Lullabies and your baby

When your baby is upset, you’ll find that a softly sung lullaby can work miracles in helping her to settle. You may remember old favorites from your childhood, but did you know that lullabies such as Rockabye Baby are often so old that no one knows who actually wrote them, or that their meanings can often be way off from what you might imagine?

Fashions in bringing up baby change all the time but one thing that remains constant is the age-old ritual of singing lullabies to calm and relax a young baby who’s too upset or excited to go to sleep. And the old favorites are right up there with newer tunes – just ask your parents what they sang to you and you’ll probably hear a complete rerun of the lullabies you sing to your baby.

Lullabies have been used in this way for centuries, handed down through the generations so that their origins and any details of who wrote them are often lost in the mists of time. Archeologists investigating written records that are many centuries old have found evidence of ancient lullabies from civilizations that are long gone – and even from prehistoric times. In many cases they have an importance far beyond their immediate use because they tell us a great deal about ancient customs and ideas; even about ancient vocabularies and methods of speech.

The most popular lullabies have passed on by word of mouth because when they were first composed and written very few people knew how to write and books were very rare. Even when publishers first began to appreciate the value of lullabies and songs sung to babies and children, not many ordinary people could afford to buy the books that documented them. It’s remarkable how well traditional lullabies have lasted through the ages but despite this the versions that we sing to our babies may well be only fragments of their originals.

It may also surprise you to know that even though we sing lullabies to comfort babies, their original meanings can be darker – just as popular nursery rhymes such as Ring-Around-The-Roses are actually linked to real events (in this case, the European Great Plague). In fact, it may well be that some lullabies were sung to frighten children rather than soothe them – just think about the words to Rockabye Baby!

One of the main reasons that lullabies work – and probably the chief reason why they have lasted so well – is that they’re catchy and easy to learn, with simple, easily remembered tunes. They’re effective in getting babies to go to sleep partly because your baby knows your voice when she’s born – she’s heard it inside the uterus – so you already have a headstart in being the one person who can comfort her when she’s cranky.

Plus, because tradition dictates that lullabies are always sung in exactly the same way and repeated again and again, the rhythms quickly become familiar to a young baby at a time when almost every other outside stimulus she experiences is constantly changing. Those rhythms are ideal for rocking a newborn, and this too comes into play in the effectiveness of lullabies in helping a baby to sleep. Studies in neonatal intensive care units have shown that preemies and ill babies recover more quickly when played lullabies and you yourself won’t take long to pick up on which one works best with your baby.

You may even find they benefit you. Babycare can be stressful, especially if your newborn won’t settle, and the calm notes of a lullaby can be restful for you too. They’re not just for newborns either – you can keep singing them to your child for as long as you and she want to continue, and they’ll be valuable in ways far beyond inducing sleep. And because lullabies place pairs of rhyming words in prominent positions, they also help your child become more aware of the way words sound and the fact that different words can have the same sound. This is vital, both when she’s learning to form sounds herself and later on, when she’s learning to read.

You can sing a lullaby to your baby whenever you want to – not just at bedtime, but any time she needs comforting. You could also try lullaby CDs that include all the old favorites and play them for her when you put her down to sleep at night; or record yourself singing them – she won’t mind if you’re tone-deaf! There are also many sleep time toys that play a selection of lullabies for a set time and then switch off automatically to save you disturbing her. If you know she has a favorite, stick to it when you’re singing to her. Don’t vary the tune or change the words – it’s the familiarity that she finds comforting, and by singing them in their traditional form, you’ll be ensuring that they’ll be passed on to the next generation so your own child will be able to recall her favorites and sing them to her own baby!

The information in this feature is intended for educational purposes only. If you have any concerns about your health, the health of your child or the health of someone you know, please consult with a doctor or other healthcare professional.