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.
