Rock-a-bye baby, on the treetop...
Do you sing lullabies to your baby or toddler when putting them to bed at night?
I would usually lie down and feed my babies to sleep when they were very little and would always hum this one lullaby my mum always used to sing when putting myself and my little sister to bed. And even when they got that little bit bigger, we'd still snuggle together on the bed and I would hum or sing 'our' lullaby. My children have always been good sleepers, something I would often credit our co-sleeping arrangement with – but as it turns out, it might just have been the song!
It turns out, singing to your baby can actually keep them calm for
twice as long as talking to them, per a
University of Montreal study. And not only that, lullabies are also proven to be a precursor to later academic success, says
Sally Goddard Blythe, director of the U.K.’s Institute for Neuro-Physiological Psychology.
Meaning, your little bedtime melody can actually have some pretty far-reaching effects.
The problem? Researchers have discovered that the art of singing lullabies – or bedtime songs – have been declining sharply over these past two decades. Maybe as a result of our busy lives, more mothers working outside the home or maybe just the fact that in our world where entertainment comes at the touch of a button, we are at risk of forgetting older habits and customs, such as singing lullabies at bedtime.
In fact, according to a recent
YouGov poll commissioned by the Lullaby Trust in the U.K., just over a third of parents with kids under the age of 5 actually sing lullabies like “Rock-a-Bye Baby” and “Frère Jacques” at bedtime.
Tell us – do YOU still sing lullabies to your children at bedtime? Let us know in the comments or tweet us at @herfamilydotie
