My baby loves children’s music, but I don’t – what can we listen to together?

Music is a wonderful addition to your baby’s life from the earliest days.

Hearing is one of the first senses to develop in the womb, and by birth a baby’s hearing is fully functioning. This means hearing our voices is key to strengthening connection with newborn babies.

A key area of music research is how our brains process speech and music at this early age, and we have discovered the brain actually treats speech like music, with newborns focusing on features of pitch, rhythm and speed.

There is a huge variety of musical material you can engage with together so there will definitely be songs to suit everyone. Yes – even if the last time you listened to kids’ music was several decades ago. And even if you listen to it now and think “I don’t think I can sit through this for the next couple of years!”.

Here’s what to think about when creating a playlist for baby – and for you.

Lullabies

There’s a universal human instinct to soothe our babies through the safety of the repetitive rhythms, calming melodies and steady pulse of lullabies. Singing lullabies to my babies certainly saved my sanity at many 3am witching hours!

Lullabies are musically very beautiful and are also very singable thanks to their simple melodies, so as well as listening to the music this is the perfect opportunity to croon a quiet song to our babies ourselves.

With such a wealth of lullabies to choose from, you could sing a new song each evening, although there is something very special about having a “signature” lullaby rooted in family tradition.

Play songs and nursery rhymes

The main features to look for in play songs are a faster tempo, physical actions to match with the music and often an element of fun or jokes, which will prompt many cute giggle fits from your little one.

As well as providing amusement for your babies during play time, these higher energy songs are also helping to spark cognitive development, language development and gross and fine motor control.

Attending a parent and baby music class is great for both the musical input and the social connections, and will be much more fun if you join in as well. It’s very cute to watch the toddlers getting better each week at the actions for Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes while their sleep-deprived carers struggle locating their eyes, ears, mouth and nose.

An early start in listening to music and singing is at the core of each music education methodology – you might have heard the saying music education should ideally start nine months before the birth of the mother.

Enjoying music together from birth is setting your little one up well for all future musical activities. This is important for parents who are aware of the research showing music tuition through childhood has a range of transferable benefits, in addition to the development of musical talent.

Thinking outside the box

Parents often ask where to find music to listen to with their baby. ABC Kids Listen is a great place to start, or the superstar groups of the kids’ music world like the Wiggles or Hi-5. However, if you really don’t like the mainstream hits for kids, you can definitely think outside the box.

For calming music, you could explore recordings from Australia’s Hush Foundation, stream playlists of lullabies from around the world, or even try Max Richter’s eight-hour lullaby, Sleep.

To replicate the qualities of play songs, look for songs with catchy lyrics and a strong beat you can clap to, or make up actions for – yes, permission to “shake it off” with your toddler instead of waking up Jeff.

Listen to what you enjoy

Introducing your kids early to a wide variety of music you love shows music is there to be enjoyed for life.

With our little ones, kid classics like Big Red Car, Let it Go and Twinkle Twinkle were frequent replays. But they also loved listening to Kurt Elling’s Uncertainty of the Poet, scatting with Ella Fitzgerald, twirling to Swan Lake and marching to Grieg’s Hall of the Mountain King.

The main thing is to find the music that works for you and your little ones through both the active and quieter times of your day, that you will both enjoy listening to and moving to together.

From dancing in the lounge room to singing Hush Little Baby at 3am, the memories and the benefits will both be long lasting. I promise, one day, you will actually miss the days of listening to the Frozen soundtrack in the car.