What do you use for white noise?
Do you have a white noise machine? Play music?
We had a fan running in our LO's room (facing outside). It made the perfect amount of noise to drown out people talking downstairs, cars driving by, etc.
The fan died yesterday. -.- I guess it's a good thing since winter's upon us now.
hostess / wonderful persimmon / 25556 posts
I've heard of a lot of mom's using white noise machines - not sure exactly what they are. I think it's a great idea if you're in an area with a lot of road noise - like in the city. I don't think we'll have that problem so I haven't even considered one.
GOLD / wonderful grape / 20289 posts
We have a fan. My husband read somewhere that it helps reduce the risk of SIDS if you keep the air circulating. It has a really low setting, and a white noise setting.
hostess / wonderful honeydew / 32460 posts
@artbee: Nice! Glad I'm not the only one who uses a fan. Funny that your hubs read that.. my dad just about had a cow when he saw that we were using a fan (he said lots of people used to die in Korea from sleeping with fans on). My response: "well, she's 8.5 months old and still alive!" hA. My parents believe babies should sleep in a quiet environment.
hostess / eggplant / 11068 posts
We use the Sleep Sheep, a Baby Einstein thingy, AND her humidifier as white noise. We don't use it to lull her to sleep but to block out any noise the hubs and I make in the house while she's sleeping (our floors creak and there's a washroom across LO's bedroom).
cantaloupe / 6164 posts
as a portrait photographer i do quite a few newborn sessions, and my white noise app has been amazing. i use the beach waves crashing noise, and it seems to knock them right out and keep them asleep. i think that particular sound mimics the familiar sound of the womb..?
it seems to work for older babies too... i nanny for my nephew a few days a month, and i use it for him when he's being fussy or can't get to sleep. i put it on the dresser beside us, and then rock him for a minute and he's out.
GOLD / wonderful grape / 20289 posts
@chopsuey119: What's harmful about having a fan on? I think it depends on the baby. As long as she's sleeping better with some white noise, we'll keep it. We just have to make sure that wherever we travel we can bring some white noise with us since she's used to it, otherwise we will probably have some pretty long nights!
pomegranate / 3008 posts
We use a sleep sheep so it is on for 45 minutes and then turns off automatically. When/if my son wakes in the middle of the night we start it up again so he knows it is still time for sleep. Also, we use a different sound for naps than we do for night.
hostess / wonderful honeydew / 32460 posts
@Rubies: We use white noise to block noise that we make too. My LO's a super sensitive sleeper and our house is pretty noisy.
hostess / wonderful honeydew / 32460 posts
@artbee: I don't know! Something about not being able to breathe if the air's directed at you? Air going up the nose prevents air from coming out of the nostrils? I have no idea. I think it might be an old wive's tale. My parents don't like that I keep my LO's room dark when she sleeps/naps either.
GOLD / wonderful grape / 20289 posts
@chopsuey119: We don't have it directly at her, we have it off to the side. We just wanted the air circulating, not making her cold. So whether it's an old wives tale or not, I hopefully don't have to worry about that!
apricot / 489 posts
We've been using a fan too. I have it facing toward the doorway so the cool air travels far from baby. The humidifier was what I lived off of and now I can't sleep without something on. I can't do the noise machines because I can pick up on the sound patterns and become fixated on it. It's like I'm OCD in my sleep! Ridiculous. I hope the baby doesn't become dependent on something to fall asleep!
hostess / wonderful honeydew / 32460 posts
@artbee: You don't have to worry! 
LO should be fine.
@BabyLove: I was afraid my LO would become dependent on white noise, but she slept fine when we visited my parents. My dad made us sleep without any white noise. It was weird and stressful sleeping in dead silence. -.-
pomegranate / 3980 posts
I have never needed one. My daughter has always been such a heavy sleeper that it never mattered, once she was out, she was out!
grapefruit / 4800 posts
@chopsuey119: I just heard about 'fan death'. My BIL is in college and his roommate was korean and didn't like him to leave a fan on for long even when it was super hot out. It's like an old wives tale.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fan_death
hostess / wonderful honeydew / 32460 posts
@Maysprout: HAHA thanks!!! I can see it potentially happening in a small, closed room..? Maybe.. not really? We always have LO's door opened a crack.
So my dad wasn't lying when he said people died from it!
grapefruit / 4355 posts
I'll be honest - I'm surprised how many people purposefully surround their infants with white noise.
One of the books I read in my college neuroscience class (Norman Doidge, "The Brain that Changes Itself") suggests that white noise might have a seriously negative impact on young children with a predisposition to autism. There is a critical period in early childhood during which the brain gradually changes (in response to normal stimuli) from being an undifferentiated mass of neurons, all reacting to every stimulus, to overlapping clusters of neurons which respond more specifically to each stimulus. Once this differentiation happens, children can learn much more efficiently. But in kids predisposed to autism, auditory overstimulation can interfere with this process, causing the critical period to end prematurely, when the mass of neurons is still undifferentiated. And according to Doidge, neuroscientists suspect that white noise can cause this kind of overstimulation.
I know none of this has been proven at this point, but it would certainly make me a little wary of purposefully exposing my future children to extra white noise during that critical period.
blogger / pomelo / 5400 posts
Interesting, Mrs. KMM. I'll have to look at that. I loop an ocean waves track in his room, mostly to drown out other household sounds, but I don't know that he needs it to sleep.
pear / 1852 posts
My cousin told me that they were gifted a sleep sheep, but don't use it anymore. they found that it didn't last long enough, so they turn the radio to a static channel, that's what we plan on doing too.
wonderful clementine / 24134 posts
I think it depends a little on what you use it for. We use the sleep sheep and a fan (fan doesn't really make noise). The sleep sheep is on pretty low. For example, if we get ice out of the fridge, she still hears it in her room.
persimmon / 1465 posts
@Mrs.KMM: I had read/heard about that possible link as well. Not sure where though. It stuck in my mind and we haven't used white noise at all with LO.
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