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Song and Social Connection for Babies

Dr Jeanette Kennelly

Moving to the Melody… Song and Social Connectedness for Babies

Have you ever found yourself singing a familiar jingle, but twisting its words to guide your infants’ behaviour? We have used the “Sesame Street” jingle to good effect with a frustrated child by singing “Can you tell me how to get, get the shoes on Jonathan’s feet…” it can be enough to turn a tense battle into a fit of giggles. Heaven knows there often isn’t much between tears and giggles when you’re the parent of a toddler! As a parent, learning to cultivate this skill can open new doors to engaging and connecting with your child.

Read on to find out how...

Music Therapy | SongLife Connections | Grow Medical

Soothe your child through familiar song

Many of our SongLife Connections families comment about how they find they can use any given song in a different context to enrapture their child, to make transitioning from one activity to another much easier. Familiar songs that children hear repeatedly in a context of nurturing and support can be used in a different context to change the mood or behaviour. Parents will notice a positive change in their infant’s facial expression or mood, and will say “it’s as if they already know the melody”.

Our music therapy groups are designed to find a new way for parent and child to connect through songsinging. Parents who attend find that they can sing to their child whilst doing regular daily tasks. Things like getting dressed or tidying toys can suddenly become a source of fun and shared smiles. When your child inevitably has trouble regulating their emotions, using songs can often be more soothing than words. Science tells us that children learn in a multitude of ways, and that the melody of a song is one way that children lay down memories, often ones that are connected to loving moments between parent and child.

Research indicates that this connection between child, parent, and familiar melody runs deep within an infant’s psyche. This study showed that a familiar melody that has been regularly sung by their parent, results in much greater recognition by the infant when they encounter the same melody in an unfamiliar way (for example by a different adult). Even more interesting, was the observation that this increased attention only occurred where a parent had sung the melody, and not when the melody had been experienced coming from a toy, or having been sung by an unfamiliar adult. Furthermore, the amount a child responds to their parent’s melody increases in line with the frequency that their parent sings.

What does this tell us? When a parent uses their unique voice (be it whatever version of ‘in tune’ it might be) this holds great meaning for a developing infant, and acts as a way of reinforcing the social connection between parent and child. Every session we remind our SongLife Connections families to embrace their unique singing voice, because it enhances emotional and social connection with their child.

So next time you feel stuck in a battle with your child’s will and determination, remember to move to the melody by getting your message across using your unique voice. What’s the first melody that comes to mind? It is never too late to find your voice!

Find out more about SongLife Connections