Our Baby's First Gadget: LULLABELLY PRENATAL MUSICAL BELT

According to BabyCenter.com, some studies show that fetuses can hear and react to sound by moving but that no one knows what those movements exactly mean. The website also says that while kids get smarter in math when exposed to music, these studies are focused on kids or older children, not fetuses. Still, there are some who say that newborns can recognize music their parents played for them when they were in the womb and even perk up or fall asleep when they hear a familiar song. However, some psychologists believe that these are purely anecdotal conclusions and aren't based on true research.

What then is the proven connection between music and the baby in the womb? The answer to that is that there's no proven link but that it is a bonding moment between the mom-to-be and the baby. 

BabyCenter.com further says that playing music to the baby in the womb must be done with caution and in moderation. Moms should not push too hard in creating a genius. It says that we should play music because we enjoy it and not because we're trying to make our baby smarter.

Because I love music and I want to bond with our baby, I decided to get a prenatal musical belt called Lullabelly. We ordered it online via Amazon.com and we had it delivered to the New York office of Johnny Air. In turn, Johnny Air-NY shipped it to their branch in SM Megamall and that's where we picked up our Lullabelly package.

Lullabelly has been featured in NBC News and Fox News and there are a lot of good reviews about it. Our package came at the right time, i.e., when we're on our 20th week. It's just about the time when the baby can hear noises from outside the womb.

The package came with the belt which is of soft material. It is lightweight, machine washable, and easy to wear. There's a large pocket inside where you can put in the portable music player or other accessories. I just use my iPhone 4S and it fits just right. It also comes with earphones and a splitter so that you can also listen to the music. The earphones have built-in control dials to adjust the volume. They say that when playing music to the baby, the volume should not be louder than 65 decibels which is similar to the volume of any background music played in a music store, or in terms of household sounds, it should not be louder than the sound of a vacuum cleaner or a hair dryer.

As for the music, I have in my playlist the songs from Lovely Baby Mozart and I use the Lullabelly daily for about 30-45 minutes. I haven't experienced anything unusual but that it's a relaxing routine which is perfect around bedtime. I started feeling my baby's kicks as early as the 16th week but they became more regular beginning my 22nd week. I can't tell for sure if it's the Lullabelly working because I read that fetal movement becomes more defined and frequent around the 20th week.

Regardless of whether Lullabelly actually works or not, I'm just happy bonding with my baby through music. I just trust that the reviews and testimonials about Lullabelly are true and that they also get to benefit our baby.

What about you? What are your prenatal gadgets? Do you also use musical belts? Please share your story :)