Singing to Baby Helps Improve Their Mood, Yale Study Says

Parenting changes you in many ways, but perhaps one of the most instinctual shifts comes in the form of song. Even the most tone-deaf, rhythmically challenged parents often find themselves singing lullabies to soothe baby at night, belting out silly tunes to start the day or humming along to keep little ones interested in mealtime. It’s a behavior that’s lasted millennia—and according to scientists, for good reason.

A new study published in Child Development highlights baby-directed singing as a simple, effective way to boost baby’s mood. And as many parents know, a happy baby often means a happier household. “Singing is something that anyone can do, and most families are already doing,” said Eun Cho, DMA, postdoctoral researcher at the Yale Child Study Center and co-first author of the study in a Yale press release. “We show that this simple practice can lead to real health benefits for babies.”

To assess how singing affects mood, researchers at Yale randomly assigned 110 parents and their babies—most under 4 months old—into two groups. One group was gently encouraged to sing more by learning new songs, receiving karaoke-style instructional videos, infant-friendly songbooks and weekly newsletters with tips for weaving music into everyday life. The other group did not receive any additional materials.

For four weeks, parents received random smartphone surveys throughout the day, asking about their baby’s mood, fussiness, time spent soothing, caregiver mood and musical activities. Survey responses showed that the group who sang more consistently reported better moods in their babies than those in the control group. Crucially, the improved mood wasn’t just a short-term reaction to music—it was observed overall.

While the study was relatively small and conducted over a short period, researchers believe the results would be even more impactful across more time and with more diverse families. In fact, the early stages of a larger eight-month study involving parents of children under 4 is now underway.

“Even before our intervention, these participating families were particularly musical,” Lidya Yurdum, a PhD student in psychology at the University of Amsterdam, affiliated with the Child Study Center, and co-first author, explained. “Despite that, and despite only four weeks of the intervention, we saw benefits. That suggests that the strength of singing to your babies would likely be even stronger in a family that does not already rely on music as a way of soothing their infants.”

This isn’t the first time research has linked singing to baby with positive benefits. Previous studies have praised music’s role in supporting emotional regulation and early speech development. One University of Montreal study found that babies remained calm for twice as long while listening to an unfamiliar song compared to speech. Another from the University of Miami demonstrated singing’s effect on self-regulation. A 2023 study from University of Cambridge even emphasized how singsong speech plays a vital role in helping babies learn language.

So keep up the singing—no matter how off-key. After all, to your baby, there’s no bigger star of the show.