Elissa Sonnenberg
Whether you sing lullabies to your unborn child or simply enjoy humming your favorite song, some experts believe exposing your baby to music before birth builds more than a strong prenatal bond. (more…)
Music uplifts and mirrors our feelings, and triggers feel-good chemicals in our body.
Tarana is humming happily to herself. She has just heard that she has been conferred the ‘Most Popular Employee’ award at her workplace. A happy tune seems to fit her mood.
Tammy, on the other hand, wants to immerse herself in sad songs. She is desolate since she broke up with her boyfriend. She has downloaded songs of parting, songs of betrayal and songs of unrequited love, and sits for hours with the earphones on. The songs mirror her feelings and threaten to become the soundtrack of her life.
Music has become ubiquitous in today’s society. Music is what we use to define our lives. The proliferation of technology has made music available at every turn. Music is considered essential for poignant moments and the joyous, for events both mundane and singular. Music has infiltrated our days and our nights: there seems to be a tune to complement every passing mood.
Music and the parental bond
In the unborn child, the auditory system starts functioning at 16 weeks. By 26 weeks, the foetus has a functioning brain around the auditory system, which is able to process rhythms and musical sounds. Many mothers say that the child in the womb starts to move vigorously when music is played. Newborn infants respond to music, and even cranky, colicky babies quieten down when a tune is played or sung. Parents can coax their children to sleep by singing a lullaby. Even the first sounds made by a child, as a response to its mother’s voice, resemble the ‘call and response’ that is seen in classical music… (more…)
Our daughter, Addy, starts pre-school this week *gulp* – any words of wisdom for a smooth transition?
New prenatal research supports what mothers have long believed, that babies in the womb hear what’s going on outside. Even more intriguing, there is evidence that babies may share in their mothers’ emotions. For centuries many cultures have believed that some sort of emotional network operated between mother and baby, and for this reason admonished mothers to keep their minds and bodies pure during pregnancy. In the past twenty-five years the new field of prenatal psychology has sprung up. Using new technology, prenatal psychologists have used various windows to the womb and have found much that is credible about these superstitions. When mother is happy, baby is happy; when mother is anxious, baby is too.
