“Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything.” - Plato

Also, it makes diaper changes way more fun. 

Music time isn’t just cute background noise-it’s a powerhouse of early development. From brain growth to emotional bonding and even motor skills, music deserves a VIP spot in your baby’s daily routine. And the best part? You don’t need to be a professional musician or singer (or even on key) to include music in your baby’s early stage of developing .

Here’s why music time is essential-and how to build it into your baby’s day. You will also find great tips and ideas that you can implement in your daily routine so let’s dive in:

1. Music Supercharges Brain Development

From the very beginning, your baby’s brain is wired to respond to sound. Studies show that exposure to music supports:

• - Language development - Music and language processing share many brain pathways. Musical exposure enhances phonological awareness, which is essential for understanding how sounds form words. A lot of recent studies found that infants who participated in musical play showed enhanced brain responses to speech sounds, supporting early language development. Even passive exposure (like listening to lullabies) contributes to auditory skill building in infants.
• - Auditory processing - Listening to rhythm, pitch, and melody helps babies distinguish between different sounds-critical for both speech and environmental awareness.
• - Memory formation- Repetition in music activates memory circuits in the brain. Familiar melodies help babies predict patterns, enhancing short- and long-term memory formation.
• - Mathematical reasoning (yes, really!)- Music involves counting beats, recognizing patterns, and understanding ratios-all foundational math skills. Exposure to musical structure develops the brain’s spatial-temporal reasoning, a skill directly linked to mathematical problem-solving. A well-known study from the University of California showed that preschoolers who received music instruction performed better on spatial-temporal tasks (like solving puzzles and basic math problems) than those who didn’t.
  
  

So next time you’re singing "If You're Happy and You Know It", know that you're supporting their cognitive growth.

2. Music Strengthens Emotional Bonds

You might feel silly singing, but your baby doesn’t care about pitch-they care about connection. They are starting to train their senses so every sound will be appreciated. Infants are biologically wired to tune into the emotional tone of their caregiver’s voice more than the musical quality. When you sing to your baby, especially in a soothing tone, it communicates safety, love, and emotional presence. Singing together promotes secure attachment and emotional bonding. It becomes a shared language between you and your baby. A study published in Infant Behaviour and Development found that infants respond more positively to their mother's singing than to recorded music or spoken words, regardless of musical skill. The emotional warmth and familiarity of the caregiver's voice is what truly matters.

Shared musical experiences help establish secure attachment, which is the foundation for a child’s emotional development. Singing involves eye contact, facial expressions, touch, and voice-all key components of bonding .

Best practice known is to pick a “signature song” you sing during cuddles or bedtime. Repeating the same song daily creates a soothing, familiar emotional cue.

3. It Helps Develop Motor Skills

Babies love to move-and music gives them a reason to do it! Music activates the brain’s motor cortex, the area responsible for planning and executing movement. Even newborns will instinctively kick or wave their arms in response to rhythmic sounds. They don’t just hear music-they feel it. Movement is a baby’s way of interacting with sound and developing physical coordination.

• - Infants: Reflexively kick or wave in response to rhythmic stimuli.
• - Crawlers: Begin to clap, bounce, or rock when they hear familiar tunes.
• - Toddlers: Start to intentionally stomp, spin, wiggle, and dance to music.

These movements promote:

• - Gross motor coordination (like crawling, standing, dancing)
• - Fine motor skill development (clapping, grasping, pointing)
• - Spatial awareness
  
  

Add in scarves, baby-safe instruments, or simple hand motions to songs (like “Itsy Bitsy Spider”) to increase their engagement. Your baby’s wiggly dance moves aren’t just adorable-they’re building essential motor skills that support future crawling, walking, writing, and even sports. So, press play, start singing, and let the tiny dancing begin!

4. Music Teaches Emotional Regulation

Music is more than a background noise-it’s a powerful emotional tool that helps babies recognize, process, and regulate their feelings. While babies may not understand lyrics or concepts yet, they respond deeply to tone, rhythm, and repetition, which are key to building emotional regulation.

• - Soothing lullabies - slow, repetitive, and often sung in a soothing tone-exactly the kind of auditory input that calms the nervous system. Soft music has been shown to reduce cortisol (the stress hormone) and promote relaxation in infants.
• - Upbeat tunes - can stimulate and engage. Rhythmic, cheerful tunes trigger dopamine release, lifting mood and encouraging physical interaction (clapping, bouncing, dancing), which itself helps regulate emotions.
• - Predictable patterns - babies thrive on routine and predictability. Songs with regular rhythms and familiar patterns give babies a sense of structure, which helps them feel safe and reduces emotional overwhelm.

You can start by creating "musical cues" for certain routines:

• - Soft music before naps
• - Bouncy music during playtime
• - Gentle tunes to ease transitions (like from bath to bed)
  

We suggest you to try the following Spotify Playlist: “Baby Wind-Down”

5. Music Builds Language & Listening Skills

Nursery rhymes, sing-alongs, and lullabies may seem like simple fun, but they are secretly supercharged tools for language development. Music and language share many brain systems, and when your baby listens to songs, they’re doing more than enjoying a tune-they're building the foundations for communication and literacy.

Music supports:

• - Vocabulary development - Songs expose babies to new words, concepts, and phrases in a playful, repetitive way. Repetition helps babies remember and eventually mimic words-even before they understand them.
• - Rhythm and syntax of language - Language has rhythm-think of how we pause, emphasize certain words, or use rising intonation for questions. Music naturally mirrors these patterns, helping babies grasp sentence flow, word order, and grammar even before they understand meaning.
• - Listening and memory skills - The predictable structure of songs and rhymes helps babies anticipate what comes next, reinforcing working memory and sequential processing-skills critical for language, storytelling, and reading comprehension. Even before babies speak, they absorb patterns from songs. Over time, this leads to earlier talking, better pronunciation, and stronger reading readiness.

Try turning bedtime stories into songs! Books like “Brown Bear, Brown Bear” or “Goodnight Moon” can be chanted or sung to encourage attention and engagement.

Here a suggested YouTube Playlist: “Sing Along Songs for Babies”

Music is more than entertainment. It’s a tool.

And the best part is that you are already equipped to make it part of your baby’s life. All you need is your voice and a little intention.

So go ahead-sing that off-key lullaby. Create a family dance party. Let your baby bang that toy tambourine for the hundredth time.

Because every beat, every note, and every moment are helping them grow.

Sources :

• Gerry, L., Unrau, A., & Trainor, L. J. (2012). Active music classes in infancy enhance musical, communicative and social development. Frontiers in Psychology.
• Rauscher, F. H., & Shaw, G. L. (1997). Music and spatial task performance. Nature.
• Trehub, S. E., & Trainor, L. J. (1998). Singing to infants: Lullabies and play songs. Advances in Infancy Research.