Do This To Boost Your Baby’s Mood, Say Scientists

It’s no secret that babies love lullabies—but new research shows that singing to your infant may do more than just calm them in the moment.

A new study published in the journal Child Development revealed that regularly singing to babies can significantly improve their mood while also providing mental health benefits for caregivers.

Led by an international team of researchers from Yale, Princeton, the University of Auckland and several other institutions, the study tested whether a simple, smartphone-based music intervention could encourage parents to sing more frequently to their infants—and whether that change could yield measurable health benefits.

The researchers explained how they conducted a randomized controlled trial with 110 caregivers and their infants, mostly from the U.S. and New Zealand.

“Participants in the intervention group were encouraged to sing more to their infants than usual,” they said.

“We measured how this change in behavior would influence infant mood, stress, sleep and music behavior, using brief, smartphone based surveys that caregivers completed at random times throughout the day.”

The team found that babies whose caregivers participated in the singing program showed noticeable improvements in mood—especially in soothing contexts.

“Singing was the only one that showed a significant increase in use following the intervention,” researchers noted, even though the program didn’t explicitly instruct caregivers to use it for that purpose.

The findings align with prior knowledge that music can influence emotions, but this study is among the first to establish a causal relationship between increased parental singing and improved infant mood.

“Singing is a universal practice—parents from almost every culture and throughout history have intuitively used singing to soothe and connect with their infants,” the research team emphasized.

While the effects on caregiver mood were less pronounced, researchers say the link between infant wellbeing and parenting stress suggests long-term potential.

“For pediatricians and professionals working with families, recommending increased infant-directed singing is a practical, accessible strategy to support infant wellbeing,” the researchers said.

Still, the study is not without its limitations, the team cautioned. The participant pool was predominantly white, well-educated and economically advantaged, which may limit broader applicability. Additionally, all mood data came from caregiver reports, introducing the possibility of bias.

Nonetheless, the study achieved high compliance rates and generated enough interest to justify follow-up research. Two new studies are now underway, including an eight-month longitudinal trial comparing singing, music listening and reading interventions.

After the study, 90.3 percent of caregivers said they would keep singing to their infants, reporting positive experiences.

Participants generally described their experience in the study as positive, particularly valuing the opportunities to actively integrate music into their daily routines and observe the beneficial effects of singing on both their infants and themselves.

“Because infant mood is closely linked to parenting stress, caregiver-infant bonding and later social-emotional development, such a simple intervention could have meaningful downstream benefits,” researchers concluded.

Do you have a tip on a health story that Newsweek should be covering? Do you have a question about parenting? Let us know via science@newsweek.com.