Music and Your Baby

Music has always had a powerful effect on us. Did you know that it is just as effective on infants, and even unborn babies? Read on to know how music therapy can have a positive impact on your child.Music has a very important role to play in parenting. We always knew lullabies and nursery rhymes were good for babies; but now studies have proved that playing soft and soothing music to a baby brings about positive physiological changes in her, relaxing her and helping her sleep and react better. In a few cases, babies have also shown movement on playing songs. A lot of research has gone into this field recently, with an increasing number of studies pointing towards positive effects of playing music for your baby while still in the womb. In this articleEffects of Western Classical MusicHow Music Affect Unborn BabiesEffects of Music on NewbornsIn What Ways Can Music Affect Children?Effects of Western Classical MusicCertain types of music are highly recommended for babies, depending on their age group. Western classical music during the later years, is supposed to make children more intelligent, emotionally strong and clear in thought.How Music Affect Unborn BabiesToday, some artists even release CDs that you can play for your baby while still in the womb. Music for babies has been highly recommended by customers of such CDs, and the artists claim that their music was composed after extensive research. A study conducted in the UK showed that children, for whom music was played while in the womb, responded to the music even after birth, by either relaxing or showing recognition!Some researchers have also found that children who are exposed to music when they are in womb are more attentive and tend to speak early as compared to other children. Listening to music during pregnancy is also linked to enhanced brain development of foetus during the pregnancy period.However, make sure that you keep the volume low while listing to the music. Loud music can over stimulate the baby in your womb and may even damage her ears. Amniotic fluid in which the baby is floating in your womb can intensify the sound making it louder. So, keep away from loud volume.At the same time not all kinds of music are suitable. You must prefer to listen to soft, soothing and calming music. Louder music may increase the heart rate of the baby and she may also get startled. Louder music cannot provide positive stimulation whereas soothing and calming music can. As, per Hindu traditions, listening to mantras can also create positive impact on the development of baby. Listening to healing mantras during pregnancy is known as Garbh Sanskar. Effects of Music on NewbornsComforting music when played seems to reduce the respiratory rate of babies. The babies also remember the music well up to a year later, with babies clearly preferring the music they listened to before birth. Some hospitals in India and the UK have even resorted to playing soft music for prematurely born babies, in the hope that itll help them cope better with pain and regulating body processes.In What Ways Can Music Affect Children?Music definitely stimulates the mind, be it that of a child or an adult. Early exposure to music also helps a child discover his creative side. It is believed that the right side of the brain is more inclined towards musical taste, and playing music for your kid may be a great way to balance out all the mathematics she will have to handle in school. And if the early exposure gets her interested in musical pursuits, all the better!And if you are a music lover yourself, this should be all the more appealing. A lot of parents love introducing music to their children themselves. A lot of kids today inherit their parents musical tastes. Most accomplished composers in varied genres of music have come from families where music was unanimously loved. Music is a vast and intimidating field; an early start works wonders for the aspiring musician.