How to Choose the Perfect Music for Your Baby

Music helps us to calm down and stimulate us. Music makes us feel good because the pulsation it carries contaminates us. Babies have this musicality with which we are born intact and, consequently, they let themselves be carried by what they listen to more naturally than adults. That’s why it is important that you play music for your baby to listen to. But which kind of music, you might be wondering. If you want to know more, you’ve reached the right spot! In today’s blog, we are going to learn more about this.

Choosing Well

Is all classical music for relaxation? Of course not, and even less so in the case of babies. So, if your intention is to calm your little one when he cries or to help him fall asleep, you will have to choose carefully.

For a piece of music to have this calming effect on your child, it must have a slow rhythm and, in addition, be simplified in terms of instruments – if it was composed for 15 instruments, it must be adapted for 3, for example. The simpler the melody, the more it will touch the baby, and the easier it will be to work with. And in this sense, you should know that any song is worthwhile… even a pop song sung by you.

Try it: if you are giving your baby a bath and he is nervous, start playing a song on a fast rhythm, and little by little, slow down the tempo until he slows it down.

You’ll see that in addition to giving him affection with your caresses, you’ll take him wherever you want with your voice. And don’t forget, on the other hand, that it is very important that this melody connects with you first. If the mother does not like classical music, for example, or if it does not help her to relax, it will be impossible for her to transmit something pleasant to the child.

Question about Composers

Mozart, Bach, Brahms … It is said that these composers are the most suitable for relaxing the baby, but this statement must be qualified. Not all the works of these composers are equal, not even a complete work of the same author will work. It is a matter of choosing specific movements with slow tempos within the works. You can also choose classical, pop or even rock music covered for babies. The themes are still recognizable but the sounds are higher and the tempo is slower. Our repertoire of lullabies and children’s songs is an inexhaustible source of music for babies and children. You’ll even find many pieces of music specifically composed to calm newborns.

Something More Than Relaxation

Music can help you improve your attention, expressiveness or psychomotor skills. But on its own, it will not achieve such beneficial effects; it is necessary to act through it. It must be a “vehicle”. So, when you put on music, don’t just let it play. Massage him/her, changing the pressure according to the rhythm, change the gesture according to what the melody provokes in you, or invite him/her to move as you do…

Stimulate Your Baby’s Hearing

Around the 16th week of pregnancy, the fetus is already able to hear sounds related to the mother’s body – the heart, the intestine… – and around the 20th week, it can hear sounds coming from the outside, although still muffled by the amniotic fluid. His arrival in the world of sounds is not sudden, but is gradual, because at birth he still has a little fluid in his ears, which is gradually reabsorbed during the first days. You’ll find that familiar sounds reassure him, while louder or unfamiliar sounds displease him. Try to speak quietly and not have conversations in his presence, as he may not understand the words, but he can pick up on your discomfort. You will also notice that he responds better to high pitched sounds than to low ones, which some authors believe may be due to the fact that the mother’s voice is usually higher pitched than the father’s and that it was the one they heard most often in the womb.

• During the pregnancy, play the same music often so that they will recognize it once they are born.
• Talk and sing to your baby often. From 3 months on, try to do it from somewhere out of his or her line of sight, so he or she can try to figure out where the sound is coming from.
• Play baby music or classical music. This will relax you, stimulate your hearing and also the right hemisphere of the brain, where the artistic abilities are located. Play your favorite baby songs.
• Offer rattles, music boxes, bell bracelets… At first, you’ll have to move them yourself, but soon his favorite game will be to make noise by shaking and banging these toys.
• Dance with him to the music. Praise him when he does it on his own.
• Teach him to beat the rhythm with his hands, feet or sticks.
• Make sure he always falls asleep to music.

There you are! You now know more about how to choose the perfect music for your baby and how to stimulate his/her hearing sense. What is your favorite kind of music? Let us know in the comments below.