Does Music Help Children Sleep Better During Naptime?

Kids often have trouble settling down to rest and falling asleep at naptime. If you struggle trying to get your youngster to nap, relaxing music might help. The slow and easy tempo and melody of music can help create a calm atmosphere that encourages little ones to drift off to sleep.

  1. Physiological Effect

    • If you play slow and relaxing music immediately before and during your child̵7;s naps, it̵7;s likely that the music will have a physiological effect on his little body to help him rest, according to the website of Relax Kids, a UK-based children̵7;s relaxation specialist. Heart and breathing rates naturally slow in response to relaxing music. Slow and calming music can even induce sleep by helping a youngster feel safer and more secure.

    Relaxing Environment

    • The environment you create for your child at naptime can have a significant impact on how cooperative she is with naps and how well she sleeps. It̵7;s helpful to introduce relaxing and low-key activities in the 30 minutes prior to naptime, and playing soft and relaxing music for your child can help you create this atmosphere, suggests educator Pamelazita Buschbacher, writing for the Challenging Behavior website. You might also rock your child and sing soft lullabies to help her rest and become sleepy.

    Choosing Music

    • Your choice in music is important to ensure it has the desired calming effect on your youngster. Select music with a constant slow tempo instead of one that changes from faster to slower or vice-versa, advises Boston Pops conductor Keith Lockhart in an interview with Linda Wasmer Andrews, for Psychology Today. The soft, smooth tones of strings might be one choice for soothing music, but this is an individual choice, and your child might prefer different instruments.

    Other Times for Music

    • If music helps your child feel relaxed, you might use it at other times of the day, too, suggest writers for the Association for Natural Psychology, a New Jersey non-profit corporation. You could also use music at other transition times to help your child feel peaceful and calm. Perhaps in the late afternoon during dinner preparation, you could play soothing music in the kitchen to help kids play quietly. In the mornings during breakfast, relaxing music could help kids ease into the day on a positive note.

    2. Previous:

    Next:

    • How to Create a Bedroom for Three Kids
      Cramping three children into one bedroom might seem like a form of torture for both the children and their parents, but it might prove effective when necessary. While some children crave their own personal space, others easily adjust to living in clo
    • How to Get Your Kids to Sleep in Their Own Bed
      Its never an easy task to get your child to go to sleep. Its even harder to get your kids to sleep in their own bed. Harder but not impossible. Things Youll Need Patience Perseverance Routine Chart Instructions 1 Develop a rou
    • How to Put a Child Asleep Without TV
      If your child has a habit of watching television while you put her younger siblings to bed or she falls asleep with the television on because thats just how shes always fallen asleep, you should consider changing this habit, suggests University of Mi