Majors for Minors

Sleep is one of the most essential aspects of a baby's development.  It helps their bodies and minds develop, and the truth is that music can play a major role in both the development of your baby, as well as helping them achieve a more restful sleep.


Even though your baby's brain is not yet fully developed, the reality is that they are actually not much different from adults when it comes to the basic structure and functionality of their brains.  This also applies to the auditory cortex portion of their brain.

The auditory cortex forms part of the temporal lobe of the cerebral cortex.   This is one of the first parts of the brain to develop, meaning that playing music to your unborn baby can already have benefits.  In fact, some studies have shown that playing music for your baby in utero (while still in the womb) can help create a better foundation for their reaction and appreciation for music once they are born.  In other words, playing music for your unborn baby can make i…

In her book "How Babies & Toddlers Really Sleep" [1], Erica Neser [2] talks about how sleep has a specific kind of impact on how a baby's brain develops.  In just one cycle of roughly one hour, your baby will store memories, lay down paths between brain cells, and then finally secrete growth hormones.


It is important that your baby goes through these cycles during sleep, and according to Dr Nils Bergman [3], babies that sleep on their mother's chest experience all the correct sleep cycles and phases.  However, babies that are left to sleep alone might not experience these cycles at all.  According to Dr Nils, while babies that sleep alone might look like they are sleeping, their brainwaves are scrambled.

One of the many fears of parents is that their babies' brain will not develop properly if they do not get enough sleep.  Erica believes that this is one of the major factors to why parents try to "teach" their babies to sleep through the night.  It …

Have you ever had that feeling that you just cannot give your baby enough hugs? And that you just want to hold her as much as possible.  Well good news, a recent study [1] has found that hugging your baby during the early part of their life can help with brain development, as well as help with other trauma newborns may experience.

A survey done during the research showed that by presenting your newborn with gentle displays of affection can actually have a lasting effect on how the baby's brain reacts to touch.   This is especially relevant to premature babies, where it was found that the more supportive touch the baby received from their parents and the hospital staff, the stronger their brain responses were.
View this article on how the music can help premature babies feed.
While we as parents might feel our hearts growing every time we hug our babies, the truth of the matter is they that your baby's brain is actually growing faster because of it.

So parents, don't be shy …

An amazing study done by Loewy J et al. [1] in 2013 showed that soothing music may encourage premature babies to feed better, as well as improve their vital signs (like their O2 saturation levels as well as heart rate). It is speculated that this is one of the reasons why singing lullabies to babies comes so naturally to parents and carers.


Listen to Soothing Sound and Song, a Majors for Minors album that adds soothing voices with celtic influences as well as tibetan bowls, pink noise, below average heartbeat tempos and sound frequencies, all designed to calm

[1] Loewy J et al. The effects of music therapy on vital signs, feeding, and sleep in premature infants. Pediatrics 2013;131(5):902-18