Classic cradlesong are at risk of dying out as almost half of millennial mothers and fathers don’t know all the words to Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.
A poll of 2,000 parents aged 26 to 41 revealed just 53 per cent can recite all the lyrics to Baa Baa Black Sheep, while only 51 per cent can sing Row, Row, Row Your Boat in its entirety.
Even Humpty Dumpty baffled half of those polled, while Jack and Jill
was known by just 43 per cent, and three in five parents can’t soothe their babies to sleep with a full rendition of Rock A Bye Baby.
Only 34 per cent could sing the entirety of Little Bo Peep, dropping to 29 per cent for Hush Little Baby and 28 per cent for Frere Jacques.
One in ten millennial parents said they don’t sing lullabies at all because they have a horrible voice or feel uncomfortable. Instead, one revealed to rapping Kanye West tunes to their baby, while another sang The Rolling Stones classics. Yet 83 per cent still thought that the bedtime routine was a critical bonding experience.
The study, commissioned by baby products manufacturer MAM, also discovered nine in ten parents read bedtime stories, and 43 per cent think these are better for soothing their children. Millennials stuck to the classics, with The Very Hungry Caterpillar, The Gruffalo and We’re Going On A Bear Hunt the most favoured.
Lisa Parkhill, from MAM, said that getting a little one off to sleep was a special, soothing time spent between babies and parents, even if some of the methods might be deemed unconventional.
She said that it’s intriguing to learn just how many depend on the power of their voice to support their baby during these moments, yet many recognise they won’t be releasing a hit single anytime soon.
She said that as parents develop those unbreakable bonds with their children, they learn just how important bedtime is to soothe their little ones, and even a brilliant opportunity to unwind.
These rhymes are part of our cultural heritage. It’s a shame that they’re being forgotten, and everything from our history is being erased, and most parents now are far too busy to get off their phones – children
being ignored while the parents walk along looking at their phones with no interaction with their children at all, so now children don’t know how to play as the parents never show them or spend quality time with them, they give their children an IPad to distract them instead, and they give them a ridiculous device to shut their children up.
Children’s rhymes were lovely with parents singing Round and Round The Garden and Incy Wincy Spider, and it didn’t matter if you had a good singing voice or not, parents used to sing themselves stupid to amuse their children.
It actually makes you wonder how many parents still read to their children at bedtime, or do they just hand their children a tablet until they fall asleep? As a child, my mum read to me at night, every night and I always looked forward to it, but a lot of things are dying out, it’s a new revolution.
THE MONTHLY MOSQUITO 