiar song with interesting lyrics.
Besides that, researches prove that babies who follow the rhythm and move to the drumbeat tend to smile more often than their peers.
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Music helps strengthen a wide range of skills
Although we talked about brain development already, it is important to add that music can help babies grow and strengthen a wide range of skills altogether. Namely, studies show that infants and toddlers who listen to music on a regular basis usually outperform other kids in terms of:
- Creativity and problem-solving abilities
- Spatial intelligence and understanding of the world around them
- Memorization and learning processes
- Mathematics and logical thinking because music is based on patterns
- Emotional intelligence
- Language learning
The Bottom Line
We all understand the privilege of listening to music as it pleases people of all ages, without exception. However, a lot of parents still don’t realize how important it is to play music for their infants. It’s a powerful child development tool that you must use to help the baby grow and develop more successfully.
In this post, we focused on six practical benefits of music for baby sleep.
Have you ever thought the music could influence babies this way? Do you have any interesting music-related experiences to share with us? Feel free to leave a comment – we would love to hear more about you and your baby’s sleeping rituals!
Author Bio: Isabell Gaylord is an expert who works for several college paper writing services and contributes a lot to dissertation writing services. Besides focusing on some of the top paper writing services, Isabell is a passionate explorer of human psychology.
