Can you influence your children’s tastes in music during pregnancy?

Remember what it was like to be in your mother’s womb…of course not! But you may have subconsciously picked up on stimuli from the outside world before you even entered it.

Researchers from the University of Leicester in England have found that babies can remember things from the womb much longer than initially thought. While previous studies have shown that babies a few days old are still familiar with pre-birth experiences, psychologist Alexandra Lamont found that year-old babies still recognized musical pieces played before birth.

During the study, mothers were asked to listen to a song of their choice for half an hour every day during the last three months of their pregnancy. Some choose reggae, some pop and other songs they thought would do their child good. Then after birth, the mothers didn’t listen to the song again. 

A year later, Lamont played 30 seconds of the mother’s song for each baby, as well as other pieces of various styles. If babies continued to pay attention to the speakers, she took it as a sign of preference and recognition. While all the babes seemed to like fast-paced, exciting music, they also showed a preference for their mother’s song, no matter what the style.

But Lamont doesn’t think mothers can necessarily change their children’s overall musical tastes by playing them certain songs during pregnancy (can’t promise they’ll be listening to classical music as teenagers). However, she was surprised to find that the babies could discriminate and remember individual songs even after a year. Their preference for their mother’s song also shows that music can strengthen the bond of a baby and mother.  

Babies can begin to hear sounds outside of the womb by 20 to 24 weeks. mbrio earbud adapters are a safe, comfortable way to share music with your baby in the womb. Enjoy nurturing your little one with mbrio today!