For most parents, having a baby means experiencing disrupted nights and exhaustion. Many moms and dads will try anything to get their children to sleep, including singing, telling stories and playing music. And some parents swear that listening to Taylor Swift has an almost hypnotic effect on their children—and helps to send them off to sleep.
Rachael Shepard-Ohta, a mum of three from San Francisco, California, told Newsweek she first noticed it with her middle child
“It was right around the time the Folklore and Evermore albums came out when I was pregnant and postpartum with her,” she told Newsweek. “I am a huge Taylor fan, so I was listening to the music anyway, and realized it really worked with soothing her to sleep, especially when we were in the car—which she hated.”
She decided to share her discovery on Instagram and was inundated with messages from other parents, who said Swift helped their children to sleep too. “I ended up creating a playlist on Spotify and have tons and tons of testimonials from parents, saying it works like a charm,” she added.
Of course, as many parents will confirm, there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to getting a baby to go to sleep. It takes trial and error—and a child can go from sleeping through the night to waking up every few hours for a number of reasons, from teething to general development.
However, a growing body of research supports the theory that babies benefit from listening to music as they enjoy it—although it depends on the type of music.
Research has shown that quiet, gentle music can bring down a newborn’s heart rate and soothe their stress. In part, this may be because listening to music triggers the release of endorphins—a hormone that promotes a sense of happiness and contentment. In fact, listening to music can also aid a baby’s cognitive development and language skills.
But why are some parents swearing by Taylor Swift for an easier bedtime?
“If the parent is feeling calm, less anxious or hopeful that the music works, this calmness may rub off on their baby,” she explains. “How we feel as parents has a lot to do with how our little ones settle. If we are feeling anxious and our breathing and heart rate are faster, this is what our little ones pick up.”
But if we’re listening to music we enjoy—whatever it might be—we may be more likely to feel calmer and happier, which likely influences how a baby feels.
Ratcliffe listened to All Too Well by Taylor Swift and said the 10-minute version had a relaxing, hypnotic feel.
“There appears to be a really nice low tone under the melody, which is a bit like white noise. The harmonies are nice and it doesn’t get too loud or heavy in the beat,” she said.
“That being said, I don’t think the baby is listening to it and thinking it’s a great song to fall asleep to. It could be that the parent is breathing more slowly and more rhythmically, which offers a nice stable and secure feel for the baby.”
Ratcliffe added that there likely isn’t a magic song that helps babies sleep—and if there is, it is yet to be discovered. In 2016, however, psychologists at Goldsmiths, University of London teamed up with singer-songwriter Imogen Heap to develop a mood-enhancing track for babies.
They surveyed 2,300 parents and found that the sounds most likely to make infants happy included sneezing (51 percent), animal noises (23 percent) and baby laughter (28 percent). The resulting track, The Happy Song, features all of these things—plus raspberries, rhythmic plosive sounds—like pa and ba—and a gentle, upbeat tempo.
So what else can help babies sleep? According to Ratcliffe, how you feel as a parent can play a big role. “A calm and confident parent is likely to have better results than a parent who is worried, questioning themselves and not sure what to do,” she said.
