Brahms lullaby for baby

What this sound is

The Brahms lullaby is the Wiegenlied, Op. 49 No. 4, that Johannes Brahms wrote in 1868 for a friend's newborn child. The melody moves in a rocking three-four time within a narrow range, without big leaps, so it sounds as calm as an adult humming. The melody is in the public domain; the version in Agubu plays in a music-box tone, at a slow tempo and without words. The card in the app sums it up: music-box tone, working since 1868. It repeats on its own until the timer fades it out. Unlike the steady noises it is a recognisable melody with a beginning and an end.

Why it may help

A lullaby works by a different route from the noises. It does not mask sudden sounds; it gives a signal learned by repetition: when this melody plays, it is time to sleep. When the same lullaby plays every evening in the same order, a baby starts to recognise the signal within a few weeks; the routine is a stronger tool than the sound alone. The slow, rocking rhythm also pairs naturally with rocking in your arms. On the evidence, small studies suggest lullabies calm babies, but most look at lullabies sung live; for a recorded lullaby the evidence is weaker. It will not work for every baby; keep the routine for a few weeks and read Agubu's sleep log.

Safe use

Because a lullaby is music it is tempting to turn it up; the rule is the same as for the noises and is set out in the white noise guide.

• Keep the volume low: the level recommended for hospital nurseries is about 50 decibels. The practical test is simple: if you can talk in a normal voice in the room and still be heard easily, the level is fine; if the sound drowns you out, it is too loud.
• Do not put the phone or speaker in the cot or on its edge. Keep it at least one to two metres away, and avoid headphones, sound toys attached to the cot and any speaker close to the baby's ear.
• Use the timer. Fading the sound out 20 to 30 minutes after your baby has fallen asleep is usually enough. If you leave it on through the night, keep the level genuinely low.
• Turn it down once your baby has settled, and do not let a loud setting become the habit even briefly. Do not leave it running all day while your baby is awake, because it masks the speech they learn from.
• If the silence after the lullaby ends wakes your baby, put a low noise or rain underneath and set the timer for that instead.

How to play it in Agubu

1. Open Agubu, go to the Sounds tab at the bottom and tap the Brahms' lullaby card under Lullaby. This sound is in the free tier; there is no account to create and nothing to download, it plays on your device offline.
2. Set the volume with your own ears first: if you can speak in a normal voice in the room and still be heard, it is low enough. Place the phone one to two metres from the cot.
3. Tap Timer and pick a duration. When it runs out the sound does not stop abruptly; it fades down slowly. Twenty to thirty minutes after your baby has fallen asleep is enough on most nights.
4. If you like, layer it in the Mixer: low rain or pink noise under Brahms' lullaby avoids the drop into silence when the melody ends. The Mixer is a Premium feature and blends up to four sounds at separate levels. Sounds play without ads and the app needs no internet connection.

When to use it

• As the last step of the bedtime routine, in the same order every evening: bath, feed, lullaby.
• In the evening fussy hour while rocking, matching the rhythm of the melody to your arms.
• At the nap transition, as a short opening signal that sleep time has come.