Sound sleep for babies

If you have a healthy howler who won’t go to sleep try playing therapeutic music.

Sound Asleep for Babies is a selection of tunes on CD developed by sleep specialist Dr Elizabeth Scott.

While trying to calm her crying, sleepless grandson, Dr Scott discovered a selection of tunes that sent him to sleep almost instantly. What surprised her was the tempos that worked best. “He didn’t fall asleep when I played him slow music; instead he dropped off after I put on up tempo works,” she said.

Dr Scott related this to her research on brainwave patterns where she found that different frequencies predominate as we go from being wide awake to sound asleep. She says that music to induce sleep should match these changing brainwaves as closely as possible.

Her popular CD of music has an upbeat opening to catch baby’s attention and then the classical music, designed to mimic the brainwave rate of children falling to sleep, encourages baby to drift into the deep restorative stages of sleep. Not only is the music appealing to babies but mothers enjoy it as well.

Dr Scott advises that before playing the album which lasts for 20 minutes, make sure your baby is well fed, warm and lying comfortably on its back. “The more it becomes part of baby’s nightly routine the more effective it will be,” she said.

You can listen to a sample of the CD on www.kids3s.co.uk