Learning Musical

Can listening to music benefit my child?

Definitely. Think about how music affects you — how an upbeat tune fends off the blues and soft music helps you fall asleep. Your baby is no different. Lullabies have a proven track record for soothing infants — ask any parent who has resorted to singing them when the baby wakes up at 2 o'clock in the morning. "I remember rocking my son to sleep to the tune of 'Snuggle Up,' " says Rich Ham-Kucharski of Canton, Michigan, father of Alex. "When we didn't play music, he would fight sleep."

Let's Play: Weekly Baby Activities

Find two perfect, development-boosting activities for every week of your baby's first year.

Music may even help strengthen premature babies. Researchers from Brigham Young University studied the effects of music on 33 premature infants in the neonatal intensive care unit at Utah Valley Regional Medical Center in Provo. Cassette players piped voices of men and women singing lullabies into each baby's isolette for 40 minutes a day for four days. When doctors examined the babies on the fourth day, they found that babies who were exposed to music gained more weight, and had lower blood pressure and a stronger heartbeat.

Music can benefit you, too. It has the power to lift your spirits, soothe your frayed nerves, and move you to dance. And music helps with bonding. Imagine the joy you'll share with your child when you sway to the beat of a lovely melody (try Stevie Wonder's "You Are the Sunshine of My Life"). Or how soothing it will be for you and your baby when you sing him a lilting lullaby ("Hush Little Baby" is always a winner).

Can music make my baby smarter?

The jury's still out on this question because not much research is available. Some experts claim that learning to play an instrument makes kids smarter in math, but that conclusion is based on research that focused on older children, not babies and young toddlers. For instance, one study found that piano lessons may enhance children's spatial reasoning skills (the ability to understand three-dimensional space), but experts tested only 3- and 4-year-olds.