Building Your Baby’s Brain One Joy-Filled Moment at a Time
You don’t need a background in neuroscience to support your baby’s brain.
You don’t need to become a therapist, or stock your living room with specialty toys.
You certainly don’t need to do more to be enough.
If you’re here, you’re already doing the most powerful thing: you’re paying attention.
Every time you hum a lullaby during a diaper change, or sway gently while holding your baby close, you're offering more than comfort — you're helping to build the very architecture of your child’s developing brain.
In fact, some of the most profound support for your baby’s confidence, happiness, and intelligence doesn’t come from complicated programs or high-tech tools.
It comes from you — your voice, your gaze, your presence, your rhythm.
As a certified Anat Baniel Method® NeuroMovement® practitioner here in Portland, OR, I’ve worked with many families who come in thinking they’re behind, or not doing “enough.”
What I want them to know (and what I want to offer you here) is that your ordinary, everyday interactions are extraordinary acts of brain-building.
This blog is here to gently guide you into the science and soul of something very simple: how simple songs and gentle movements when done together, with love, can shape your child’s brain for a lifetime of learning, connection, and ease.
🧠 Connection First: The Brain Grows Through Relationship
Before a baby learns to talk, crawl, or sing along to the alphabet song, they are learning you.
Your voice, your facial expressions, your rhythms are your child’s first guide to communication.
You are the sounds, sights, emotions and movement that help them to start making sense of the world.
From the very beginning, your baby’s developing brain is wired to grow through connection.
When you sing softly while making eye contact, or gently bounce your baby to the rhythm of a familiar song, you’re not just soothing. You are co-regulating.
That means your baby’s brain and nervous system are syncing with yours, creating a felt sense of safety and love that literally shapes the brain’s structure.
This is the foundation of secure attachment — something research shows to be one of the strongest predictors of lifelong emotional well-being.
And it doesn’t require perfection. It requires presence.
🎶 Music as Guidance for the Growing Brain
When we sing to our babies — especially familiar songs with rhythm and repetition — we’re doing far more than entertaining them.
We’re helping their brains organize and grow.
Rhythm supports motor planning and coordination.
Melody and pitch stimulate the auditory system, helping lay the groundwork for language.
Repetition with small variations keeps the brain alert and flexible — one of the key ingredients in learning.
I often tell parents: you don’t need to be a great singer. You just need to be you. Your baby’s brain doesn’t care about vocal technique — it responds to the emotion, the rhythm, and the relationship.
And yes, those little verses you sing again and again? They’re not just sweet — they’re neurodevelopmental gold.
🌱 Gentle Movement: Inviting the Brain to Learn
While many developmental programs aim to teach babies specific skills (like crawling or sitting up), NeuroMovement® takes a different approach.
Instead of pushing your child toward milestones, we invite their brain to discover how to organize the body in new ways — through gentle, attentive movement.
That might look like:
Rolling one leg slightly side to side while softly humming
Gently shifting your baby’s weight while singing a familiar verse
Pausing and observing their spontaneous responses, then mirroring them
These aren’t exercises. They’re invitations. The brain learns not through force or repetition, but through variation, safety, and awareness.
Even the smallest motion — a shift in weight, a new turn of the head — provides fresh information the brain can use to build stronger, more coordinated neural pathways.
💛 Emotion, Regulation, and Preventing Overwhelm
The beauty of combining song and gentle movement is that it supports the whole child — not just motor development, but emotional safety and regulation too.
When movement and music are offered in a slow, rhythmic, and responsive way, they activate the vagus nerve, a key player in emotional balance and stress regulation.
That means:
Less overwhelm
More resilience
A stronger capacity for joy, curiosity, and connection
In this way, these simple moments can also act as early trauma prevention — not through shielding a child from every challenge, but by giving them the internal tools to move through challenge with support.
✨ A Simple Song & Movement Ritual You Can Try Today
Here’s a gentle, 5-minute routine that blends movement, song, and connection. Use it exactly as written, or adapt it based on your baby’s mood and your own intuition.
What to Do
Why It Helps
0:00–1:00 Face your baby, soften your gaze, and take two or three slow belly breaths together
Why? Regulates your shared nervous system and signals safety
1:00–2:00 Hum a familiar tune (like "Twinkle, Twinkle") while swaying very gently
Why? Combines vestibular input and rhythm, soothing and organizing the brain
2:00–3:00 Gently trace your baby’s legs and arm with your soft touch. Sing “here is your arm, here is your leg”
Why? Creates awareness of the body for your baby. I like to call it body-mapping
3:00–4:00 Slow your movement and whisper-sing a song while rolling baby’s hips just slightly
Why? Blends soft voice with gentle proprioceptive input
4–5 End quietly with eye contact, a smile, and a playful “we did it!”
Finishes with connection, delight, and positive emotional tagging
🌈 The Smallest Things Are Often the Most Powerful
You can do this every day but if you miss a day - just start fresh.
You don’t need to get it “right.”
You just need to stay present, curious, and open to connection.
Whether your child is developing typically, or you’re navigating medical complexity, genetic conditions, or developmental delays, these gentle, song-filled moments are never wasted.
They’re doing deep, quiet work that builds the scaffolding for learning, connection, speech, regulation, and confidence.
📍Want to Learn More?
If this resonates with you and you’d like more personalized support, I offer group Simple Songs & Gentle Moves classes on-line, private Simple Songs & Gentle Moves sessions in Portland, OR, as well as virtual private lessons for families around the world.
💛 Each session is individualized, playful, and developmentally informed
💛 We’ll explore ways to bring more connection, regulation, and ease into your everyday routines
💛 Your first Discovery Call is free — a no-pressure space to ask questions and see if we’re a good fit
✍️ About the Author
Phoebe MacRae is a certified Anat Baniel Method® NeuroMovement® practitioner, singer, and movement specialist based in Portland, Oregon. She supports babies, children with disabilities, and their families through a blend of brain-based movement, song, and emotional connection.
Her practice, Brilliant Movement, is rooted in the belief that gentle, respectful presence is one of the most powerful forces for growth — in childhood and beyond.
Learn more at www.brilliantmovement.net