Anastasia Elise
Miracle Baby,
25 week preemie
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Tips on Preemie Development (including links to great toys)
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Music for Preemies
Contrary to what a popular line of baby products would have you believe, letting your baby listen to certain types of music won't make your child any smarter. However, music is soothing to preemies, and upbeat songs can be fun and stimulating, too. In addition, music helps teach math and verbal skills.
Classical music may be most soothing, but you needn't buy classical music made just for babies. In fact, those CDs tend to be full of synthesized music (rather than the more rich sound of a full orchestra) and may be expensive for the amount of music included on them.
CDs of lullabies and pre-school songs are also good choices, but so is almost any type of music that you like to listen to. (Although hard rock may be too stimulating for most babies!)
Click here to read expert advice about babies and music.
Here are my recommendations:
Despite the fact that Mozart's music may not make your baby smarter, studies do indicate that the brain responds to classical music in ways it may not with other types of music. Specifically, listening to classical music seems to improve spatial reasoning (which includes math skills) - at least while you're listening. Mozart is fun for baby and parent alike. This music is soothing, yet full of great rhythms.
Bach is wonderfully mathematical, and interesting to listen to.
Baby's classical music education wouldn't be complete without some Beethoven!
If you only buy one classical music CD for your baby, make it this one. Once your child is a bit older, she will especially appreciate this music collection, which contains not just the typical "baby soothing classics" like Braham's "Lullaby" and Pachelbel's "Canon in D," but exciting, inspire-baby-to-bounce tunes like Rimskij-Korsakov's "Flight of the Bumble Bee" and Aram Khachaturian's "Sabre Dance." Plus, there's an addition CD of the classic musical tale Peter and the Wolf, narrated by Jack Lemmon.
Beautiful music, well performed.
Great classic children's songs, from "I've Been Working on the Railroad" to "Animal Fair."
Classics, performed (well!) by children.
Expert tips on babies and music:
"Classical Music Does Not a Genius Make" (Baby Center)
"Building Baby's Brain: The Role of Music" (University of Georgia)
"Rhymes for a Reason" (Scholastic Parent & Child Magazine)
"Bonding Through Song" (Scholastic)
"Sing Your Way to Reading Success" (Scholastic)
"Moving to the Music" (Scholastic Parent & Child Magazine)
"Miracles are a retelling in small letters
of the very same story
which is written across the whole world in letters
too large for some of us to see."
C. S. Lewis
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