The teachers played classical music at the beginning of naptime. She did a study of toddlers and preschoolers taking naps at the university nursery schools. "If you think of a child's thoughts as racing and the mother or whoever comes in and sings slowly, rhythmically, it's going to slow their thoughts and then basically they're going to lull themselves into sleep," says Tiffany Field, a researcher on the faculty of pediatrics at the University of Miami School of Medicine. It's the power of lullabies, especially when sung by parents and caregivers. Or I'm casting a spell: "You will fall asleeeeepppp. Honestly, when it works like this, it makes me feel like I have a superpower. This is a favorite lullaby, we learned from taking Music Together classes for years when she was younger.īy the time I reach the end – 90 seconds later – she is snoring softly, and I slide out from under the covers and down the bunk bed ladder to enjoy my tea. "Yes, Sleep, Sleep, Sleepyhead," she requests. "Do you want a song?" I ask Noa as she yawns. I have two things to back me up here: heaps of anecdotal stories and actual scientific evidence.įirst, an anecdote, in the form of a secret phone recording made in late April at around 9 p.m., as I climbed into the top bunk where my 8-year-old daughter sleeps. It's possible you're thinking: Of course an NPR reporter's secret weapon is Twinkle Twinkle. In moments like this, I have a secret weapon: lullabies. She tosses and turns, not quite ready to settle down. She's a little wound up from the school day.
Standing (or rather lying) between me and sips of tea is my nearly 8-year-old. My spouse has brewed tea and is queuing up something for the grown-ups to watch. We've cleaned up the dishes and our youngest daughter is already asleep.
With great attention to detail, she has drawn the unicorns on her comforter. This is a sleeping self-portrait by Sasha, age 4. The reporter's kids, Sasha and Noa, both love falling asleep to lullabies.
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