At the end of last year, we heard how nursery rhymes were going out of fashion as you can read here on ParentDish. Now it’s the Lullaby that could fade away into a distant memory. In the news last week, parents are more likely to sing pop songs or TV theme tunes than lullabies to their children at bedtime according to research:
- Almost nine in ten (88%) British parents sing and play pop songs or TV theme tunes
- A third (29%) said they sing or play sound tracks from children’s movies.
I’m not one of them. When it comes to bed time we sing nursery rhymes. In a bid to ensure the age old Lullaby will not be forgotten, Sophie Barker from Grammy Award-nominated Zero 7 (who I love!) has recorded Lullaby - a collection of favourite bedtime cradlesongs for children and grown-ups and has set up this Facebook campaign to ‘Save the Lullaby!’ She was interviewed on BBC Breakfast last week. Sophie doesn’t want the lullaby to die out. In addition to the benefits of rhyme and repetition, she also feels it is soothing for both babies and mothers. The album uses sounds such as the heartbeat, which are pleasant for babies and mothers. Sophie felt that setting up a Facebook group Save The Lullaby was a good first step in highlighting the benefits of lullabies and raising awareness of the threat of them being forgotten.
Lullabies are essential. Its the rhythm of the singing and the poetry of the words; I’ll definately save the Lullaby