Soothing background sounds help some babies get to sleep faster and stay asleep longer.
Here's what to know about white noise for your baby. White noise can be a great way to help soothe a newborn baby and make them feel safe and secure. It can be especially helpful for newborns who are easily startled by loud noises or sudden movements. White noise helps to mask those sudden noises, allowing babies to sleep more peacefully. It can also help to regulate a baby's breathing and heart rate, and may even help to reduce the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). Additionally, white noise can be a great way to calm a fussy baby and help them fall asleep faster.
Your little one came into the world accustomed to background sounds. If you're wondering why, remember that the womb can be a noisy place. While it provides a fair amount of padding, your baby in utero was surrounded by ambient sounds like the beating of your heart and the air moving through your lungs for nine months.
No wonder, then, that so many newborns and babies find a low hum comforting and need white noise to fall asleep. White noise the steady, unobtrusive kind that masks other noises, like sirens and barking dogs can also help adults doze off. Here's what you need to know about using white noise soothe your child to sleep.
What are the pros and cons of using white noise and other baby sound machines?
Pros
The pros of using white noise for babies is that it soothes them and can help them get the sleep they need. The National Institute of Health, White Noise and Sleep Induction, the study of newborns found that 80 percent exposed to white noise dozed off within five minutes, while only 25 percent of those without the background noise fell asleep as quickly.
Getting babies all the sleep they need isn't always easy, as all new parents know. Newborns up to 3 months old need to sleep about 14 to 17 hours a day and older babies need 12 to 16 hours (including naps). If a white noise machine can help keep your baby (and you) happy and well-rested, it's a great investment.
Cons
The cons are fairly straightforward. Some babies simply don't like the sound of white noise, so you may have to rely on other ways to get your little one down. Others like it so much that they become dependent and unable to sleep unless white noise is droning in the background
When should I stop using white noise sounds?
White noise sounds can be incredibly helpful during the difficult stages of your baby's life, especially in the first few months when he's battling sleep, or if he shows signs of colic. But you don't want to get into the habit of exposing your child to white noise all night, every night, for the same reason you wouldn't feed him one food for his entire childhood.
Babies aren't born good sleepers; it's a learned skill. If you've got a white noise machine humming 24/7, that could get in the way of your baby learning to self-soothe and nod off without help.
Furthermore, as his sleep habits evolve, you'll want to build in sleep schedules and bedtime routines that teach him to sleep more independently.
White noise can be a useful tool to help newborns and babies get the quality sleep they need. It's safe, affordable, and won't hurt your baby's hearing unless it's misused. But it's not something you or your baby should use as a crutch forever. Eventually, even the fussiest baby needs to learn to fall and stay asleep on his own.
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