Sleep is one of the most important requirements for the proper growth of a baby. While an adult may need up to eight hours of sleep every day, a newborn baby may require an overall 16 to 20 hours of sleep within the span of a day. Babies actually have a fragmented pattern of sleeping, that is to say that they do not have a pattern at all and often need assistance from grown-ups for sleeping.
Exposing your baby to the right music is one of the most crucial ways to help your baby sleep better. We have therefore come up with a list of easy steps that shall assist you in choosing the best baby sleep music.
#1 Singing Lullabies
Lullabies are one of the most efficient and time-tested methods of helping your baby doze off. Just like grown-ups, babies too need to establish a sleeping routine and lullabies are one of the best ways of achieving that. Singing lullabies regularly to your baby increase your bonding with the baby as it gradually starts to get familiarized with your voice. Studies have shown that lullabies have the potential to help the baby prepare for bedtime and even heal themselves naturally. Some of the most popular English lullabies that you may want to try out are “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star,” “Hush Little Baby” and “You Are My Sunshine.”
#2 Playing it Out
Singing lullabies to your babies may not be possible every time because of work or simply because your baby doesn’t really fall asleep after the lullabies. Exposing your baby to lullabies sung exclusively by you can also become a crutch for them which makes it difficult for them to fall asleep when you aren’t around. It is therefore a feasible option to play out recorded lullabies through speakers to help them fall asleep. If you’re playing out a pre-recorded lullaby, make sure that it has less than 60 beats per minute and remember to keep the volume low so that you do not end up agitating the baby.
#3 Classical Music
If you are an admirer of classical music you might already be aware of the soothing effects of it. Similarly, gentle classical music that has a nominal change in tempo, pitch and volume is a great option for being used as music to help baby sleep. In fact, doctors even recommend exposing babies to some pieces of classical music when they are in the womb to familiarize them with the sound. As a result, the baby after being born feels at comfort after listening to the same music and falls asleep more readily. While we are at the subject of prenatal care, we would also recommend that you use one of these pillows in pregnancy to help sleep comfortably. BWV 156 by J.S. Bach, Beethoven’s Violin Romance No. 2 and Piano Sonata no. 11 by W. A. Mozart are some of the most popular classical music to make baby sleep.
#4 White-Noise Machine
If you are looking for using baby music for sleep, you need to also keep in mind the interruption from noise outside, which music is not very efficient at drowning out. Noise from the traffic or your neighbors may often end up interrupting your baby’s sleep. White noise machines that mimic the sound produced in nature, are excellent at masking the effect of such noise because of the consistency of its sound waves. Pick a white noise machine that produces good noises to play for 1 year old to sleep. Choose machines that are specifically made keeping recommended noise limits for babies in mind. Keep track of your baby’s sleep and notice how they respond to the sound from the machine so that it doesn’t interfere with their sleep.
#5 Pink/Brown Noise Machine
Not all babies find the sound from white noise machines soothing enough to fall asleep. Concerned parents can therefore opt for machines that produce pink or brown noise, which have a similar mechanism but produce a different effect due to their reduced higher frequencies which have a lower pitch. Pink noise, that resembles the sound of rustling leaves or rainfall, is therefore gentler to the ear of a baby than white noise machines which includes sounds from all the audible ranges of frequencies. A brown noise machine produces sound that is even deeper and has lesser higher frequencies.
#6 Nature Sounds
What can be more soothing and relaxing to the ears of a baby than sounds produced by nature itself such as the sound of a waterfall, ocean waves, heartbeat, etc. Of course, white and pink noise machines can do that efficiently but they are not efficient every time and not all parents want to expose their newborns to such machines. You can therefore buy an album full of soothing sounds found in nature or simply compile a playlist for yourself. Make sure that the speaker you use are not harsh upon the ears of your baby.
Bottomline:
Playing out the appropriate music for your baby is as important as taking care of their diet and checking their beds for bed bugs. However, we would recommend that you research well before using any sound machine and use it at a favorable volume.
