White Noise Machines

Several years ago my 8 year old son starting sleeping with a desk fan attached to his bed. In the winter months when I wouldnt let him use it, he said he couldnt sleep w/o the hum. He borrowed my sound machine for a couple of nights and then I went and bought him his own because I need mine to drown out my husbands snoring!

Hi J. -
We swear by them. Homedics makes a nice one. My son likes to listen to a waterfall and my daughter to the ocean. They don't completely drown out other noises but they're so small we can take them with on vacations. I bought mine at Carsons but they make them everywhere.

I also have light sleepers in my house and we have always used either a fan or an air filter in the kids' rooms. It has really seemed to make a difference in their sleeping habits. Good luck!

I had a sound activated white noise machine and it was great! If the baby ever cried it would turn on and soothe her back to sleep. I have heard a radio tuned to static works as well!

I'm a brand new mom, so I can't give advice on using a white noise machine with a baby. But I have slept with one since I was little (so has every member of my family) and I love it.

If you decide to get one, the brand you should get without a doubt is Sleepmate. It's the brand my family and I use, and they are very reliable and last forever.

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=9893...

I would be careful with a humidifier, they say you should not use them in warm weather. Mold can develop and grow in your child's carpet and other soft fabrics.

We just run ours empty.

We have a noisy humidifier that we use mostly as a noise machine on our DS's room...it's a pain to fill and clean....but I looked forever for a white noise machine and it seemed that so many just ran for 60 minutes....so we sticking with our Kaz humidifier....our DD went through a stage at about age 3 1/2 when she came into our room, then we just got tough about taking her right back to her room...she's a beg hog and I hated when she stayed in our bed!

B.

I just bought a portable white noise machine to take on a trip to Ireland. It worked OK - but the noise was a lot like loud static. There were two settings: plain old static and surf rhythm static. I like using a fan in my room at night (with the air blowing away from me). In my little one's room we have always used a humidifer. If you are interested in the machine just google white noise machines.Good luck!

We have a white noice machine in our room and the nursery and love them. We travel with them and it really blocks the noise and lulls my kids to sleep. I bought it online for $30 or so... Good luck!

Buy the $20 one at Target. It is great and has been working every night and nap time for almost 2 years and it is still working great.

We use an inexpensive fan for white noise! It works great! ;)

I bought a fan for 8 dollars from Wal Mart. It's just a little fan. I have it on all night and during my daughters naps. I just point it towards the ceiling and it blocks out the noise and keeps her asleep as well.

We used a white noice machine with both of our kids and it worked great! We got ours at http://www.homedics.com/products/sensory/soundspas/sounds...

They actually don't have the one we bought anymore, but this one looks like the updated model.

Against some peoples advie, our 5 month old son sleeps with us, we used a white noise machine prior due to both of us having to go to bed at 8pm to get up very early for work (blocked out the neighbors and traffic!) My son falls asleep right away when I put him to bed, unless I forget to turn it on! I recently bought another one for his room as we transition hime to his room. I love it! It works great. I also noticed when he is in his swing during the day, the vacuum cleaner has the same effect...however I am not prone to vacuming every night at bedtime!!! I strongly advise it, and my pediatrician also loves the idea.

We bought an air purifier from Sears.(Not anything expensive, I think it was about $40) We turn it on high (it sounds similar to the vent above your stove) and our twins sleep soundly.

We tried the white noise machine with our twins, and it didn't work. It was too quiet, and we had to keep replacing the batteries. I ended up purchasing a white noise CD, and have played that on repeat while they sleep. It's nice because you can still have different selections, but once you find the one that works, you can repeat it and control the sound level. During the summer, we had a floor fan in their room on high to circulate air, and provide white noise.

Hope this helps, and good luck!

Well I am not sure about white noise machines, but with my kids(9yr old Twins, 5yr old, & 2yr old) I use box fans, they are only around $12, and I set it right outside their door so that the air doesn't blow on them. And depending on the noise level in the house I set it to medium or low. Works great! I have used them since my twins were 3 and their little sister came along.

We got the "sound sleeper" from babies r us for our son and it works wonderfully...it was only about 20 bucks and it has the option to plug in or use batteries...it's got a few options for noises and our son loves it...we've had it since he was a few months old and now at two he reaches to turn it on before getting in bed...the waves really help him wind down and get to sleep...good luck :)

I use a white noise device and air purifier in my daughter's room (she's 8 mos. old). Why? Many articles made mention of the constant noise your baby is used to in the womb. It makes sense that silence might make them a little uneasy. Also, I like to sleep with one too. So, for the first 3 1/2 mos. when she was in the bassinette in my room, that is what she heard. When we moved her into her own room, she still had the consistancy of the white noise with her own white noise device and an air purifier. The device we purchased was not expensive. I believe it was $17 at Babys R Us. It has differnt sounds to choose from and a timer on it if you don't want to leave it on. We've had great luck with it. Give it a whirl. It certainly can't hurt. And if your daughter doesn't care for it, maybe your son will, or YOU for that matter. :-)

How about just a regular small fan. I have one in both my daughter's rooms. I turn them on high and point them up at the ceiling. But one now before the winter...you can't find fans then.

We have had this machine on every night for almost two years.

Marpac SleepMate 980A Electro-Mechanical Sound Conditioner by Marpac

It is amazing. None of the waves or birds chirping, or anything like that. Just a dull szhhhhhh.

It is a little more expensive; however worth every penny. AND small enough to fit in a suitcase and put near a pack n play when your little one sleeps outside the home!

Good luck and HAPPY SLEEPING!!! J.

Keep the vaporizer going anyway. It can only help her growing lungs in this polluted world in which we live.

We have used one since our now 2.5 year old son was about 2 months old. He has always been a very light sleeper. The noise machine is AMAZING, and we were even able to take him camping with us this summer (our noise machine takes batteries).

I highly recommend it. Ours was on the more expensive side ($70 from Brookstone), but it has been worth way beyond what we spent!!!!! We still use it.

I use a white noise cd on a regular boom box for my daughter. We hit repeat and it's on all night and during her naps. I found this to be the best solution as we can use the boom box to play other music, etc during her awake times.

We have used one with my son since about your daughter's age. He was always a light sleeper and up in the night or when I took a shower at 5:30 a.m. We have had a good experience with it. It is not a cure-all, but I think it has helped to create a consistent bedtime ritual. He is just 6 and has been sleeping entirely through the night for about three years now. My advice is to buy one that you can plug in. You'll go through batteries quickly if you leave it on all night like we do.

As for using a fan, as some moms have suggested, I would steer way clear of that option if your child has any dust allergies at all. My son stuffed up completely when we tried this and was WIDE awake those nights because he couldn't breathe out of his nose. It didn't matter how much we dusted his room, it simply stirred up too much stuff for him.

Good luck,
A.

Bed, Bath, and Beyond carries a combination clock/radio/nature sounds unit that we've used in our nursery since day one. The clock projects onto the ceiling, the radio is am/fm, the nature sounds include thunderstorms, ocean waves, tropical rainforest, and more PLUS the unit has a timer (15, 30, 60 minutes).

Hi J.,
We use this one for our son and it works really well. Its small too so it travels well.
Just another thought- you might want to look into a weighted blanket. I've heard they are great to help keep kids asleep at night. If you put weighted blanket into a google search engine something will pop up- probably a sensory integration site. They can be a bit expensive, but I've heard of other moms getting curtain weights and sewing them into the blanet. I'm about to try this with my son as he's been getting up at 5:30am! I hope this helps!
http://www.amazon.com/Marpac-SleepMate-Electro-Mechanical...
Blessings,
J.

Hi there. I too, have a 3 year old girl and a 1 year old boy. Both of them have had white noise since birth. What I use and seems to work best for us is that I had cd players (I had one before and bought a cheap one at Target) and I burned a CD of waves crashing on the shore. I put each CD on every night on repeat so it plays all night long in each of their rooms. It has been great and works for us.
I have the mp3 of the waves (about 1.5 minutes of waves) and would be happy to email it to you if you want to burn it on a cd yourself.
Good luck!
M.

J.,
We have had great success with a sound machine from Sharper Image. It has different sounds (waves, white noise, heart beat etc.) that our baby LOVES. As a newborn he needed the white noise and now he loves the waves. I am not sure about the price because its an older model, but I would definitely recommend it. Good luck!
J.

We have used a small fan in our sons rooms since they were babies. They are like $10 (or less) at Target right now. We Put the fan on the other side of the room from them and point the fan so it doesn't blow on them. Although my 6 1/2 year old now likes it to blow on him when he gets hot. Cheaper solution than a white noise machine. HTH

S.

Hi J.,

We used a noise machine from Homedics. Some of the sounds were better than others - our son liked the waves. Our friend borrowed it for her newborn and so now we just use a little music box that plays for 20 minutes. If my son wakes up I tuck him back in and turn that on and it puts him back to sleep.

Good luck,
H.

For both my 3 year old and my 1 year old I use a HEPA air filter in their rooms which creates white noise. Also for my daughter we were given this Lullaby sound machine and we have it on the rain selection all night (but it has a bunch of different white noises as well as a slide show option). Here's a link for it.
http://www.target.com/Homedics-Sound-Lullaby-Relaxation-M...

Hope that helps,
J.

We got a white noise/alarm clock from Target when we decided to bed-share with our newborn. My husband snores sometimes, so it was necessary to keep the baby asleep! When our son moved to his own crib at about a year, we bought just a white noise machine (he doesn't read time yet) for his room. Both are the brand Homedics. The one with the clock was about $30; the one without was about $15. They don't use as much electricity as a fan or a humidifier, and they are made to be run for long periods of time.

You might check on FreeCycle.org for a used one for free; if you are lucky, someone in your neck of the woods might have one lying around they might want to give to you! It's also a great way to give away stuff you aren't using anymore, too.

Best wishes. --N.

We too used a small fan for my son when he was little, but from being on all the time, they do were out pretty quick and the motors can get louder that you want it to be. When my daughter was born we did get her a sound machine from babies r us and she did do well with it. my son did not like the sounds it made after being used to the fan. Since my son also needed a night light we got him a small fish tank from petsmart and set it up on the bookcase in his room. the motor from the pump was just the right decible level and the light from the tank was low enough that it didn't interfere with his sleep.

In the past year however we have been able to ween him off both of them off of having the tank on, and found that they actually sleep much sounder now without any white noise, even when we're making noise.

Instead, we turn on a children's cd for them at bedtime, and by the time it's over (about an hour and a half) they are out for the night.

I have used a white noise machine since my daughter was born. She likes the rain sound or the plain white noise and it works great. We have a very open house and had to run something just to be able to watch tv in the evening. My opinion is they are worth it, just make sure to get one that works off of batteries AND a plug. That way they are more mobile and easy to take with you anywhere. Also, make sure you have a spare just in case one breaks! Good Luck and hope it helps!

Like Judi T, I use the marpac sleepmate white noise machine. It is a little more pricey, but it plugs in, very portable, and works well for my little guy. I was also using a cold humidifier, but refilling the water was a lot of work and it was making the room too cold and his nose dry.

We use the honeywell air cleaners in both our kids rooms. They help a lot. Target carries them and I think they run around $90.

Hi J., I don't know a lot about white noise machines except they can be pretty pricey, and sometimes the loop length(or whatever it's called) can be pretty short and the repetition of the noise can get annoying. Presently I am using a fan in my kids' room (3 and 18mo) and will have to find an alternative soon since the weather is getting cooler and we won't be able to use it much longer. I am considering using a white noise CD and just putting the CD player on repeat all night. Then you can adjust the volume to whatever you need it to be. I found a site several months ago and I think it's called Pure White Noise. You might check that out. They also had white noise machines as well and CDs that I thought were reasonably priced. Good luck. C.

We have an air purifier in alll three rooms of our children. Works like a charm...cannot even hear the phone ring! Target has a nice small one that we use. Hope that helps!

Hi J.~

Have you thought about putting some light music on low in her room. We use to do that with our kids. (Maybe some soft waves or calming sounds...

J.

www.FindTotalWellness.org

We just use a fan. Works pretty well. (You may have to adjust your temps.) We can't sleep w/o it now!

We picked up two, one for home and one for when we're on the road. They were between $10-15 from Walmart. The brand was Conair and it has a selection of noises and adjustable volume. It operates off of battery or you can plug it in. The loop might be on the shorter side, but my girls (1 and 3) don't seem to notice. I picked mine up because my girls share a room and I was hoping it would keep them from hearing each other move around. It's been very useful during travel.

I see we have the same alias...now it looks like you answered your own question. ;)

J., I see I am late in my response, however, I have a humidifier in each room of my house for myself and my children's room. The Trick....Just don't fill it with water.
Essentially, you are just running the fan all the time, but should your child get sick, you fill it up with water and wella! I never fill mine with water or even put in the filters unless I need it for a cold.

Run a little fan, not directed on her but in the room. Helps the air circulate, won't add moisture (when it's this warm out, you don't need the moisture!), and satisfies the noise need cheaply.

Hi J. ~ All my girls' are light sleepers and I just bought them each a fan that sits on their dresser. Super cheap at Walmart. The nice things was they were all on display so I could hear if they would be loud enough or not....The sleep great with them!!!