Bedtime Music

When I was expecting and as a young parent, I read and was told that establishing a consistent bedtime routine was key. It helps babies and children know what to expect next. So, we set out to do just that. We had bath and books and singing and many of the standards. It worked well for us. The kids each easily fell into the practice of going to sleep at 8 pm. Now, by no means is bedtime always easy at my house. Some nights, my kids are the best stallers with more needs than you can imagine - I need a drink of water, I need to tell you something, I need a hug (you can't say no to that one!), I need to potty, I need to be covered up, and so on.

One of the things that we bought each time we had a baby was a CD Clock Radio for their bedroom. We had gotten a free CD at one of our hospital classes that was filled with classical music (I had heard that listening to classical music boosts brain power, but understand now that there is question on the actual "Mozart effect"). We would use the snooze function, along with the repeat function, to provide 90 minutes of soothing music for the babies at naptime and bedtime.

I figured that there were two benefits, it contributed to the consistency of our routine and the music would help block out other noises in the house, making it easier for the babies (children) to sleep. The nice thing playing it on snooze was that it didn't run all night and when they would wake and return to sleep at night so that they also knew how to fall asleep without the assistance of music.

For over 7 years, my son listened to the same disc every night and since we had somehow received two from the hospital, my duaghter has listened to the same disc for over 4 years. My son's CD player stopped working this year and now he goes to bed without music. For me, this was a bit of a challenge to accept, as if by him no longer having (needing) the music at bedtime, he is growing up. Despite that, I definitely feel that playing that same CD every night has worked well for us and helped establish bedtime routine.

This post shared at Works For Me Wednesday.