Research
Babies can cry a lot and this is tough for so many parents and carers. Around the globe - and throughout history - parents have turned to music to help. They try humming or singing lullabies, or play music to their babies, or listen to their favourite music. These are just a few examples. Much of this music is used by parents who wouldn't describe themselves as singers or musicians. Turning to music seems like a natural thing to do.
FirstMusic has run two research studies to explore how music can support parental mental wellbeing in relation to baby crying.
Research study 1 examined what music parents may be using in relation to their crying babies and what difference, if any, it made.
Research study 2 worked with parents and carers with lived experience of baby crying as lived experience experts. Parents took the lead to explore what music might be needed to best support real families on the ground.
More details about the studies can be found below including the references which back up our site's content.
Please feel free to get in touch HERE for more information.
Study 1
Study 1 was a longitudinal interpretative phenomenological analysis (LIPA) of five parents' journeys through their babies' first year. With a focus on the impacts of infant crying on parental mental wellbeing, parents were keen to share the stress and distress of persistent infant crying. The study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee at the Royal College of Music (certificate number: 221108OMA).
Findings from the study are currently being written up and further information, including future publications, will be listed here soon.
Please click HERE to get in touch
about study 1!
Study 2
Study 2 involved parents in relaxed discussion groups (a community-engaged participatory approach). We called it the "FirstMusic Research Roadshow"! As lived experience experts, parents discussed musical support for families experiencing challenging baby crying and linked challenges like loneliness and isolation. Parents helping parents! This study was approved by the Royal College of Music's Research Ethics Committee on 25 May 2024 (certificate number: 240501).
Ten discussion groups (with a total of 76 parents) took place in Liverpool, Nottingham, London, and online and captured a wide range of parents' views, thoughts, and recommendations. These were used to design, test, and rollout a national parents' survey which closed with 356 responses. Findings from this study are currently being written up and future publications will be posted here soon.
Please click HERE to get in touch
about study 2!
References
FirstMusic was born (see what we did there?!) from a Phd at the Royal College of Music in London entitled "Music engagement to support parental mental wellbeing in relation to persistent infant crying at home".
Everything on this website is linked to peer-reviewed academic and practitioner research evidence published in journals and other reputable sources (eg. government white papers).
For the full (and growing!) list of references, please click HERE. Brace yourself, it's a very very long list!!
