Across demographics and recent history, most parents sing to their infants and toddlers daily

Music is universally prevalent in human society and is a salient component of the lives of young families. Here, we studied the frequency of singing and playing recorded music in the home using surveys of parents with infants (N = 945). We found that most parents sing to their infant on a daily basis, and the frequency of infant-directed singing is unrelated to parents' income or ethnicity. Two reliable individual differences emerged, however: (1) fathers sing less than mothers, and (2) as infants grow older, parents sing less. Moreover, the laer effect of child age was specific to singing and was not reflected in reports of the frequency of playing recorded music. Last, we meta-analyzed reports of the frequency of infant-directed singing and found lile change in its frequency over the last 30 years, despite substantial changes in the technological environment in the home. These findings, consistent with theories of the psychological functions of music, in general, and infant-directed singing, in particular, demonstrate the everyday nature of music in infancy.