“Every parent knows that the mood of an infant affects everyone around that infant,” Mehr said. “If improvements to infant mood persist over time, they may well generalize to other health outcomes.”
The researchers are launching a new study, Together We Grow, to assess long-term impacts of singing on infant mood, sleep, and possibly caregiver wellbeing, including stress or postpartum depression.
“Even before our intervention, these participating families were particularly musical,” Yurdum noted. “Despite that…we saw benefits. That suggests that the strength of singing…would likely be even stronger in a family that does not already rely on music.”
Previous research by The Music Lab has shown that lullabies are a universal human behavior, often conveying reassurance. “Parents send babies a clear signal in their lullabies: I’m close by, I hear you, I’m looking out for you — so things can’t be all that bad,” Mehr said.