We’ve all seen babies cry. Usually, this is a signal that they want to eat, be held, or be changed. And as parents know all too well, sometimes they just cry for no reason.
But this video of a sweet little baby tearing up at the sound of his mother singing will probably make you cry too.
The video starts with the mother softly singing American contemporary Christian music singer Chris Tomlin’s “Good Good Father.”
They baby smiles as his mother sings to him while he has a big old blob of green peas on his adorable little chin. But as the song reaches an emotional climax you start to see little tears form in the baby eyes. The baby begins to pout as the tears fall and begin to stream down his tiny face.
It’s the sweetest thing you may have ever seen.
According to Psychology Today, what you’re witnessing is an example of emotional contagion. Emotional contagion occurs when humans absorb and reflect the high-level emotions around them. It is an essential human response necessary for social functioning.
This is why babies usually cry when they are around other crying babies or smile when others smile at them. Conversely, this is why babies of depressed mothers and fathers tend to have a blank stare.
Babies start to perform a “social smile” as early as one or two months of age when they are smiled at which is a form of emotional synchrony, or becoming in sync with others emotions to ensure a seamless social interaction.
It’s likely that the mother began her singing her song with a happy and smiling face, which is why the baby starts out happily watching his mother sing. As the song comes to an emotional climax, it’s likely that the mother’s facial expressions mimic the emotions in the song which the baby then reproduced.
The baby is probably reacting to the facial expressions his mother is making rather than the beauty of her song.
Psychology Today reports that singing helps parents bond with their children and helps to maintain the infant’s gaze and attention which promotes emotional synchrony and is an effective therapy for preterm infants.
Some of our earliest memories are of our mothers and fathers singing to us. This little baby’s memory will be immortalized on YouTube forever and you can watch the adorable footage below.
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