Sleep. It’s desired by mothers everywhere, yet fought by infants to the nth degree. We joke, almost hysterically, as we navigate our new world with very heavy eyelids, that one day our children will sleep til noon, avoiding teenage responsibilities and household chores. We hang tight to hope — hope that one day we might come to know what a full night’s sleep feels like. And thus, we read. We read every book offering tips and tricks to getting a baby to sleep through the night or go down easily for a nap, and we implement every trick with high expectations. While using infant swings, regulating room temperatures, designing a routine, and installing blackout curtains can certainly help, we found one tip that greatly intrigued us because of its soothing capabilities for both mom and baby: white noise.
For years, we have relied on white noise to bring peace and tranquility to otherwise hectic places. City dwellers looking to drown out the all-night hustle and bustle of a busy city quickly discovered success in the constant whizzing of a fan or the static noise of a dead radio station. Those living amongst the fields and quiet of farm life found open windows and a steady stream of crickets chirping to be enough of a lullaby to induce a deep sleep. And, young mothers quickly found that the hum of a vacuum soothed a sleepy baby and drowned out the sounds of siblings or neighbors. While we’re sure we could all use a daily vacuuming spree, we luckily have the technology today that offers the same soothing sounds without the physical activity and forced cleaning: enter, white noise.
As moms that love sleep, we love all the ways that white noise can help you and your baby sleep better:
1. Mimics the sounds of the womb
Your baby gets used to a lot of incredible sounds during his time in the womb — the thump, thump of mom’s consistent heartbeat, the muffled sounds of your voice, the grumbling of your hungry stomach, the whoosh of a breath being taken, in and out. Don’t forget all the fluids in motion throughout your body, and it’s safe to say that your baby is in for a huge change when he enters the world. Adjusting to the outside (of the womb, that is…) is scary with a sudden change in sounds and movement, so why not do your best to mimic the sounds of the womb to help ease the transition and make a calming atmosphere for sleep?
Product Recommendation
This is why we love the ‘LectroFan. With six fan sounds, six white noise sounds, and 18 nursery rhymes, any nursery can be transformed into a baby oasis. Not only is the white noise machine a nursery staple, this particular machine is also incredibly portable, powered via USB, ensuring your baby will sleep comfortably wherever you put him down — whether that’s in the living room, grandma’s house, or even the car.
‘LectroFan also has multilevel adjustable volume allowing you to select the volume based on your baby’s environment, as well as multi-band parametric EQ speaker compensation to ensure realistic sounds — sounds that your baby will recognize and sounds that will soon become familiar and soothing. Which leads us to our next point…
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2. Provides noise in a relatively quiet world
It’s true — the sounds of the womb are incredibly loud to a baby! Think about how loud your stomach can growl — sometimes those in the same room as you can hear it — then take note that a baby in utero is hanging out right up against all those moving, grumbling, and gurgling organs. The sounds of the womb are almost as loud as a lawnmower… consistently going all day and all night long. When a baby enters the world, things are relatively quiet in comparison, and perhaps even quieter as we as parents think that any amount of noise might be too much for a young infant. Sleep machines provide babies with the same, loud environment that they are used to. While many of the cute infant sleep machines and sleep aiding stuffed animals advertise peaceful sleeping conditions for baby, most do not reach volumes high enough for baby’s new environment.
3. Drowns out all other alerting sounds
Murphy’s Law: anything that can go wrong, will go wrong. Or, in the case of a sleeping baby, disruptive sounds will wake said baby. Whether it’s a sibling’s sudden scream, the dog’s barking, the garbage truck, or the expected ringing of a doorbell, every day sounds that normally don’t bother us will all of a sudden become our biggest pet peeves when a baby is napping. But, with the help of a sound machine, the soothing white noise easily drowns out all other sounds. And this isn’t just because you crank up the volume, but because the variation of high pitches and low pitches in white noise actually helps to block out all other sounds by making it difficult for your brain to pick out individual tones. Who knew?
4. Serves as a Form of Comfort and Familiarity
While we already know that white noise can mimic the sounds of the womb, having a white noise machine also helps bring about a sense of familiarity with sleep. By playing white noise consistently in baby’s nursery or during nap time signals to the baby that it is time to rest. Your baby becomes familiar with the notion that this noise means catching some zzz‘s, making the transition into nap or bedtime an easier adjustment. What’s even better is that during moments of restfulness mid-sleep, the lull of the sleep machine can help ease baby back into a deep sleep, helping to prevent those short little cat naps that babies are so notorious for!
5. Reduces Stress
Our world is stressful enough for us, so it has to be stressful to a baby who has no control over their environment and doesn’t understand what is going on around them. The soothing sounds of a white noise machine provide stimulation that a young baby craves in the midst of an unknown and often chaotic world.
6. Because baby sleeps better… YOU sleep better
Welcome to your new life! When baby sleeps, we all sleep — or at least we’ve been told endless times during our pregnancy that we should. Whether that’s realistic in the midst of our fast-paced and often chaotic lifestyles, we’re not sure, but we do know that a well-rested baby is a happy baby — and a happy baby makes for a happy parent. With a more peaceful home and longer periods of sleep, both mom and dad can also take comfort in getting the most of their own sleep schedule. Parents can also take advantage of all the potential benefits of white noise themselves — as its calming effects have the same effects on adults as it does a baby, making a white noise machine a must have in the home for those restless nights after baby has grown.
Looking for Un-Nursing Wear?
If you need to add some nursing clothing to your wardrobe, but don’t want to spend money on pieces you’ll only wear for a short period of time, then head on over to Melody Lane for the best in regular clothing that is versatile enough to wear before, during, and after breastfeeding! They offer trendy, classic, and comfortable clothing that is hand-picked for all the life stages women usually experience. With nothing over $100, always free shipping, and new styles featured every season, Melody Lane makes sure your “fashion meets life”.
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