Nursery Rhymes While Pregnant

[Zita Lifland]

Childrenfor generations have enjoyed their parents, or grandparents, saying or singing nursery rhymes to them. The comforting rhythm of the verses means that even at a very early age, babies recognise familiar nursery rhymes.

Some of the most traditional nursery rhymes have meanings which are irrelevant and pretty meaningless in this modern day and age, but still the rhymes live on from generation to generation. Some are clearly educational, teaching little ones to count and increase their vocabulary along the way.

There are a lot of benefits of teaching your child or baby nursery rhymes from a young age; one being their cognitive development. The repetition found in the rhymes are good for your little one's brain and teaches them how language works while also building on their memory capabilities. In addition, nursery rhymes also help to develop inferencing skills - both when encountering new words and in reading comprehension later in life.

Baby nursery rhymes are also really important to your little one's speech development. They can help young children develop auditory skills such as being able to tell the difference between sounds and develop the ear for the music of words. Rhymes like the ones listed below also help children to articulate words, practise pitch and volume, and enunciate early by saying them over and over again.

One, two, three, four, five

Once I caught a fish alive.

Six, seven, eight, nine, ten

Then I let it go again.

Why did you let it go?

Because it bit my finger so.

Which finger did it bite?

This little finger on my right.

Sing a song of sixpenceSing a song of sixpence a pocket full of rye,

Four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie,

When the pie was opened the birds began to sing,

Oh wasn't that a dainty dish to set before the king?

The king was in his counting house counting out his money,

The queen was in the parlour eating bread and honey,

The maid was in the garden hanging out the clothes,

When down came a blackbird and pecked off her nose!

I grew up in a traditional Asian family where, as a child, I was never allowed to make my own choices. My parents always had the last say and could never be challenged. So when I decided to not allow any screen time for my child, my decision was final ... or so I thought.

I got a reality check when my daughter started eating solids at six months. I tried my best to talk to, sing to, and entertain her. I tried to stand my ground and remember how my mother told me not to give in to baby's cry. But as the bowl of food stayed full and I grew tired of singing to her, my eyes started to wander to the TV remote ... and with that, my "tiger mom" days were over.

I switched on YouTube and scrolled through a list of baby nursery rhymes, finding hundreds of videos with millions of views. The moment the video played, my baby was mesmerized and calmed right down. For the next few minutes, she sat and enjoyed the cheerful music and beautiful colors on the screen. She loved it!

That moment allowed me to just close my eyes and take a deep breath. But then I started worrying: Am I weak? Am I not disciplining my child like the good, strict Asian mum that I was supposed to be? I felt like I was the worst mother in the world! Is this how media addiction starts in children? Am I not being a role model to my child? Those questions kept running in my head.

It took me only six months to break my own no-screen-time declaration, which made me unhappy and stressed out. Worrying about being the perfect mum made it even harder for me to be a good mum. And that's when it hit me: I'd rather be a good mother than one who's always worried she's not perfectly following the rules.

So, yes, I caved. But I've come to realize that every now and then, I just need a moment for myself, to take a few deep breaths and de-stress. It is during times like these that I allow my daughter a few minutes of screen time. I have used this strategy as a coping mechanism, and it has made me into a much happier, well-balanced mother and given me my sanity back!

I don't underestimate the risks of technology to very young children. In fact, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that children under the age of 18 months should not be exposed to any screens at all. Recognizing this, I am always aware of how much time I allow my daughter in front of the screen. The tiger mum in me still exists, and I only allow screens when I am desperate for a moment to gather myself, and I never use screen time as a babysitter.

Just like everything else in life, I believe that there should be moderation in screen time. I have to remind myself to stop over-stressing, as this will just spill over to my baby. Instead of trying to be the perfect mother by adhering to strict tech rules, I now use technology to help me be a better mother.

Don't let the screen be a babysitter. Screen time does not replace the face-to-face interaction a baby needs for development. I'm mindful of using it as a way to catch my breath and not as my default activity. And I always stay nearby when my baby is watching to make sure nothing inappropriate pops up unexpectedly. I also plan plenty of outdoor activities with my baby.

Take inspiration from screen media. I use the songs and scenes my baby sees on TV as part of a learning experience. For instance, when she's heard the song "The Wheels on the Bus," I'll point out real wheels on a bus next time we're out and sing the song.

Use FaceTime. Instead of switching on the TV each time you need a break, try video-calling your parents or family members and let your child chat with them. According to the AAP, it's OK for babies younger than 18 months to video chat because they're able to make a connection to loved ones by seeing and talking to people through the screen.

Find age-appropriate content. There are thousands of nursery rhymes, cartoons, and options for young children online. Read the reviews and official ratings to make sure the content they watch is age-appropriate. Some of my favorite channels are Mother Goose Club and Chu Chu Baby. Check out Common Sense Media's list of YouTube channels and videos for preschoolers and terrific toddler shows.

As your child gets older, you can encourage her to clap along with you as you sing or you could leave out the last word of each line and encourage her to say it or sing along with you. You could buy or make a few instruments that you can bang or shake along to the rhythm with. You could also make up actions to the nursery rhymes and learn them together.

If baby is already home, is it too late to start a tradition like this? Absolutely not! Start when you can. If your baby is still a newborn, the repetition while you hold, carry, feed or snuggle together will create soothing, loving associations. Older babies, toddlers and preschoolers absolutely still benefit from incorporating special music, stories and rhymes into the rhythm of your days. These kiddos will often have their own opinions about what books and songs they especially like. Reading and singing together is a beautiful way to bond and it is a great parenting tool to have in your toolbox!

Hi all,

I hear a lot about how until children are 2 they shouldn't watch Tele etc (don't know how people do this as the tele is on in this house most of the day) - but my 4 month old absolutely loves the nursery rhymes on the little baby bum YouTube clip which I put up on the tele.

I interact loads with him all day too and usually put it on when he's fed up of interacting and fed up of his bouncer and mat etc. Does anyone else do this? It helps me get some things done. I don't want to stunt his speech or anything.

Let me know What you do!

Many thanks.

Oh god we couldn't do with out a bit of TV in this house. My dd is 6 months and sometimes we need 10 minutes of peace to eat or get something done so we just stick her in front of something and she'll happily sit.

It's not all the time and she has plenty of toys/reading time. It won't do them any harm!

My eldest ds learnt the alphabet from watching little baby bum videos .

Unless he's watching excessive amounts I wouldn't worry about it. I used to sing the songs from the videos to/with ds which, if anything, probably helped his speech.

I'm not a fan of TV for little ones so DD (15/16 months) doesn't watch, but it's a pretty even split among our friends and if it gives you breathing space for a few minutes I don't think it's so bad. This, though: "don't know how people do this as the tele is on in this house most of the day" - well, you just don't have it on like that / just switch it on when you actually want to watch something.

I got a telling off on a previous thread for saying that I showed my newborns a video of bouncing dots to stop them crying and calm them down long enough to latch.

My 2 year old will watch cocomelon maybe once or twice a week and loses interest after about 10 minutes. DH showed him octonauts and after a while we realised dc1 had gone off to play and we were both sitting and watching it ourselves!

The television is barely on, I don't watch anything and DH watches one thing in the evenings usually.

We put it on for background noise while playing even now. My DD is 2 and DS is 5.

If I put cartoons in my DS would zombie out in front of it, but nursery rhymes like baby bum they just play with their toys and sing along

Little baby bum is probably on for a couple of hours a day in our house as background noise and has since DD was 5-6 months. She doesn't just sit and watch it, we sing along to the songs and do the actions and animal sounds. And she's off playing during that time but just pauses to dance to her favourite songs. I don't think it's harmed DD at all.

She's 16 months now and does the actions (or tries to) for quite a few of the songs, she makes the animal sounds along to old macdonald and says some words along with the alphabet songs. So if anything I think it's probably taught her quite a lot!

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