The Benefits of White Noise

 

Occasionally a parent will talk of using white noise to help sooth their child to sleep. Many people may be unfamiliar with the concept, or of how it could help them.

 

White noise is a soft hissing sound that is similar to the sound of radio static, that has all frequencies within a set range at all at the same volume. This constant sound is known to help both adults and children to fall asleep more quickly, and to stay asleep for longer.

 

In the womb, the baby is exposed to a lot of noise. To be suddenly in a silent bedroom can upset them-the white noise feels familiar and makes their new room less alien.

 

More importantly, most homes are not actually silent, instead being generally quiet with sudden bursts of noise. These may be caused by a pet in the home jumping down from a surface or knocking something over, a neighbor being noisy, traffic driving past or even another member of the household going to the bathroom.

 

These sudden noisy punctuations of the quiet night tend to disturb the sleep of children and adults alike. White noise is normally set at a level loud enough to block out many of the disturbing sounds that would otherwise wake us, and because it is a constant sound it is easy to adjust to. In this way we can both fall asleep and stay asleep easier, because of the lack interruption that unwanted noises can cause.

 

What is more, as we become more accustomed to using white noise it becomes relaxing. The association between the white noise and sleep becomes so strong that eventually, placing your child down to sleep in a room and turning on the white noise will be enough to encourage them to doze off to sleep.

 

You do not need any expensive equipment to produce white noise. Many people use a CD on repeat in a CD player, or even an MP3 player with a white noise track on it. Others will use a fan, which whilst not true white noise as the various frequencies in the sounds are not equal (or always constant) is often enough to drown out other sounds. In short it helps by overloading your hearing, so that once you have adjusted to the sound you are hearing, nothing else will be able to disturb you.

 

If you have a young infant who is struggling to sleep, and always being woken by noises within the home you might want to try some white noise. Try to see things from your baby's point of view-its never easy to sleep through a noisy house, but sleep is absolutely essential! Give them some help sleeping with some easy to produce white noise.