A Little More Wisdom

Soothing Your Baby with Sound

Written by
Cathy Hale
on October 11th, 2016

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As a mom, you are equipped with all sorts of awesome instinctive tools for soothing a fussy baby.  Did you know your voice alone is extremely comforting for your baby? If you think about it, your little peanut has been listening to your voice long before she arrived. She started hearing your voice from the womb in the third trimester, so when you speak to her, she recognizes that it’s you.

Newborns tend to feel very comfortable around noises. After all, the womb was a very loud place! This is why most #ParentHacks for soothing a baby include sounds like lullabies, singing, vacuum cleaners, hairdryers and fans. The reality is all sorts of sounds can calm a fussy baby.

 Plus, babies tend to arouse out of sleep every 20-45 minutes due to their infant sleep cycle, so sounds can help them ease back to sleep during those “arousal peaks.” Longer more restful sleep equals a happier baby! Let’s take a look at some of the ways in which sound can help soothe your baby.

Music for Newborns

When the world of parenthood welcomed brands like Baby Einstein, research about the benefits of music for newborns went mainstream. In fact, experts agree that babies can recognize songs they heard in utero. For example, an associate professor of music education at Cleveland’s Case Western Reserve University claims that the songs you sang to your baby in the womb will be the same songs that soothe her as an infant.  

Baby Lullabies

If you aren’t buying CDs of infant sleep music, use your own vocal chords to do the trick.  The baby lullabies most of us know by heart have the right tempo to comfort and soothe your baby even if you sing them off key. Babies aren’t typically picky about that! They love hearing your voice no matter what. Plus, singing in a soft whisper distracts infants from crying, because they’re trying to figure out where the sound is coming from.

White Noise

Another popular method for soothing fussy babies is using white noise. White noise helps babies relax and block out stimulation that can cause stress. It also drowns out unexpected loud noises that can jolt them out of sleep like rambunctious siblings or barking dogs. This may be one of the easiest, most inexpensive and effective ways to soothe your fussy newborn.

There's An App for That

It’s easy to find a variety of soothing sounds for your baby on your mobile device. There are lots of cool apps with great music for your baby, as well as white noise apps.  You may even want to test out a white noise app yourself if you’re sleeping in the same room as your newborn. Tiny babies are often loud sleepers. Perhaps you can catch a few more soothing Zzzs too!

Cathy Hale

About Cathy Hale

Cathy Hale is a nationally recognized writer and lifestyle blogger.

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