Bond between mother and baby is strengthened by singing.
Unlike other forms of care for care, the act of mothers singing to babies is a universal behavior that seemingly resists the test of time.
Shannon de l'Etoile, professor of music therapy:
“We know from previous research that babies have the innate talent to process music in a sophisticated way. Initially, I wanted to identify the behavior of babies in response to live-baby-focused vocals compared to other common maternal interactions such as reading books and playing with toys. One of the main goals of the study was to clarify the meaning of baby-focused. Singing as a human behavior and as a means to evoke unique behavioral reactions from babies.”
Motherandbaby bond
In addition, de l'Etoile investigated the role of baby-focused singing in relation to the complicated bond between mother and child. In an initial study, she filmed 70 babies who responded to six different interactions: mother sings an assigned song, “stranger” sings an assigned song, mother sings song of choice, mother reads book, mother plays with toys, and the mother and baby listen to recorded music. The results were promising, but also asked additional questions.
