Using a musical cue for sleep with your baby and young child can be a wonderful way to help your child know when it is time to sleep. It also serves as a way for them to enter sleep more easily and is a wonderful tool to build a bedtime routine around. I am often asked the best way to set up a musical sleep cue, so here is my best advice: Choose music that you love that is calming, of good quality, and that has lyrics that support sweet dreams . Have you ever watched a movie before bed and then found that the characters and plots showed up in your dreams? What you listen to before bed will stay with you in your nighttime thoughts, so it is very important that you are listening to something comforting. Traditional lullabies are a great choice as they have affirming themes like those of parental love or angels guarding over your child as they sleep. Consistency is key! If your parents had a song or a prayer that they said to you each night you know how powerful and comforting it is. My grandmother always said the prayer, "Now I lay me down to sleep …" in the evenings when I stayed with her. To this day, there are times that I will hear her voice in my head as I drift off to sleep. It takes adults up to 21 days to create a habit, younger children it takes less time, and babies even less . Babies easily take up musical cues because they are looking for anything that is consistent that will tell them about the world they are discovering. Choose a song or a series of songs to use when you would like your child to sleep to and play them only and always when it is sleeptime. /node/136762 It is never to early to begin. In fact, starting in the womb is ideal. Don't worry if your child is older or if you yourself are looking for a way to get better sleep with a sleep cue! It is possible at all ages. Here is how: For Babies In an ideal world you read this article while you were pregnant. Choosing music to relax to during the third trimester of pregnancy is good for both you and your baby. In fact, a study in the Journal of Clinical Nursing found that listening to lullabies for 30 minutes a day significantly reduced a mother's stress, anxiety, and depression. /node/79377 Choose something that calms you and something that you like to listen to. Lullabies are ideal because you can learn them as you listen and then sing them to your baby once they are born. It is important to relax when you are listening to the music so that the baby associates a slower hearbeat and slower breathing (relaxation!) with the music. Once your baby is born, they will recognize the music they heard consistently in the womb and it will relax them. It becomes a bridge from the womb to the real world. Put the music on quietly when they start to get sleepy so they will build the association of sleep with the music. As they grow, you will be able to use the music to indicate that it is sleep time. Be sure to only use the music when you want them to sleep! Again, clarity and consistency are key. If your baby is already born and you would like to set up a cue, choose your music and put it on or sing it when your baby is sleepy. They will soon come to associate the music with sleep and you will be able to move from sleep cuing the music, to music cuing sleep. For A Toddler Or A Preschooler You may involve them in helping to choose the music. You can listen and say something like "Oh, doesn't that sound like sleep music?" Let's put this on for our nap (or bedtime). Let it play and then snuggle up together. Choose something that you both like because it will be used over and over again for years! /node/43569 After you see your child falling to sleep to the music you can begin to distance yourself. For some children being wrapped snugly in a blanket, like in a cocoon, can be comforting. For others, having pillows all around can help. Get them comfortable and then sit beside the bed as you play the music for a few nights. Before you know it, you will be able to do your bedtime routine, put the music on, and leave them to their sleep. If you are consistent you will see just how much this sleep cue helps in 2-4 weeks. And remember, sleep cues are not just for children! Adults who are having trouble sleeping can also benefit from a consistent musical cue. /node/133982 To help families get more sleep, we designed the ultimate mobile sleep cue app. It is called Angelsong Baby Sleep Deluxe and features 11 acapella lullabies that are perfect for cuing sleep and ensuring sweet dreams. It is all you need to set up a musical sleep cue and it is completely portable. I hope you will check it out here . If you would like more information you can see me talking about sleep cues on Fox 23 . Sweet dreams! /node/100454 Amy Robbins-Wilson , MA is a Musical Parenting Expert and Healing Music Artist. She is the award winning author of Transformational Mothering and the creator of the Mommy Jingles program. Sign up for your free Musical Parenting Video Tips at http://www.lullaby-link.com . Learn more about Amy and her work at http://www.amyrobbinswilson.com To Read Great Sex Advice : The Best Sex Advice on YourTango
