The Benefits of Singing to your baby

“Everyone says it, that singing to my baby is a good thing to do – but I sound so bad!”

“I heard that singing helps my child…. Is this True?”

“What sort of music should I sing to my baby?”

Being an experienced music teacher of preschoolers, and being constantly around parents these are questions that I heard A LOT!

Increasingly though, it is thought that singing to a child, right from birth and even during pregnancy has significant benefits, both for your baby and for yourself.

In Adults singing strengthens the immune system, according to research by scientists at the University of Frankfurt in Germany, published in the latest edition of the US Journal of Behavioral Medicine.

The scientists tested the blood of people who sang in a professional choir in the city, before and after a 60 minute rehearsal of Mozart's Requiem.

They found that concentrations of immunoglobin A - proteins in the immune system which function as antibodies - and hydrocortisone, an anti-stress hormone, increased significantly during the rehearsal.

A week later, when they asked members of the choir to listen to a recording of the Requiem without singing, they found the composition of their blood did not change significantly.

The researchers, who included Hans Guenther Bastian from the Institute of Musical Education at Frankfurt University, concluded singing not only strengthened the immune system but also notably improved the performer's mood.

A new mother could certainly benefit from an improved immune system, especially with the lack of sleep and everything else that goes along with being a parent of a young baby!

The benefits for the child are more basic – there is nothing more settling for a baby than a mother or a fathers calm voice, and singing has a natural soothing effect for babies and children.

There is a wide amount of research suggesting that music has a lot of other benefits in the brain, as Kidshealth.org, one of the most well known parenting websites says:

“Children who grow up hearing music, singing songs, and moving to the beat are enjoying what experts call "a rich sensory environment." That's just a fancy way of saying a child is exposed to a wide variety of tastes, smells, textures, colors, and sounds. And kids who enjoy such a rich environment do more than have fun. Researchers believe they forge more pathways between the cells in their brains.”

The Music also does not have to be complex, and you do not have to be a good singer! Your child will love you singing to them, even if you feel you are completely tone deaf.

So start singing, you don’t have to do anything complex! You can sing any old nursery rhymes or songs, and you can even make up your own songs, to match what you are doing at the time.

For example, if you happen to be getting them dressed, you could sing:

I’m going to put…
 
One arm in, One arm in.
The other arm in, the other arm in
Now my head goes through the hole, Now my head goes through the hole
Over my tummy, yes over the tummy
And button Me up! Button Me Up!
 

You can sing this to just about any tune you like – it really doesn’t matter too much! You will notice that I repeated nearly every line – this just makes it fall more naturally into rhythm. You can of course repeat every line as many times as you like.

Just have fun, and your baby will have fun too!

Janice Tuck
January 2007
www.preschool-music.com