Lullabies might put your children to sleep in the short-term, but over a long-term, they appear to have lasting effects. According to a new study, singing these soothing ballads to your babies could be doing a lot more than we realized.
Samuel Mehr is the director of Harvard University’s Music Lab. His expertise revolves around the way music works and the reasons why certain songs exist. According to The Galveston County Daily News, Mehr explained that lullabies “tend to have collections of features that make them soothing and calming.” He even produced research that shows how people can recognize universal traits within music, even when the songs they are listening to may be from other cultures.
For this study, researchers played 118 different songs for 29,000 subjects and then asked them to identify if it was a healing song, dance song, love song, or lullaby. The most correctly identified answer was lullaby.
There’s are scientific reasons behind the belief that lullabies soothe babies and it transcends observations of countless parents through the years. By incorporating these calming songs into a baby’s bedtime routine, data has been collected to show that it not only speeds up the process of falling asleep, but may result in better sleep all around.
The irony is that the lyrics themselves, no matter their country of origin, tend to be dark and foreboding when really analyzed. Whether it's the horrific tale of a tree dropping a baby "when the bough breaks" or the terrifying Icelandic lullaby titled “Bíum Bíum Bambaló”, which suggests that there is some mysterious figure stalking the infant from outside the house, one thing always remain consistent. The words might be frightening, but the music itself creates a sense of peace.
Recent studies have shown that singing lullabies live to premature infants can have beneficial physiological effects on their development in premature infants. The reasoning why is surprisingly scientific. Beyond tune and tone, it's the actual rhythms of lullabies that mimic movements that babies have experienced within their mother's womb.
These benefits go beyond newborns, as lullabies have shown to produce restorative properties for hospice patients and their families. As it works to lull people to sleep, it can also ease the transition for those at the end of life.
Research like this led to Carnegie Hall in New York City, developing the Lullaby Project in 2011. This project partners with professional musicians and parents to create original lullabies.
T0 this day, the Lullaby Project has helped to make thousands of lullabies for multiple countries, hospitals, homeless shelters, and other programs aimed to young mothers. For those who want to contribute their own, you can head to www.carnegiehall.org and write an original yourself.
Sources: Galveston County Daily News, What To Expect, Huffington Post