What Does the Growing Infant Hear?

Many pregnant women don't realize that the growing baby's ear is beginning to be functional in the fourth month! Yes, according to Dr. Alfred Tomatis, by the beginning of the second trimester, the baby can hear mother's heartbeat, her digestive sounds, and the blood pulsing through her veins. By the beginning of the third semester, the infant can hear much of what Mom hears. You need to be very careful of your sonic environment and be especially careful to avoid loud, raucous sounds, screaming or violent sounds. Instead, take a few minutes each evening (or morning or afternoon) and sing some familiar lullabies or other soothing songs to you developing child. Research has shown that these same songs will comfort your child for years to come!

Do you know lots of lullabies? Please share them with me and I will publish them and give you credit in my upcoming ebook, "The Power of Lullabies."

Thanks for joining the blog!

Alice Cash

Music and the Infant Brain

It's amazing how many people still think that the unborn child is totally protected from her mother's environment, but the fact is that the infant brain is developing from the moment of conception and is affected by the sounds, feelings, and actions of the mother. There are certain organs that are on a genetically predetermined path and will not be affected by external events: the heart, the ovaries, the lungs are not affected by what is going on in mother's environment. The brain is different!

Research has shown that if the mother is listening to highly structured classical music, such as Mozart, Pachelbel, Bach, or other composers of the Baroque period, more neural connections develop in the infant brain and create and greater neural infrastructure for future learning. Fascinating, eh?

Music and the Human Bond

Think for just a minute about the way that music is used to connect human beings. From the first moment that a mother sings a lullaby to her new infant, the pattern of loving sound is imprinted on that baby’s psyche. After just a few hearings the infant will associate that pleasant sound with safety, love and warmth. Mothers (and fathers!) have been singing and lulling their infants with sound from time immemorial. We now know that when a mother sings to her infant, her brain releases oxytocin just as when she breastfeeds. This chemical immediately strengthens the bond between mother and child and makes the mother feel more maternal and loving toward her child. Throughout that child’s life, hearing that song or lullaby will bring back those warm, fuzzy feelings.

Will you sing to your child tonight?