Australia
MERCY HOSPITAL FOR WOMEN
"Music for Dreaming is played throughout our nursery and in the neo-natal wards. In the nurseries it promotes a calm, relaxed environment. We've found it enhances a deep sleep in our babies, and also softens the sound of the medical equipment used in the special care unit for premature babies."
Community Relation's Officer, Melbourne - Ms Jeanette Thompson
ROYAL CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL
"Music is a useful inclusion in our care for sick babies. Music is also a great source of nurturing which mothers can use when more traditional kinds of care like cuddling, holding and touching are not available to them. As we have to be quite selective in what music we use, it is reassuring to know that Music for Dreaming is backed up by respected research."
Nurse, Neo-natal unit, Melbourne
ROYAL CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL
“It reminds me of the music I listened to as a child. I really feel peaceful when I hear it. My son loves it, he relaxes to it so quickly.”
MELBOURNE – NEONATAL INTENSIVE CARE UNIT - Mother
ROYAL CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL
“We found the music to be most soothing, relaxing and greatly beneficial during the sleep times of the children. We also tried it during noisy and stressful periods throughout the day and it proved to be a wonderful aid in winding down the children, enabling easier, smoother transitions between routine times and play. All the staff want a copy too.”
ROYAL WOMEN'S HOSPITAL
"When Music for Dreaming is played in our wards, the gentle flow of beautiful music appears to have a soothing effect, not only on the mothers and babies, but also on the staff. We play the music in our maternity wards, Family Birth Centre, oncology and dysplasia units, Breastfeeding Assessment Service Units and in the children's play centre."
Unit Manager, Maternity Ward, Melbourne - Liz Smidt
NORTHPARK PRIVATE HOSPITAL
"We have had great success with Music for Dreaming in helping soothe and calm both mothers and babies. We see a lot of unsettled babies with things like colic or reflux, and we've found playing the music, along with something like a massage, to be very soothing. We estimate that at least nine out of ten babies respond almost immediately to the music. We really encourage mothers to use the music as an on-going method to either settle their baby or to enhance a deeper sleep or relaxed state. We also teach deep relaxation therapy to the mothers, and again we use the music in the background for that."
Unit Manager, Mother/Baby Unit, Melbourne - Ms Alice Yarni
JOHN HUNTER CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL
“I took the CD to the ward and played it to a roomful of infants with chronic sleep disorders - all of whom were unsettled. The most disturbed child settled regularly with the use of Music for Dreaming.”
Head Of Paediatric Sleep Unit, Melbourne
MITCHAM PRIVATE HOSPITAL
“We use Music for Dreaming as an essential part of helping the babies to settle, particularly those experiencing pain through colic or reflux. We find the music gives those babies something to focus on and helps distract from their pain, without jolting them out of their sleep. In other albums we’ve used just a change in tone or pitch can wake a baby, yet that doesn’t happen with Music for Dreaming – it is so gentle and smooth; it doesn’t irritate at all.”
LACTATION CONSULTANT
“I have noticed that those mothers who do play relaxing music, particularly Music for Dreaming which has such a calming spiritual quality, are usually the most relaxed. And it does follow that a relaxed mother makes for a relaxed baby.”
MOTHER
“I’ve used Music for Dreaming to help overcome sleep problems I’ve experienced with my baby daughter, Mary. At six months, Mary wasn’t settling at night. She would often be in our bed, going off to sleep at 11pm, even midnight. I now play the music at home and it seems to pacify her immediately. With the music playing in the background, we just pat Mary’s back and she goes off to sleep. The music really calms her. We only use it at sleep time because we want her to associate the music with sleeping – and it is working wonderfully.”
Voula Aidonopoulos, Eltham
FATHER
“Whenever we have problems getting our four-month-old daughter, Kaitlyn to sleep, Music for Dreaming is one of the tools we use to settle her. Nine times out of 10, she will sleep when the music is played. Often, when Kaitlyn is having an unsettled night, we press auto-play on the CD player and have the music gently playing in her room all night. She really does seem to get a good night’s sleep because of the music.”
John Ryan, Gold Coast
MOTHER
“The music creates an atmosphere of peace and calm which is extremely soothing for our three-month-old daughter, Alanna. It is enjoyed by parents just as much. My husband and I both love the easy listening.”
Lynne Tawse, Melbourne
EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT
“I encourage all parents and caregivers to be close to their child as they listen to this beautiful music. Children need adults who will hold them, hum to them and look into their eyes with tenderness. This is the nourishment children need to grow strong and healthy.”
VERY SPECIAL KIDS’ HOUSE
“Music for Dreaming is gentle and evocative, calming the children, which in turn helps the parents feel more relaxed and less pressured.”
Chris Kinsey, House Mum
MOTHER
“I have used other instrumental tapes for my two sons - William, 2 and Nicholas, eight weeks - but none soothe like Music for Dreaming. I use the music to calm William after he has been outside playing; and when I play it to Nicholas he will settle and listen to it, or if he is asleep he seems to stay asleep that bit longer. And I also use it for myself to take away some of the tension from my day. It’s just so mellow and peaceful.”
Coleen McBride, Queensland
MOTHER
"My mother gave me a copy of Music for Dreaming while I was pregnant with my son, Hayden. I played it while I was pregnant, and at the hospital during labour. I had a four-hour labour - the music really relaxed me and Hayden seemed so relaxed when he was born. I’ve continued to play the album at home and I swear by its success. Whenever Hayden is unsettled I simply play the music and he is immediately soothed. I really believe he is a more placid baby because of having this music played to him. Your music is still doing wonders, better than any dummy for settling. Your music signals our quiet time or bed times. He was born to it, now he’s growing with it.”
Teresa Thomas, Queensland
JOURNALIST
“Thank you for the CD. I know it's aimed at soothing babies but I can't resist playing it for myself. It helps me to say focused when the pressure's on at work and, at the end of a busy day, it's wonderful to unwind to.”
Kerrie Harrison
MOTHER
"My son Mark, who is now two, was born with a Congenital heart defect and at 11 weeks was flown to the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne for life-saving surgery.
While at the hospital pharmacy I noticed the Music for Dreaming album and decided to buy it to play for Mark while he was recovering. It was difficult to find something that could occupy him - he was too young for toys and we couldn't pick him up. The music was so soothing and relaxing, not only for Mark, but for the other children and parents in the ward, too. It seemed to calm Mark a lot, and it was something that helped us through a very trying time. Since returning to Adelaide I have continued playing the music to Mark, especially in the car. He now recognises it and it really does relax him.”
Deborah Signorelli, SA
MOTHER
“My husband Rob bought me Music for Dreaming while I was pregnant and I would often play it during that time. When our son, Bryce was born, he suffered terribly with colic. We used the music nightly during those first difficult months. If anything, it probably calmed Rob and I more than it did Bryce - and for us that was wonderful. The calmer we were, the calmer Bryce seemed to be.”
Carol Garland, SA
MOTHER
“Music has always been part of my son, Lachie's life. Even when I was pregnant I would play soothing music. When Lachie was born 14 weeks premature, I continued to play music to him the whole time he was in an incubator at hospital. The effects were amazing - as soon as the music started you could see him relax, his blood pressure would come down and his heart rate would lower. After I left hospital I came across the Music for Dreaming tape. It is so much better than anything I had used previously. Lachie had always responded well to music, but even more so to this music. It is just so beautiful and calming. I now play Music for Dreaming every night to soothe Lachie off to sleep. I also play it when he is in the car, or whenever he is grizzly. Lachie is such a calm and settled baby I put that down to music having played such a major part in his life.”
Rebecca Smith, SA
COLLEGE OF THERAPEUTIC RESOURCES
"I have used Music for Dreaming as background music for college students completing class-healing sessions, and for meditation classes. The music is most beneficial for healing and relaxation. I look forward to your next album."
Cheryl Fletcher MM
New Zealand
CHILDCARE CENTRE
“We use the music extensively in our centres. Our centres are focussed on creating a home and family environment from babies through to five year olds. So much noise and activity in child care that the music has a soothing and quietening effect on the environment where the children are. We have found the music soothing and quieten the children down. It only takes a few minutes and they are lying quietly before they drift off to sleep, it settles the staff too. It is a very peaceful tape for all of us. It creates a quiet, peaceful, relaxed atmosphere for the children and the staff.”
CHILDCARE CENTRE IN AUCKLAND NEW ZEALAND
EARLY CHILDHOOD COUNCIL
“All around New Zealand early childhood professionals are discovering the benefits of using this beautiful music to assist infants and young children with the transition from their home environment and vice versa. The feedback about the use of Music for Dreaming as a means to bridge this gap has been overwhelmingly positive from both the centre staff and parents alike.”
NEW ZEALAND - Sue Thorne, Chief Executive
THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION
OF INFANT MASSAGE
“This is the best lullaby tape I have ever heard. I use it with adults too. Parents need to be educated to create an appropriate and peaceful environment for baby's massage at bedtime, and as a daily discipline. Music for Dreaming should play a major part in that daily discipline, as it has such a calming influence on baby's entire nervous system, and in turn, would provide restful sleep for the whole family.”
NEW ZEALAND - Peggy Dawson
CHAMPION EARLY INTERVENTION CENTRE
“The Champion Centre staff have found Music for Dreaming helps create a calming environment for both babies and their parents during therapy sessions. Music For Dreaming appears to help babies become more neurologically organised and regulated. We have used it to facilitate sleeping and feeding.”
BURWOOD HOSPITAL CHRISTCHURCH NZ - Dr Patricia Champion Mbe Phd, Clinical Director
ROYAL NEW ZEALAND PLUNKET SOCIETY
“As child health nursing staff, we emphasis to parents the importance of routine and predictability when settling a baby to sleep. We have found Music for Dreaming a most useful tool in Family Centre work. The music has a calming effect on most babies / children. It is fascinating to watch a restless crying baby settle to the music.
Because of the environment we work in often being busy with people coming and going, telephones ringing and other noise it is interesting to note the calming effect the music has on mother's as well.”
Evelyn Tritschler, Plunket Nurse
USA
INTERNATIONAL LOVING TOUCH
“Music for Dreaming was introduced, in conjunction with infant massage sensory stimulation, to developmentally delayed newborns in Romanian orphanages. The results were outstanding! The babies love the music and responded to the soothing sounds in a very pleasurable and positive way.”
PORTLAND, OREGAN, USA Diana Moore, MS, LMT
FOUNDATION UNIVERSITY OF IOWA HOSPITAL
“I have used it quite often in my clinical music therapy practice at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. I primarily work with premature and critically ill infants and have found that this CD is appropriate to use for its constant dynamics and voicing, lack of time between tracks and steady tempo. It has been well received by families and is the best CD in its entirety that I have come across to use with premature infants.”
DEPARTMENT OF REHABILITATION THERAPY/CLINICS IOWA, USA
Deanna Abromeit, MT-BC
MENTAL HEALTH COUNSELLOR
“I am a mental health counsellor in the state of Washington, USA and have implemented Music for Dreaming in mother infant groups at a paediatric clinic, which focuses on the emotional needs of mother and baby. This is a beautiful, intoxicating, well conceived CD, along with being a contribution.”
WASHINGTON, USA Diana Mandell
BLYTHDALE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL
“The CD was wonderful and very well received. Three infants who were ventilator dependent were chosen by me, the doctor on the unit, and nursing staff to receive "Music for Dreaming" for 15-minute intervals. The infants that received the music in this pilot study did very well. As the music was played their heart rate went down and the oxygen levels went up. Your CD is definitely assisting in the process - again, thank-you.”
VALHALLA, NEW YORK Jennifer Dover
UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON HOSPITALS
“Other hospitals that have implemented the "Music for Dreaming" into their specialised programs are; Evergreen Hospital, Kirkland Hospital, Washington Hospital. These hospitals have all received national recognition for their baby friendly programs.”
Nursing Department
United Kingdom
ST MARY'S HOSPITAL
“We have used "Music for Dreaming" in our neonatal nurseries and found it to be helpful for soothing babies who are distressed. We like the quality of the sound, the smooth transitions from tune to tune, and the way the rhythm fits comfortable physiological patterns.”
WINNICOTT BABY UNIT, LONDON Inga Warren