The Best Goodnight Songs For Your Baby
Goodnight songs are beautiful melodies that make children feel relaxed and fall asleep. Traditionally, the goal of singing goodnight songs to children is to help them fall asleep while carrying a valuable message in them.
Goodnight songs’ melodies and lyrics glide effortlessly into children’s subconscious minds as they relax and are stuck in their memory.
In this way, parents have for centuries exploited this mental state, to introduce discreet life teaching.
This practice was actually considered very important for their survival because it was believed that by warning children of possible dangers, many problems could be avoided.
When we look at the lyrics, we often find tales of pseudo-fictional events . That is, stories inspired by real life events, with which have certain fictional features to make them more attractive.
This formula was also used at the time when stories were told orally and then passed on to a written form.
The Grimm brothers told stories based on real-life events that were meant to serve as homework, or at least warnings to keep in mind. Goodnight songs work, as such, in the same way.
The world’s goodnight songs vary according to geographical area and local culture. However, most of them have common elements that have been established as the main characteristics of goodnight songs.
These common features are:
- Cadence. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, this term refers to:
– A rhythmic sequence or stream of sounds in language.
Beat, time or measure of rhythmic movement or activity.
– The modulated and rhythmic repetition of a sound. - Velklang. Merriam-Webster defines this term as: a pleasant or sweet sound; especially the acoustic effect produced by words formed or combined to please the ear.
What are goodnight songs really?
Goodnight songs consist of a series of sounds, melodies and harmonies that occur at a certain frequency, following a constantly repeating pattern designed to have a gentle sound.
The songs are usually sung in sweet tones and because of this they tend to be captivating.
In a natural way , by simply using our voice, we are able to influence our baby’s dreams.
Of course, we need to keep in mind that the sounds we choose to sing must be more or less repetitive, continuous, and sweet so that they can also help relax the other senses.
Ideally, you can accompany a goodnight song with hugs and gentle swing. In this way, we rock the baby in our arms and can enhance the relaxation with the baby’s sense of touch.
Remember that people at an early age primarily respond to tactile stimuli, such as hugs, caresses, and cuddles.
The most popular goodnight songs
Here are some of the most popular goodnight songs in Western society:
- The elephant’s lullaby
- The sun is so red mother
- The little ole with the umbrella
- Horseradish and the moon
- I’m tired and going to rest
- Calm down calm down your boat
- Puff the magic dragon
The power of goodnight singing
In almost every Disney movie, there is a goodnight song or ballad that works well when we sing it to our babies.
Today, many mothers are addicted to these, not only because of their popularity, but also because they contribute to the child’s future relationships.
An example is the goodnight song that Cinderella hums in the latest film adaptation of the story.
Music is certainly one of the most universal languages.
As your children grow up, they may meet other children who have also heard this goodnight song , and it can create a good connection between them instantly.
Who knows if they also end up singing this song together and laughing at it?
If you think that singing is not your thing, we recommend that you at least try to hum some songs. The sounds you make even if you keep your mouth shut can still be good and help your baby relax at bedtime.
The hum can also be helpful in times of great stress.
Do not underestimate the power of this seemingly simple activity.
