Your Brilliant Baby in Week 19: Prefering Music to Talking

Since it's apparent that babies love music and mothers love singing to them, don't hold back! Go ahead and croon when you want to. An especially good time is when baby is over-stimulated: Taking her to a quiet corner and rocking back and forth while singing a lullaby pulls her attention inward, thereby coordinating her senses and making her feel less irritated. At times like this, singing is far more effective than talking!

And a couple tips before belting out Top 40 hits: Research shows us that infants don't pay the same amount of attention when you sing using your regular adult singing voice; they like it best when you use a high pitch and slow tempo, and when you're especially emotionally expressive—and they really like to see your face and lips as you sing.

Your Week 19 Toolbox

Related skills and topics this week include …

• What's happening in Baby's fifth month?
• Use our Development Tracker to check off your child's 4-7 month milestones.
• Here's what our pediatrician says you might be worried about this month.