Music to Calm the Savage Baby

It's time to drift off to dreamland, and your little one just won't hit the hay. You've used up your bag of tricks, but to no avail. Those little eyes stay wide open.

A tried and true option is music. While singing to your baby is a wonderful experience, sometimes hearing those same nursery rhymes gets rather dull. But try a few cd's, and you've got a whole other angle.

I love hearing parents tell their baby's favorite cd's. They range all over from Celine Dion to Jim Croche. But one thing they all have in common are the soothing sounds. Harmonious music, strumming accoustical guitars, keyboards - these can all have a wonderful effect on a sleepless baby.

Recently, my husband bought me a Sting cd called Songs from the Labyrinth. I started noticing that as if by magic, by halfway through the second song, my son would fall asleep. The cd features music written by John Dowland, a 17th century musician. Sting's voice combined with the lute is relaxed and soothing; it not only lulls baby, but it calms this stressed mommy right down!

Other favorites around our house for baby are Phil Keaggy's Beyond Nature, John Michael Talbot, and Enya. If your baby has some favorite music that seems to do the trick, please add them to the comments of this post. I'd love to hear what works for you!