Singing and song play a fundamental part in developing intimacy between mothers and their babies – and is often used by nursery practitioners too with very young babies.
Singing lullabies helps create bonds and closeness with babies and very young children, develops confidence in communication and a basis to engage.
Lullabies are particularly useful tools, because their rhythmic, repetitive language is easy to replicate in everyday situations; a young child with a stone in their shoe can be easily distracted with a song, “A stone in my shoe, a stone in my shoe, oh what am I ever to do?!”
Did you know that at six to seven months, babies prefer lower pitched sounds to the high pitched vocals often used with very young babies? Lullaby preferences can vary with age – which means we need to adapt too!
Most of us actually do this instinctively, and in fact any song can be adapted lullaby style– it’s the way we sing it that makes it a lullaby, not the song itself. So, experiment more with song – take opportunities to create ‘lullaby moments’ to create closeness, avoiding the temptation to entertain or perform – these are opportunities to share special moments and increase 1:1 communication about a subject of interest to the child – and lullabies are not just for bedtime, so go ahead and have fun.
Inspired by nursery world
