Does your toddler want to listen to the same song over and over?

Don’t worry, this is normal. 

Certain songs resonate with children, just as certain songs resonate with adults. And as annoying as it might be to listen to “Baby Shark” or “Let it Go” five hundred times a day for your toddler or baby, it might help to know the repetition is actually great for their cognitive development.

My first baby absolutely hated the car seat (also normal). At one point, we discovered that whenever we turned on “Thunder” by Imagine Dragons, he would calm down immediately. It didn’t work with other songs, but for whatever reason, he was mesmerized by that one (our favorite line was “always riding in the back seat”).  

So every time we got in the car, we’d listen to that song over and over for as long as it took to get to our destination.

He is five now and still asks to listen to it. Only every once in a while now though, thank goodness (no offense to Imagine Dragons, we still love you).

A child’s world is unpredictable. 

Their daily activities are completely up to their caregivers. 

Think about how it must feel being fed what and when someone else wants you to eat, put in the car when you don’t feel like it, taken wherever someone else wants to go, and handed to people you may not feel comfortable with.

Anything that feels predictable gives children a sense of ease. This is why they like the same books over and over, the same bedtime routines, the same foods, the same shows, the same people, the same games, etc. 

While we can’t make every day the exact same for them, and there is definitely value in new experiences, kids feel safe when they know what is coming next. Playing their favorite song might just give them that sense of security, the way a special blanket or toy might do. 

Children develop a preference for the familiar even before they are born. 

They recognize their mothers voice in the womb, and quickly grow to prefer the faces of those around them after birth.

This is a protective instinct, so that we know who we can trust. It carries on into early childhood, as children learn what people and activities make them happy.

Maybe you’ve tried to introduce different songs to your child in hopes that they’ll move on, but they aren’t into it. This is ok, too. Eventually, they will. And it might help to know this study shows that children who prefer either novelty or familiarity have more advanced linguistic skills when compared to children who show no preference. 

Forming Brain Connections

You may be familiar with Donald Hebb’s well-known phrase “Neurons that fire together wire together.” This is especially true in early childhood. One of my favorite parenting books (and I’m pretty selective), The Whole Brain Child, goes into detail on this. Kids’ brains come ready to learn, and the best way to do that is by forming the same connections multiple times.

Research shows that kids actually learn words faster from reading the same book repeatedly, when compared to reading different books that use those same words. The same is true of songs, as music goes hand in hand with language development.

We can use “Baby Shark” as an example, since kids tend to cling to it. Like a book, this song takes kids through the story of the shark family. They are in danger, but find safety in the end. Maybe your child enjoys riding the emotions of their favorite song, while in the safety of knowing the resolution. 

And maybe your child likes the movement. There are plenty of benefits to this as well. Through repetition, children develop confidence and mastery.

You may be wondering,

Will I ever get to listen to another song again?

I have definitely found myself asking this question, too. Thankfully, although time seems to move slowly when you’re in the thick of parenting, I’m learning that almost everything kids do is a short-lived phase.

One day you’ll realize that you haven’t listened to that particular song for a while, and you might even miss it (just not enough to turn it on again!). Chances are, they won’t have We Don’t Talk About Bruno on repeat when they go to college.

So take some cute videos, and try to soak in the joy of singing and dancing with your little one!