Music for Baby and Dad
I’ve done a little reading about the child development angle on music, and ultimately what I came away with is “music is good for babies.”12 For the majority of this crawl-walk period, it seems that the main benefits for babies are around pattern recognition and socializing. And that’s why we have all these sing-along songs - the ones when you’re playing together and doing hand motions and stuff. We’re talking the Itsy-Bitsy Spider, Wheels on the Bus, all that jazz. Toby loves that stuff and it’s exciting to see her (10.5 months at time of writing) start to mimic the spider crawling up the spout, or squishing the baby bumblebee.
But that’s play, in my book. And I’m not at all qualified to write about child development or psychology (or music, really). I can tell you what I did after reading that stuff, though: I learned (or relearned) a few gems from this list and we were rocking and rolling.
Lullabies are another big baby-music overlap. I’ve got thoughts on lullabies, but that’s another separate category. Lullabies - soft songs sung at bedtime - were huge for helping Toby and I find comfort and bond during her newborn months. They’ve become less important now that she’s able to fall asleep in her crib, alone.
Anyway, that’s not what I’m here to talk about. In this post, I want to share the music we listen to while we explore, while we eat, while we drive in the car. For as long as Toby is unable to express her own preferences in music, I’m picking the tunes and we’re not gonna sit around listening to Baby Shark or Let It Go or whatever other infectious ear-worms have been unleashed on the world.
Our soundtrack fits into three buckets, in my head:
chill songs (playlist “Lullababy”)
fun songs (playlist “Jam Sandwich”)
musical exploration (DJ Dad radio)
Lullababy
We deploy the Lullababy playlist when we need to bring the energy level down a bit. So that’s every night during our bedtime routine, but also if either baby or daddy is feeling fussy.
My playlist is made up almost entirely of these three albums by Sleeping Phoenix:
Songs of Time + Rain (Apple Music, Spotify, YouTube)
Rainy Dreams (Apple Music, Spotify)
It’s a Big World Outside (Apple Music, Spotify)
This stuff calms me right down, but that’s just my video game music vibe. There’s plenty of music like this out there.
Jam Sandwich
If we’re trying to match a playful energy, or we need something to engage with a bit (like, say, we’re trying to doze off in the car but it’s still an hour and a half to naptime), we go to “Jam Sandwich.”
This is tricky territory, because most of this genre of music is …hard to listen to as an adult. I have found some stuff I am pretty happy with, but I also have a high tolerance for Bananaphone so I don’t expect these to be universal smash hits for every family.
The Disney Junior albums seem to be pulled from short videos made for bumper spots on the TV channel, so some of them are a little weird without that context. But I generally enjoy the variety of musical styles and the effort they put into producing a real song from these simple formulas. I particularly enjoy “One Potato, Two Potato”.
I found Teeny Tiny Stevies on somebody else’s list of kid-friendly songs, which I have now lost, but I dig their whole vibe. Lots of fun and positive messages. Although it’s hard for me to pull off some of the Australian rhymes. I’ll link just one song, but they have others I like, too.
Disney Junior Nursery Rhymes (Apple Music, Spotify, YouTube)
Teeny Tiny Stevies - Boss of My Own Body (Apple Music, Spotify, YouTube)
Exploration
The final category is just to give us some variety while we do other things. I rely on Apple Music playlists for most of it, picking from a blend of classical, jazz, and lo-fi/chill. I’m also starting to introduce Toby to my favorite artists, but I don’t think she’s picking up on much of them. She’s only visibly reacted to one pop/rock song: Golden Hour by JVKE. And I like that song, too, so that’s nice.
Ok, that’s all I’ve got for now. Thanks for reading!