Music and sounds help your baby calm down

Music and sounds help your baby calm down

Written by: Hape


The thousands of books and magazines you read when you’re pregnant can’t prepare you enough for the moment when your baby cries and you don’t know which way to calm them down. Is it food? Attention? Sleep?

First of all, keep in mind that all babies cry and your baby is no exception. The reason why they cry is quite simple: it is their way to communicate with you and express their need or unease since they can’t speak yet!

Once you understand that crying is a code language used by your baby to communicate, you’ll start knowing them even better and you will recognize the meaning of almost every cry.   

This is something that all mums know from the dawn of time and that you’ll learn as well: babies’ crying sounds differentiate depending on the needs that they want to communicate. However, there are little hints that can help you “decode” the crying as in “I’m hungry”, “I’m tired” or simply “I’m bored”.

When you acquire the ability to read their weeping, you easily understand what you can do to solve their problem, feeding them or putting them to sleep.  

Unfortunately, it is not always so simple to understand these signals. Plenty of times you might not realize what your baby’s crying is saying. This could get parents really frustrated and nervous! Well, when this moment comes, breathe deeply, keep calm and try somehow to distract them by narrating your actions, replete with silly noises and animated expressions, this will bring his attention back to you.

Music is a good companion in this Impossible Mission called Parenthood and can help you calm your baby. As we wrote in the blog post “Music, sounds and singing moms help the baby brain development”, music is very important for children growth, but it also helps when you need to calm your baby down, that’s the reason why lullabies are so still used and have been passed down through the ages. 

It’s scientifically proven that a peaceful music is a wonderful way to calm babies down naturally because it lowers cortisol levels. Sounds familiar?  Yes, it is what we call “stress hormone”! Music helps babies calm down because it acts on this hormone and reduces stress. 

Scientists have also proven that listening to music increases dopamine, the “motivation molecule”, that leads to feel-good and positive mood.

You don’t need to be necessarily a good singer. Keep in mind that your baby loves hearing your voice more than anything in the world, so don’t worry about which song you sing. Just speak kindly and sing softly and your baby will appreciate it. Some babies calm down to rhythmic whooshing sounds, which may remind them of the womb. You can also experiment with different styles of music, you can range from classical to jazz, to country or rock, until you find your child’s favourite one.

How can you use Music to calm your restless infant and child?

Here are some tips to follow:

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1.      Create feelings of safety through music

   Babies and children can be stressed by changes: when they do something they love and you interrupt them with bath time, for instance, their mood can easily turn bad bursting into tears. Music can help tone things down, since it can work as a “transition from an activity to another one and set a new mood. For example,  singing what you are going to do in a positive and happy mood makes him to perceive it as another play to do together without sudden interruptions.

2.      White noises White noises are not considered music, they are continuous and uniform noises, such as rain, sea waves or heartbeat. These noises have the power to calm babies, since they remind them of noises they constantly heard while they were in the womb.  Even some toys or alarm clocks have a white noise function but If you don’t have some at home, don’t worry. You will be surprised at the way your baby calm down when the vacuum cleaner or hair dryer is on!

You can get some toys to help you, since they simulate soothing white noises.  Hape Beaded Raindrops, for example, produces gentle raindrop sounds while your baby holds it in their hand. Your toddler will be chilled and totally relaxed! 

3.      Create your relaxing playlist.

Several studies show that babies prefer lullabies, especially when they’re sung by a female voice. Pay attention to the songs that make your baby feel relaxed and create your own playlist on your preferred music platform. For a quicker solution, Hape has a super cool sleepy and relaxing playlist and you can access it here. (https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0kdxidRBNxi0kbH9dHw3pC) it’s perfect for bed times

Have you tested the power of music yet? Let us know what works more on calming your babies commenting our posts on Facebook and Instagram!


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Hape Holding AG

Hape, (“hah-pay”), is a leader in designing and manufacturing high quality baby and children’s wooden toys made from sustainable materials. The eco-friendly company formed in 1986 by Founder and CEO Peter Handstein in Germany.

Hape produces the highest standards of quality through stringent control systems and a world class production facility. Hape brands are sold through specialty retail, toy stores, museum gift stores, school supply stores and select catalog and internet accounts in over 100 countries.

Hape has won numerous awards from prestigious independent toy testing groups for toy design, quality and safety. Find us also on Weibo(http://weibo.com/hapetoys) or “like” us at facebook(http://www.facebook.com/hapetoys)

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