I came on to ask this question and then saw white noise is a recent topic....
Anyway, my son is 2.5 and still uses white noise. He's moving to his "big boy" room this weekend and transitioning from a crib to a bed. We are expecting the birth of our second child in mid-march so there is a lot going on. My husband suggested we stop the white noise this weekend as part of the "big boy" changes. I'm not sure what to do! What was your experience?
GOLD / wonderful pomegranate / 28905 posts
I definitely did not want to stop the white noise when we had a baby coming!!!
Dd1 is almost 4 and we still use it. Don't plan to stop soon. But I also don't think she is dependent on it? I just think it helps to drown out household noise and the occasional crying.
coconut / 8483 posts
My husband cannot sleep without white noise and uses a fan. I've become addicted to it too! Maybe replace the machine with a fan?
I plan to keep it for life haha
cantaloupe / 6634 posts
With all the noises of a baby, I would not eliminate white noise!
pomelo / 5607 posts
Why do you want to get rid of it? DH and I have used it since before we got married, so we won't have LO stop unless she wants to at some point once she's out of our room.
kiwi / 661 posts
@regberadaisy: @Mrs. Champagne: @simplyfelicity: @Corduroy: @Torchwood:
Ha well... I knew this would be the other half of the argument. I guess neither of us have "sleep crutches" and want to set him up for easiest sleep when he is older (and might not have white noise accessible or something).... but I guess it doesn't matter if it is a few years from now vs. now.... Just not sure what people generally do!
nectarine / 2180 posts
@reverie: We probably stopped using it around the time she moved to her big kid room, so like 2.75 years. But we definitely reintroduced it when DD2 was born. Some nights we use it and some nights we don't. She doesn't seem dependent on it, so I'm not worried.
wonderful cherry / 21504 posts
I am SO glad we still have it with the new baby! There is no way the older one could have slept through the crying some nights, and having a screaming newborn is plenty stressful- adding in a toddler who got woken up would be awful! Our condo is very small though, maybe in much bigger houses it wouldn't be as big of a deal?
I'm team white noise for life. Or at least until I don't have to wake up with her. So college?
pomelo / 5607 posts
@reverie: Well, in my case I never had it growing up, and started sleeping better when I started sleeping in (now) DH's room in college and be had a loud fan. So not having it as a kid didn't help keep me from being dependent, it just meant I didn't sleep as well.
pineapple / 12053 posts
No weaning off white noise for us, especially with a baby! DD1 isn't dependent on it, but it helps drown out DD2's cries in the middle of the night so I see no reason to stop!
honeydew / 7283 posts
Never! My kids are 3y and 14mo and we are still going strong. Their rooms share a wall so I find it particularly important. I hear it all night over the monitor so I'm addicted too.
cantaloupe / 6687 posts
Like everyone said we still do white noise at 4 years to drown out the house noise. She sleeps fine without it (when we're on vacation/traveling) so she's not dependent on it.
grapefruit / 4418 posts
I don't consider white noise s sleep crutch. We sleep with one, too. If we don't have it available, no big deal but it's pretty easy to find a substitute if we need one - a fan, an app, etc... I def wouldn't stop with all the baby sounds that are coming!!
pineapple / 12566 posts
I personally don't think it made a difference with my younger LO. We used it until she was about 19 months, went on vacation for 3 weeks and didn't use it. We never used it again after and didn't notice any real difference in her sleep. Maybe just try? Or if there is a way to set a timer on it to turn it off, or manually turn it off a few hours after he goes to bed and see how he does?
persimmon / 1436 posts
DD1 still uses hers at 3.5 but our house is loud at night with cats running around. Also I sleep so much better with the one in our room (technically for the baby who is rooming with us).
nectarine / 2086 posts
Omg I hope we never have to stop! I think of it less as a sleep crutch and more of just a way that we don't wake her up when we make noise after bedtime. She doesn't use it at daycare and I doubt she actually needs it to sleep.
wonderful grape / 20453 posts
Um, I put white noise on myself, last night, to go to sleep! E still uses it at almost 3 and probably will for awhile. It just drowns out the noise of us all moving around, walking, talking, watching TV, and I don't want her to stay up to listen/be a part of it.
GOLD / wonderful pomegranate / 28905 posts
@reverie: FWIW my daughters do not *need* it. We go to family's often for a long weekend and I never bring the white noise and they don't have trouble falling asleep. I do use it for the younger one when we're there (via my phone) just because she goes to sleep earlier and the kids are LOUD. 
pear / 1770 posts
I use a white noise machine every night in my own room! I will probably use one for my LO for a loooooooong time.
persimmon / 1467 posts
We don't plan on stopping till after the baby, if ever. But DH and I are both super light sleepers so we use white noise too. I think we'll see how he is when he's older. They definitely help light sleepers but don't seem to matter to others.
pomelo / 5326 posts
DD is 2.5 and she uses it each night. She loves turning it on and if we forget she'll remind us. We have no plans on stopping it. If we go away and forget it she sleeps fine.
hostess / wonderful persimmon / 25556 posts
We didn't wean off of it, she just started turning it off recently at 3.5.
wonderful kiwi / 23653 posts
I don't think we'll ever wean really for the following reasons -
1. We will eventually have another baby, so it will really help to drown out baby crying, etc
2. We routinely have people over at night weekly, so even when LOs are older it would help with their earlier bed times
3. I think it will be good to have white noise if mom & dad want to you know 
kiwi / 661 posts
Alright, I'll revisit this around kindergarten... I just don't want him to "need" something to sleep, but the internet has spoken. Not messing with something that isn't broken right now with the new baby coming.
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