Taking DHA vitamins and listening to Classical Music while Pregnant

[Pupstar]

do you guys think this will help develop and increase the chances of having a really intelligent And well behaved baby?

[luckytwenty]

It can't hurt, but I think reading to your child early & often, being supportive and loving, asking lots of questions and being encouraging when your child communicates, etc. is really what makes a difference over time.

[Katigre]

I think taking fish oil (high quality) is important for healthy brain development during pg and bf'ing (especially the last trimester of pg and the first 6 mos of bf'ing). Omega-3 intake during pg has been associated with better memory in the baby which is super helpful as they go through life. I think the goal should be healthy development vs. 'intelligent' since that is such a variable thing anyway.

I wouldn't listen to Mozart in hopes of having a super genius baby. Singing to your baby and doing silly rhymes together is far more beneficial. Reading aloud to your kids is also HUGE - absolutely HUGE for their development.

[Pupstar]

I think taking fish oil (high quality) is important for healthy brain development during pg and bf'ing (especially the last trimester of pg and the first 6 mos of bf'ing). Omega-3 intake during pg has been associated with better memory in the baby which is super helpful as they go through life. I think the goal should be healthy development vs. 'intelligent' since that is such a variable thing anyway.

I wouldn't listen to Mozart in hopes of having a super genius baby. Singing to your baby and doing silly rhymes together is far more beneficial. Reading aloud to your kids is also HUGE - absolutely HUGE for their development.


when you say "high quality" fish oil do you have one in mind yoou can reccommend? I bought the rainbowlight prenatl vitamins with dha.

[Katigre]

I would take a separate fish oil (the DHA in prenatals is usually plant-based instead which I don't feel is as effective) - just pick a brand that specifies that it is molecularly distilled since that removes toxins. We've been happy with Nordic Naturals, Carlsons, and Trader Joe's but there are plenty of other reputable ones out there :).

[bostonsmama]

I've Read a lot of interesting articles about mercury in Omega 3 fish oil caps. The Best ones with the least mercury are very $$$. I certainly couldn't afford them. I take Natures Pride along with eating salmon & canola oil, Rich in Omega -3s, which is where DHA comes from. I figured that my mom ate no such Things while expecting me & I turned out gifted in many things...so YMMV with DHA & classical Music.

[Gena]

I've Read a lot of interesting articles about mercury in Omega 3 fish oil caps. The Best ones with the least mercury are very $$$. I certainly couldn't afford them. I take Natures Pride along with eating salmon & canola oil, Rich in Omega -3s, which is where DHA comes from. I figured that my mom ate no such Things while expecting me & I turned out gifted in many things...so YMMV with DHA & classical Music.

Look for Omega 3's that are molecularly distilled to avoid mercury. I used to give DS Coromega and you can get a 90 day supply at The Vitamin Shoppe for a little over $20 (if you buy it at the B&M store, ask them to match their on-line price).

[Pupstar]

I've Read a lot of interesting articles about mercury in Omega 3 fish oil caps. The Best ones with the least mercury are very $$$. I certainly couldn't afford them. I take Natures Pride along with eating salmon & canola oil, Rich in Omega -3s, which is where DHA comes from. I figured that my mom ate no such Things while expecting me & I turned out gifted in many things...so YMMV with DHA & classical Music.

DHA + Mozart = Baby Engineer :applause:

[Edensmum]

Taking DHA supplements made by a formula company is just a marketing ploy to get more money from pregnant women and new moms. I do think a good high quality supplement can be good for you. OmegaMOM is a good one.

[sste]

There is no evidence base for classical music improving IQ . . . either in pregnancy or babyhood or childhood.

DHA there is an emerging body of research suggesting its helpfulness, particularly for adults and children in a variety of areas including speech, cardiac health, anxiety, etc. Presumably if it is good for adults and children it also good for a developing fetus.

My understanding is that there is very little mercury in most commercial fish oil pills (they will give you a free of mercury up to x amount figure on the bottle). My OB OK's the costco ones for me; we use the nordic natural gummies for DS because he thinks they are candy. :)

[brittone2]

Agreeing that the music concept is not backed in any good studies.

I took DHA (Nordic Naturals) during my pregnancies. I'm also a big believer in getting D levels checked. My midwives are routinely checking pregnant moms now as there is growing evidence that d3 levels in pregnancy may really affect health long term for the child. They also mentioned women with low d3 rates seem to have more c/s, which I hadn't heard. Went home and searched, and there was at least one study indicating this. When my levels were checked they were low and I was already supplementing with 2000iu/day for a year, and I lived in the sunny southeast (and I got tested in August so had the benefit of summer sun going into my test).

Low maternal d3 is being linked to babies who develop more asthma for example. There are possible links to autoimmune disease, etc.

Something to consider getting tested for and a supplement I'd consider in pregnancy. eta: i'd urge getting levels tested first and then determining whether a supplement is needed. Many, many, many women are deficient these days. I thought I'd at least be in range (since I was already supplementing, I get outside a lot, I lived in the southeast, etc but I was still a bit low, and certainly nowhere near optimal).

eta: low maternal d has also been linked to increased numbers of premature births.

[brgnmom]

do you guys think this will help develop and increase the chances of having a really intelligent And well behaved baby?

possibly...but I do think that intelligence is primarily influenced by genetics (parental genes of the baby) & social conditioning factors. Sure, the DHA supplementation and listening to classical music may help to some degree, but don't expect an Albert Einstein from those factors alone.

[luckytwenty]

possibly...but I do think that intelligence is primarily influenced by genetics (parental genes of the baby) & social conditioning factors. Sure, the DHA supplementation and listening to classical music may help to some degree, but don't expect an Albert Einstein from those factors alone.

:yeahthat:

I also sometimes wonder about these studies if it's just that the parents who "do what they're told to do" (ie take the prenates their docs recommend, care enough to pay attention to studies about classical music, are so bonded with baby in utero that they'd go to such lengths) are for a variety of socio-economic reasons more likely to produce children who do better on IQ tests.

Having nursed one child and formula fed another one--and both of them ending up with high IQs, no allergies or other chronic health problems--I also wonder about the breastfeeding studies. Women who nurse in this country are more likely to be educated, and I think it makes sense that the children of educated parents are going to score better on tests, and perhaps even have better overall health records, as some chronic problems like allergy and asthma are unfortunately linked to living in older, poorly maintained homes.

[moonsky]

possibly...but I do think that intelligence is primarily influenced by genetics (parental genes of the baby) & social conditioning factors. Sure, the DHA supplementation and listening to classical music may help to some degree, but don't expect an Albert Einstein from those factors alone.

:yeahthat: That's what the ped who was a family's friend told me. Also, the DHA wasn't approved by FDA when I was pregnant. So, I skipped and ate food with high in DHA instead, i.e, flaxseed, egg.

[Myira]

I've Read a lot of interesting articles about mercury in Omega 3 fish oil caps. The Best ones with the least mercury are very $$$. I certainly couldn't afford them. I take Natures Pride along with eating salmon & canola oil, Rich in Omega -3s, which is where DHA comes from. I figured that my mom ate no such Things while expecting me & I turned out gifted in many things...so YMMV with DHA & classical Music.

So, which are the best or high quality brands?

Also, eating flax seeds, eggs with omega-3s and avocado are other options.

[brittone2]

:yeahthat:


Having nursed one child and formula fed another one--and both of them ending up with high IQs, no allergies or other chronic health problems--I also wonder about the breastfeeding studies. Women who nurse in this country are more likely to be educated, and I think it makes sense that the children of educated parents are going to score better on tests, and perhaps even have better overall health records, as some chronic problems like allergy and asthma are unfortunately linked to living in older, poorly maintained homes.

Many breastfeeding studies do make an effort to correct for maternal education level for obvious reasons.

[Katigre]

Having nursed one child and formula fed another one--and both of them ending up with high IQs, no allergies or other chronic health problems--I also wonder about the breastfeeding studies. Women who nurse in this country are more likely to be educated, and I think it makes sense that the children of educated parents are going to score better on tests, and perhaps even have better overall health records, as some chronic problems like allergy and asthma are unfortunately linked to living in older, poorly maintained homes.
The 'higher intelligence' thing with bf'ing is only valid for people with a specific subset of genes - not everyone in the population. If you google you'll find that info (it came out last year I believe) and IIRC it raises IQ by 4-10 points or something like that. I would never use the 'it makes my baby smarter' argument about breastfeeding at all b/c I don't find those results super significant or motivating. I think 'intelligence' is highly overrated (I say that as someone with a 136-140 IQ) because being smarter is not the best thing in life IMO - being emotionally well-adjusted, having a close community, and knowing your strengths/weaknesses so your job in life is something a good fit for you is what is much more important - I'd rather lose 20 IQ points and have those things than gain 20 IQ points and lose them.

In terms of the health stuff, that has been studied at the molecular level and it's pretty clear that a lot of the substances in breastmilk actively fight against infection in the baby's digestive tract - but that doesn't mean that every ff child is sickly and every bf child is healthy. They track the general population which means there is variation either way - and for those who are most vulnerable (for whatever reason - genetics, bad environment, exposure to some terrible germ) that is where the protection makes a significant difference. If you're in a home of highly educated parents of a higher socioeconomic status then the health differences are much smaller than if you're living in poverty in the developing world. There is also the issue of long-term health risks/benefits with things like cholesterol, heart disease, etc...

HTH!

[lovebebes]

One thing to remember is that DHA found in fish oils can thin your blood-which may be of concern to some. I have heard of women stopping DHA in their third trimester for this reason..

[luckytwenty]

- I'd rather lose 20 IQ points and have those things than gain 20 IQ points and lose them.

Oh, I agree completely. But I do remember when I had difficulty nursing my oldest, being worried that lack of breastmilk was going to prevent him from reaching his potential--and then being relieved when he turned out to be fine. I know when you're pregnant with your first kid, you want the absolute best for him or her--and I think it takes a few years before you realize that it wasn't what you ate or what you fed your baby that made him the person he is (or she is) but all those times when you agreed to read The Runaway Bunny AGAIN and when he said, "lee, lee!" and you said, "That IS a pretty leaf! What color is it?" and then tickled him with it.

Sorry to get so long winded, but I guess that's my point--that how you parent ends up determining how your kid turns out so much more than well...than fish oil does. Whether you're talking about intelligence or adaptability or sensitivity or happiness or whatever.

[schrocat]

I listen to classical music because I enjoy it, not because of it making my baby more intelligent.

[Pupstar]

I listen to classical music because I enjoy it, not because of it making my baby more intelligent.


So you don"t believe in the "Mozart Effect"?

[swissair81]

My kids are smart enough. It's called genes. The conclusions are so inconclusive, I just listen to the music that makes me happy. Next article for neurotic mothers to be?

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1281386/

An enhancement of spatial-temporal reasoning performance after listening to Mozart's music for 10 minutes has been reported by several, but not all, researchers. Even in the studies with positive results the enhancement is small and lasts about 12 minutes. The effect varies between individuals and depends upon the spatial tasks chosen; general intelligence is not affected. Rather more impressively, there is a beneficial effect on some patients with epilepsy. The results are not specific to Mozart's compositions but the exact musical criteria required have not been completely defined.
The practical use of such observations is as yet uncertain, especially since many of the experiments relate only to short listening periods to Mozart's piano sonata K448. More studies are necessary, involving longer-term exposure to Mozart and to a wide selection of other composers, before the effect can be fully assessed.

[Fairy]

My kids are smart enough. It's called genes. The conclusions are so inconclusive, I just listen to the music that makes me happy. Next article for neurotic mothers to be?

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1281386/

An enhancement of spatial-temporal reasoning performance after listening to Mozart's music for 10 minutes has been reported by several, but not all, researchers. Even in the studies with positive results the enhancement is small and lasts about 12 minutes. The effect varies between individuals and depends upon the spatial tasks chosen; general intelligence is not affected. Rather more impressively, there is a beneficial effect on some patients with epilepsy. The results are not specific to Mozart's compositions but the exact musical criteria required have not been completely defined.
The practical use of such observations is as yet uncertain, especially since many of the experiments relate only to short listening periods to Mozart's piano sonata K448. More studies are necessary, involving longer-term exposure to Mozart and to a wide selection of other composers, before the effect can be fully assessed.


Totally agree. Not that I don't think there are alot of benefits to listening to Mozart beginning at the youngest of ages, mainly having a high likelihood of having good taste in music.

[missym]

There was just an interesting story about this on NPR. They interviewed the author of the original study, and her work has been taken completely out of context.



Now Rauscher is quick to emphasize that the test she gave measured only a certain kind of spatial intelligence. "It's very important to note that we did not find effects for general intelligence," Rauscher says, "just for this one aspect of intelligence. It's a small gain and it doesn't last very long."
In fact the cognitive gains produced by the so-called "Mozart Effect" lasted only about 10 to 15 minutes.
And this is what Rauscher wrote in the single page paper she subsequently published in the journal Nature. She reported that listening to Mozart's music improved spatial reasoning for about 10 minutes.


"Generalizing these results to children is one of the first things that went wrong. Somehow or another the myth started exploding that children that listen to classical music from a young age will do better on the SAT, they'll score better on intelligence tests in general, and so forth."


http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128104580

[schrocat]

So you don"t believe in the "Mozart Effect"?

No... I don't. I do enjoy playing the piano though and the baby does kick more vigourously when I work through scales and Hanon exercises. I just listen to whatever I want to listen to.

[swissair81]

I think my high school math teacher told us that listening to classical music makes you smarter in math (or something). So we studied for our finals with classical music on. I think the results reflected our abilities quite well.

[BabyBearsMom]

No... I don't. I do enjoy playing the piano though and the baby does kick more vigourously when I work through scales and Hanon exercises. I just listen to whatever I want to listen to.

My baby loved terrible music and would kick and play whenever Linkin Park came on the radio (no offense if you are an LP fan). She turned out just fine in spite of it though!

[Pupstar]

I still say there' something to this. The researchers admit to a boost in intelligence for almost 10-15 minutes... what if they can figure out how to make it last longer, lets say forever?

[lizzywednesday]

My baby loved terrible music and would kick and play whenever Linkin Park came on the radio (no offense if you are an LP fan). She turned out just fine in spite of it though!

My DD would go nuts in utero whenever Rush came on the radio. (Yeah, I listen to "classic rock.")

To this day, if we have trouble getting her to settle, we play Spirit of Radio or Limelight and she's a happy girl.

What can I say? The kid's got a thing for Geddy Lee.


I still say there' something to this. The researchers admit to a boost in intelligence for almost 10-15 minutes... what if they can figure out how to make it last longer, lets say forever?

What we're all trying to say is you really shouldn't think of it as an isolated thing.

Exposing your kid to all kinds of experiences - music, artworks, books, trips to the zoo, etc. - helps shape his/her brain just as surely as your & your partner's genetics do. By exposing DC to Mozart, Bach, Beethoven, Rush, The Beatles and even Weird Al, you're creating connections in their little brains that build on each other to make a whole person.

In the meantime, love your baby and the rest will follow.

[schrocat]

My baby loved terrible music and would kick and play whenever Linkin Park came on the radio (no offense if you are an LP fan). She turned out just fine in spite of it though!

My first kid loved Depeche Mode and my second kid loved Liszt. I think my first kid might be smarter than the second. :D

[BabyBearsMom]

My first kid loved Depeche Mode and my second kid loved Liszt. I think my first kid might be smarter than the second. :D

The bad thing is that I may be more worried about her having bad taste in music than not being smart! :bag

[arivecchi]

If the genetics are not there, no amount of classical music will make them smarter.

I would actually rather have my kids like Linkin Park. :jammin: I would go berserk if my kids listened to classical music all the time! :rotflmao:

[brgnmom]

you know, my DH doesn't appreciate classical music at all, and would rather play hip hop music & rap instead, and he is an M.D.

Listening to classical music (in utero or after birth) and intelligence level do not necessarily have a causal relationship, from what I've seen.