White Noise for Baby Sleep

It’s 11:30 p.m. You’ve just gotten your baby down for the night, and a fire engine goes roaring down your street with sirens a blazing. Your baby is startled and wakes up crying. It takes you another 30 minutes to quiet her down and get her to fall back asleep. You're tired, she’s tired, and you’ve got to get up at 5 a.m. to go to work. Does this sound familiar?

It can be the exception instead of the rule if you start using white noise for getting your baby to sleep better.

You try your best. You tiptoe around the house. You tell everyone, “Be quiet, the baby’s sleeping.”

But it doesn’t matter. No matter how careful you are, and how quiet you try to make your house, something always seems to wake up baby. A barking dog, a ringing phone, or even a fire engine. Fortunately for you, there is a better solution.

White noise is not only great for stopping colicky babies from crying. It is also an excellent sound masker. The logic simply goes like this. If baby can’t hear the disruptive noises, chances are she will be able to sleep without being frightened by something that is quite beyond your control. If she can’t hear the barking dog, she won’t wake up.

Vacuum cleaner white noise, which sounds similar to the noise baby heard while in the womb, is an excellent choice for masking out disruptive noises. The ambient whooshing noise creates a sedate, calming, peaceful background for baby to sleep soundly.

And, it’s not just parents that rave about white noise and baby sleep. Pediatric experts, like those at the Mayo Clinic, suggest that using “white noise — such as a recording of ocean waves or the monotonous sound of an electric fan or vacuum cleaner” help baby to relax. (source: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/healthy-baby/PR00037).

Most parents will get a hold of a white noise cd and play it on continuous loop with a cd player while baby sleeps. Parents can either choose to fade out the white noise once baby gets into a better sleeping routine, or continue using it. Sometimes, adults continue using white noise to relax, sleep and concentrate better.

So, if you are that parent who is desperate to get your baby to sleep longer and better, do yourself a favor and give white noise a try.