Have you noticed that when we take a baby in our arms, we start singing almost instinctively or automatically? Singing babysitters, humming or just muttering a tune are some of the most effective ways and that are most used to calm a baby.
But do you know the benefits of singing to him? Not only does it help you calm down and feel good, but it also helps you. I tell you why you should sing to your baby whenever possible.
Benefits for the baby
Singing to our babies is something that mothers do almost automatically. And it is that the effect they have is very calming and the love we feel for them motivates us to sing with sweetness and love.
The songs or melodies calm and coo because they work as a soft distraction to start breathing in a relaxed way. Sometimes we may be talking and the baby will not pay much attention to us, but when we started singing we managed to get their attention to us and our voice, since it has been proven that the voice of their mothers even more effective than an alarm sound and that to calm him, it works better to do it by singing than by speaking to him.
In Babies and more To calm the baby, better to sing than talkA recent study measured the emotional reactions of babies by listening to their mothers singing. It involved 70 babies between 6 and 9 months, who were taken videos during six different types of interactions:
- Listening to the mother sing a song chosen by the researchers.
- Listening to a stranger sing that same song.
- Listening to the mother sing a song of her choice.
- Listening to the mother reading him a book.
- Listening and watching his mother play with one of his toys.
- Listening with his mother some music recording.
The results showed that the singing to babies was as important as reading or playing with a toy when it comes to getting your attention, and it was much more effective than listening to previously recorded music.
It was also found that when the babies were attracted to the song, the mothers' sense of alert rose to a state of alertness, so that in an intuitive way, if the baby was distracted, the mother automatically adjusted her level of voice and the rhythm of the melody to Help stimulate and regulate your baby's emotional response.
Singing to the baby also helps mothers with postpartum depression
In addition to reassuring your baby, singing also has benefits for mothers. When you sing to your baby you are performing a two-way interaction, as if it were a kind of dialogue between you two.
The same researchers conducted another study to measure parameters in mothers with postpartum depression. In it they found that mothers with postpartum depression lacked sensitivity and emotional expression when singing to their babies. However, babies still felt attracted to the voice of their mothers, although the rhythm of the melodies did not vary like that of mothers who did not suffer from depression.
The advantage is that having this type of interaction, both benefit. On the one hand, the baby received the sensory stimulation needed to focus his attention and modulate his emotions. Meanwhile mothers they simultaneously experienced a distraction from the negative thoughts and emotions associated with depression, and at the same time they felt empowered as mothers. The latter makes a lot of sense, since by focusing on singing to your baby, the space in your mind is limited for negative thoughts, while the feeling of empowerment is experienced by all mothers, because it gives us satisfaction to see that with our voice we do Happy to our babies.
The researchers conclude that all mothers around the world sing to their children in a similar way, and that Babies prefer this specialized song that adapts to their needs, contrary to previously recorded music that has its own rhythm and time.
The melody and tone do not need to be perfect or performed by professional singers for mothers and babies to interact through the songs. Actually, babies are even more attracted to personalized melody with their mothers' familiar voice, which also motivates them to look for their eyes and communicate through it.
Music and songs always they are a good therapy to cheer us up when we feel down or without much desire to do things. Therefore it doesn't matter if you don't know any babysitter or if you think your voice is not the most tuned in the world. Your baby loves it and thinks it is the most beautiful sound he has ever heard, because it gives him the peace and security he needs. Singing to you whenever possible will strengthen the bond between you and give you both a pleasant feeling..
