https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Fri, 10 Apr 2026 07:48:14 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/psa-white-noise-dangerous/page/2#post-1466900 Tue, 04 Mar 2014 14:34:04 +0000 .twist. 1466900@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@lawbee11: hahaha that doesn't make graco look good AT ALL! </p> <p>We have a munchkin one, but i haven't tested how loud it is. I guess I've kinda given up seeing as our "average silent home" noise is already between 40 &amp; 50 db. So, Really, all our kids should go deaf just from going to the grocery store or, worse, a kids play place! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/psa-white-noise-dangerous/page/2#post-1466877 Tue, 04 Mar 2014 14:28:18 +0000 lawbee11 1466877@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@.twist.: Right?! The NYT article also says, "Ashley Mowrey, a spokeswoman for Graco, declined to specify the loudest output for its Sweet Slumber Sound Machine." So I might be a little wary of that one. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/psa-white-noise-dangerous/page/2#post-1466869 Tue, 04 Mar 2014 14:26:42 +0000 .twist. 1466869@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@lawbee11: Thanks! And yea, way to work up a bunch of moms and not tell them which products are recommended and which are no good! lol </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/psa-white-noise-dangerous/page/2#post-1466858 Tue, 04 Mar 2014 14:25:45 +0000 lawbee11 1466858@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Also, here's an article from the New York Times, and here's a quote from the customer care director at Marpac:</p> <p><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/03/health/infant-sleep-machines-at-maximum-volume-reported-as-hearing-risk.html?_r=1" rel="nofollow">http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/03/health/infant-sleep-machines-at-maximum-volume-reported-as-hearing-risk.html?_r=1</a></p> <p>"Michelle Landesman, the customer care director at Marpac, said that the company’s Dohmie sound conditioner for babies has a decibel range of 50 to 75. “Our measurements are only taken six inches away from the machine, and that’s obviously much closer than we’d recommend,” she said." </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/psa-white-noise-dangerous/page/2#post-1466838 Tue, 04 Mar 2014 14:21:14 +0000 lawbee11 1466838@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@.twist.: Here's the full study. Unfortunately it doesn't list which sound machines it tested.</p> <p><a href="http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/early/2014/02/25/peds.2013-3617.full.pdf+html" rel="nofollow">http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/early/2014/02/25/peds.2013-3617.full.pdf+html</a> </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/psa-white-noise-dangerous/page/2#post-1465898 Tue, 04 Mar 2014 10:24:29 +0000 .twist. 1465898@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Jenn23: hehe, ok, i re-did the test while DH was out (he's kinda noisy, LOL) and it was a bit lower, closer to 43db. I mean, if 50 is the limit for kids, I can't imagine they are safe in a grocery store or park, or even just the street outside! hahaha It makes the article seem a little crazy. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/psa-white-noise-dangerous/page/2#post-1465868 Tue, 04 Mar 2014 10:18:57 +0000 Jenn23 1465868@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@.twist.: That's crazy that a quiet room measured so high! I turned down the sound machine a tad at bedtime last night, just in case.... </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/psa-white-noise-dangerous/page/2#post-1465862 Tue, 04 Mar 2014 10:18:05 +0000 littlebug 1465862@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I downloaded a decibel app and measured the noise in D's room. With the machine on (at full volume, which is how we use it) and my phone right next to it, it was about 65dB. Then I put the phone down in the crib, and it was right at 50dB. So I am not worried. But now I'm curious to just measure the normal, ambient noise in our house! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/psa-white-noise-dangerous/page/2#post-1464361 Mon, 03 Mar 2014 15:58:54 +0000 .twist. 1464361@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Jenn23: well, I downloaded he decibel app and just quiet in our house about between 40 and 50 db so I'm not sure if that article is full of shit or not! Or maybe he decibel app was wrong? Who knows, but don't stress too much about it! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/psa-white-noise-dangerous/page/2#post-1464347 Mon, 03 Mar 2014 15:56:28 +0000 Jenn23 1464347@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We use a Homedics sound machine (set to rain, I think) which sounds just like a white noise sound, but I don't know if it is "too loud" according to this article. I'll have to figure out how to check the decibels as others mentioned or I'll just turn it down a bit. We've used it since he was a baby (well, first few months were Disney lullaby songs on repeat all night) and I sleep with a fan because I can't sleep without some sort of background noise. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/psa-white-noise-dangerous/page/2#post-1464344 Mon, 03 Mar 2014 15:55:34 +0000 .twist. 1464344@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Torchwood: I agree, my parents don't use one (obviously), but we rely on them! I can pretty much sleep however, but DH can't. So, it really just depends on the person. We use it for our kids because we don't want them to hear us when we are still up and watching a loud movie or laughing with friends or whatever. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/psa-white-noise-dangerous/page/2#post-1464337 Mon, 03 Mar 2014 15:52:57 +0000 Torchwood 1464337@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I guess it's worth noting too that some people don't do well with white noise. It gives my mom nightmares. So don't assume you have to have it for a kid. </p> <p>I think it's really weird though that she hates it and I have to have it. It's one of those things that she never thought to introduce because of her issues with it, that would have helped me a lot when I was younger. I started sleeping SO much better when I started staying the night with DH (then just boyfriend) and he had a fan. It was a game changer for me on being able to fall asleep. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/psa-white-noise-dangerous/page/2#post-1464331 Mon, 03 Mar 2014 15:50:18 +0000 .twist. 1464331@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Torchwood: we use a fan too. So I'm clearly not too worried. :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/psa-white-noise-dangerous/page/2#post-1464320 Mon, 03 Mar 2014 15:47:26 +0000 Torchwood 1464320@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>DH and I can't sleep without white noise, and we use a fairly loud fan. Since we're going to be cosleeping, LO will be sleeping with that. I'd actually like to have a small white noise machine for when we're traveling (the current fan is about a foot tall, so it takes up a lot of space in my suitcase, but I can't sleep without it! So if we get that, LO might be sleeping with that sometimes. I think I agree with those who say the benefits outweigh the risks, and it's not like I'm going to put it right near their head. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/psa-white-noise-dangerous/page/2#post-1464254 Mon, 03 Mar 2014 15:32:46 +0000 Cherrybee 1464254@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Oh no! Im really worried now - we have it blaring out right next to her cot. Hmm, I may need to work on removing it. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/psa-white-noise-dangerous/page/2#post-1463876 Mon, 03 Mar 2014 13:49:28 +0000 pui 1463876@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Hmm... our LO isn't born yet so I don't know if I would use a white noise machine or not. Overall, I think the exposure would probably have to be very often and pretty loud to actually be a real problem. I'd probably just use it sparingly and not too loudly to be safe. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/psa-white-noise-dangerous/page/2#post-1463829 Mon, 03 Mar 2014 13:41:59 +0000 allison 1463829@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@creativemomma15: Me, too! I just downloaded the app and turned it on, sitting here on the couch with no noise going on around me buy my husband cooking dinner in the next room. 62 decibels. Uhhh. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/psa-white-noise-dangerous/page/2#post-1463795 Mon, 03 Mar 2014 13:33:55 +0000 Boheme 1463795@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I will have to measure the decibels of DS's sound machine today. Its just an old Timex alarm clock with a white noise feature, and its across the room, but I should still check it out! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/psa-white-noise-dangerous/page/2#post-1463765 Mon, 03 Mar 2014 13:24:54 +0000 Freckles 1463765@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Thanks for the article...unfortunately i use a bose, not a sound maching though we do try not to blast it loudly and turn it down before we go to bed. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/psa-white-noise-dangerous/page/2#post-1463740 Mon, 03 Mar 2014 13:18:48 +0000 .twist. 1463740@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@jedeve: lolol. yea, nevermind the scientific advances in actually being able to diagnose autism that they didn't have 20 years ago, either. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/psa-white-noise-dangerous/page/2#post-1463732 Mon, 03 Mar 2014 13:16:16 +0000 jedeve 1463732@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@wonderstruck: @.twist. </p> <p>They kept being like "No, it makes sense. No one used white noise machines 20 years ago and now they are everywhere and so it correlates with the big rise in autism!"</p> <p>White noise machines are NOT the only environmental change that has happened in the last 20 years, crazies! I think the need for sleep eventually won DH ever. My mom, on the other hand, will forever think I am corrupting her perfect grandchild! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/psa-white-noise-dangerous/page/2#post-1463728 Mon, 03 Mar 2014 13:14:45 +0000 googly-eyes 1463728@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I always thought ours went kind of loud, so I always kept (well, still do) it at a lower volume. :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/psa-white-noise-dangerous/page/2#post-1463726 Mon, 03 Mar 2014 13:14:41 +0000 .twist. 1463726@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@creativemomma15: LOL!!! you need a new house! ;) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/psa-white-noise-dangerous/page/2#post-1463695 Mon, 03 Mar 2014 12:59:02 +0000 yellowbird 1463695@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>HMmmm, my lo has had white noise since the day we brought her home. Maybe I should turn it down!! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/psa-white-noise-dangerous/page/2#post-1463689 Mon, 03 Mar 2014 12:57:49 +0000 creativemomma15 1463689@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@.twist.: Interesting. We always use the rain setting for both our kids and at the loudest setting. It is across the room though. I just downloaded that Decibel10 app to test it and when I first checked it out I was standing in my kitchen, both of my kids already asleep , and I wasn't making any noise and it registered it at 53 db. I am confused. So, apparently my house is too loud on its own? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/psa-white-noise-dangerous/page/2#post-1463585 Mon, 03 Mar 2014 12:33:20 +0000 littlebug 1463585@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We have the Graco white noise machine. It sits about 3 feet from D's crib and we have it on full power. I don't really think it's THAT loud, but I will definitely measure the decibels tonight. </p> <p>@.twist.: I agree, they definitely should have listed which machines were tested! That is kind of irresponsible and a little bit inflammatory! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/psa-white-noise-dangerous#post-1463467 Mon, 03 Mar 2014 12:01:13 +0000 erwoo 1463467@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We used to especially with my oldest. But I used a small Vornado fan. My husband hated it! He was always so annoyed when I turned it on but it helped him sleep better. We finally weaned him of it when he turned 4. Now he's fine without anything. I do turn on an actual white noise machine for my youngest when he's sleeping and we have people over b/c his room is right in front of the dining room; but it's rare anyway that we have people over these days. :P I still keep it around just in case and use it on the lowest sound possible. I can see how it can be harmful b/c they can be really loud. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/psa-white-noise-dangerous#post-1463455 Mon, 03 Mar 2014 11:55:26 +0000 MrsH 1463455@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Thanks for the article! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/psa-white-noise-dangerous#post-1463441 Mon, 03 Mar 2014 11:52:21 +0000 looch 1463441@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Hearing loss is something that I am moderately concered about, so I will be turning down the white noise. </p> <p>I think the article served its intended purpose, to have a dialogue about it. Frankly, I don't think we know enough about the long term effects and I am making some modifications. Let's see how that goes. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/psa-white-noise-dangerous#post-1463435 Mon, 03 Mar 2014 11:50:13 +0000 twinmama 1463435@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I'd be more concerned about the long term effects of bad sleep habits/disrupted sleep. So as long as the white noise is a reasonable volume and distance, I think the benefit outweighs the risk. </p>