Lullabies have healing powers

Last updated: 30/10/2013 10:05 by CatherineMom to CatherineMom's Blog
Filed under: Baby
Not only can lullabies soothe your baby to sleep, but they can also ease pain.
 
A new study has found that well-loved children’s songs helped paediatric patients in Great Ormond Street Hospital feel better.
 
The children’s stressed heart rates were found to drop – even in toddlers waiting for heart transplants – and babies were in visibly less pain.
 
Speculation that these reactions were simply due to the extra attention was quashed when reading stories to the children were found to have no effect.
 
Researcher and music therapist in Great Ormond Street, Dr Nick Pickett, said: ‘Parents have been singing to their children for thousands of years and they have always instinctively known that it helps their children relax – but it is exciting to have some scientific evidence that lullabies offer genuine health benefits for the child.’
 
Dr Pickett sang a number of lullabies to 37 patients and monitored their heart rates and physical signs of pain. Tests were also done when the little ones were read to and also when left to sit quietly.
 
Another study in the US also concluded that music has a positive effect on sick children, after newborns that were played lullabies were found to put on more weight and were discharged more quickly from intensive care.
 
Déanta in Éirinn - Sheology
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