Entrainment in Pediatric Care: Understanding How Music Therapy Calms Families

As I reflect on Music Therapy Month, one conversation stands out most. Laurie Park, who was Rona’s music therapist, and I had a long conversation (this is the much shorter version) where we talked about concepts in music therapy that helped me better understand my own journey.

One key topic? Entrainment.

Laurie was there to help Rona, yes, but she was also helping me. My vitals were entrained to Rona’s. When she was in distress, I was in distress. It is a concept any mother understands — think back to the infant days. Studies using brain imaging and behavioral measures show that mothers’ brains and bodies activate rapidly and robustly when their own babies cry, highlighting just how hard-wired this response is (1, 2, 3). 

When Laurie would bring in an instrument or a drum, she would bring both of our vitals back down – respirations slowed, heart rates slowed, and our moods improved. Research in pediatric and neonatal settings has documented similar patterns: Music therapy can help reduce heart rate and respiratory rate, improve oxygen saturation, and decrease observed signs of stress and discomfort in children with chronic and critical illness (4, 5). 

We even managed to get Rona through total body radiation without intubation or sedation with a tonal drum and me reading some of her favorite books over the speaker. That experience mirrors what the literature describes: music can offer a nonpharmacologic way to support children through painful or frightening procedures by providing structure, distraction, and co‑regulation with a trusted adult (6).

Jessica Radetsky from Broadway Hearts shared similar examples in her interview: children and parents in distress, calming down enough for the care team to do their work and for parents to get back to the essential work of parenting a child in crisis. Music therapy is often described as supporting the “family unit,” not just the identified patient, which aligns with what so many parents intuitively feel at the bedside (7).

And there is science that backs this up:

• Studies of music therapy in pediatric oncology and other hospital settings have found that music‑based interventions can reduce anxiety, pain, and emotional distress, and improve coping behaviors during treatment and procedures (6,7).

• Randomized and pilot trials of active music engagement with children and families have shown benefits for children’s affect and coping, and have highlighted parents’ perception that music helps them feel more connected and better able to support their child (7). 

• Work in early childhood and neonatal care has also explored how shared musical experiences can support bonding and co‑regulation between caregivers and infants, even if effects on parent mental health outcomes are modest, reinforcing the idea that caregivers are central partners in music therapy rather than observers (8).

  
  

Parents are such an integral part of a child’s care team that treating a child truly means treating a family. For families navigating serious illness, music therapy is a critical tool for regulating bodies and emotions together, so care teams can do their work and parents can continue doing the most important work of all: loving and protecting their child.

References 

1. Bornstein, M. H., Putnick, D. L., Rigo, P., Esposito, G., Swain, J. E., Suwalsky, J. T. D., & Collins, W. A. (2017). Neurobiology of culturally common maternal responses to infant crying. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 114(45), E9465–E9473.

2. Musser, E. D., Kaiser-Laurent, H., & Ablow, J. C. (2012). The missing link: Mothers’ neural response to infant cry related to infant attachment behaviors. Child Development, 83(5), 1657–1670.

3. Paul, P. (2020, August 12). Why your brain short-circuits when a kid cries. The New York Times.

4. Mok, E., Wong, K. Y., Wai, Y. F., & Chung, B. P. M. (2022). Effects of music therapy on vital signs in children with chronic diseases: A randomized controlled trial. Acta Biomedica, 93(2), e2022090.

5. Visioli, A., Pittaluga, D., & Comi, E. (2025). Music therapy in pediatric and neonatal intensive care units: A review. Acta Biomedica, 96(4), e2025171.

6. Nguyen, T. N., Nilsson, S., Hellström, A. L., & Bengtson, A. (2007). Music therapy to reduce pain and anxiety in children with cancer undergoing lumbar puncture: A randomized clinical trial. Journal of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, 29(10), 623–628.

7. Robb, S. L., Burns, D. S., Stegenga, K. A., Haut, P. R., Monahan, P. O., Meza, J., Stump, T. E., Cherven, B. O., Docherty, S. L., Hendricks-Ferguson, V., Hendricks-Ferguson, V. L., Patel, S. K., & Haase, J. E. (2017). Randomized clinical trial of therapeutic music video intervention for resilience outcomes in adolescents and young adults undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplant: A report from the Children’s Oncology Group. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 42(2), 208–221.

8. Arnon, S., Litmanovitz, I., Dolfin, T., Regev, R., Bauer, S., Boyko, V., Ulanovsky, I., Maayan-Metzger, A., & Wielunsky, E. (2023). Effect of music therapy on parent–infant bonding among infants born preterm: A randomized clinical trial. JAMA Network Open, 6(4), e239999.