74: Sing It.

One of my favorite parts of having a baby is making up ridiculous songs about her to sing to her. Most of them are themed around her mood or poop and are some bastardized variation of a classic children’s or modern pop song. Even my husband, who I literally never heard sing anything outside of the Will Smith “Miami” rap pre-baby has a selection of diddy’s he likes to serenade her with (of course, the rap is one of those).

Singing feels different than talking, and also seems to be more soothing to babies (even those of us who have a musically disinclined). I was just reading about a study done by researcher Sandra Trehub, based out of University of Toronto, Mississauga, suggesting that singing can help babies regulate their emotions and focus their attention. It can even help regulate their cortisol levels, which plays a role in our experience of stress.

Now you have an excuse to take your singing out of the shower and into the world.