Little Voices, Big Lessons

Watch a baby babble, a toddler hum while playing, or a child sing nonsense songs to themselves — and you’re witnessing something profound. Long before formal language develops, children instinctively know how to use their voices to feel safe, calm, and connected. It’s not just cute; it’s biology. And it might be time we started following their lead.

The prevailing narrative has long relegated music and vocal expression to the realm of performance or entertainment. But when we step back and really listen — to the rhythms of childhood — we start to see a different picture. The joyful noise children make isn’t random. It’s regulating. It’s intelligent. And it’s powered by one of the most important nerves in the human body: the vagus nerve.

At the Creative Women’s Association (CWA), we’re continually exploring how ancient wisdom and modern science converge in practices that restore balance. The vagus nerve is central to that story. It’s the main highway of the parasympathetic nervous system — responsible for slowing heart rate, calming the body, and bringing us back into safety after stress. And here’s the kicker: vocalization activates it. Singing, humming, cooing, even babbling — they all stimulate vagal tone and help regulate internal states.

And children? They just do it naturally. A 2016 study published in Current Biology found that fluctuations in an infant’s autonomic nervous system — governed in large part by the vagus nerve — directly drive their vocalizations. That is, babies aren’t just making sounds randomly. Their bodies are guiding them to vocalize as a way to soothe, connect, and regulate. That’s not just science — that’s wisdom in action.

We often talk about needing to teach kids how to calm down, how to manage big feelings, how to cope with stress. But maybe they’re the ones reminding us how. When they make noise, they’re not being disruptive — they’re being brilliant. Their little bodies are doing exactly what’s needed to stay regulated. And as adults, especially in an increasingly dysregulated world, we could learn something from that.

So instead of silencing ourselves, maybe we need to hum again. Sing nonsense songs. Make silly sounds. Chant, giggle, sigh loudly, or belt out our favourite tune with no one watching. This isn’t regression — it’s repair. Sound is the body’s built-in therapy, and kids are living proof that it works.

So yes — little voices really do carry big lessons. They’re showing us how to come home to ourselves, one sound at a time.