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Children's health

Baby soothing apps: dangerous?

15 replies

BigScoop · 16/04/2013 12:41

I am panicking. The other night when DD, who is only seven weeks, needed settling I used my iPhone and found an app which plays the noise of water running. The old white noise theory. She quickly went from a tired temper to soothed asleep. In fact I fell asleep and for ten or 15 mins the phone would have been on near her head before I snapped out of it and pulled it away. are these apps safe to use? I now dont like the idea of mobile phones being close to her little head. Has anyone heard about these apps? And have any thoughts?

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LightAFire · 16/04/2013 17:59

I don't think 10-15 mins would have harmed her either way, so try not to worry.

As far as I can tell there is still a lot of debate over phones and brain damage. One court ruling said there is but he was using the phone for hours at a time: www.telegraph.co.uk/health/9619514/Mobile-phones-can-cause-brain-tumours-court-rules..html

My general feeling would probably be, keep them away from kids until proven safe as there are question marks, but then I can be a bit paranoid mum! But equally I doubt the occasional exposure can hurt. I will double check with a couple of scientist friends and report back if they say different!

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BigScoop · 16/04/2013 23:17

That would be really nice of you. We havent used it for every sleep, just soothed her so well yday and before i knew it it had been by her head for10 15 mins. not glued to her head but nearby. and thanks for a little reassurance, means a lot.

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BigScoop · 16/04/2013 23:18

What do others think of occasional exposure?

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LightAFire · 16/04/2013 23:26

Have emailed them and will get back to you. I understand as I worry too!

The white noise stuff is indeed very soothing - you could get a cheap mp3 player and pop it in her room with that on loop? I downloaded ocean sounds when I couldn't sleep!

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cestlavielife · 16/04/2013 23:26

It s not an X-ray machine they don't carry warnings. So for ten minutes she will be fine. It is alone off .
But why don't you get an iPod dock and put it on there, away from her head ?so you get the sound from a distance

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bran · 16/04/2013 23:55

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

KatoPotato · 17/04/2013 00:03

We used to do this but put the phone on aircraft mode? Switches off wifi and cellular signals.

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BigScoop · 17/04/2013 02:06

All of the ideas are great and I will use. I really apprciate the replies. Definitely great ways of getting soothing sounds without the worry. I just wish I had thought of them before, and now DD is seven weeks old now. She hasnt been on it day and night but still became worried this week. Will be interested to hear from people about whether Ive used it more than anybody else.

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MrsVJDay · 17/04/2013 03:27

We have a 'Ewen the Sheep' which we bought from Amazon- it plays white noise, lullabys, and a womb-mimicking heartbeat amongst others, my 2week old dd loves it. No phone signals or wifi required.

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TarkaTheOtter · 17/04/2013 08:54

We use a mains powered radio tuned to static. Continuous, volume adjustable, battery free white noise.

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Mehrida · 17/04/2013 09:07

We used a track on youtube on the ipad. For a while it was on several times a night as I was suffering with some pretty chronic sleep deprivation and getting desperate. We kept it away from the cot and just had the volume blaring.

I think the mobile phone risks are going to be our generation's 'smoking'. Exposure to it for ten mins of your life won't make a difference but prolonged, frequent exposure, who knows..?

I'm also willing to bet that cases of testicular cancer will soar from all the blokes who keep them in their pockets.

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Quak · 17/04/2013 09:07

I am worried because it didn't occur to me for ages. Recently I have been turning my phone to 'plane' mode, i.e. no signal. However I am going to start using a little handheld voice recorder thingy from now on.

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LightAFire · 17/04/2013 10:02

Ok got an answer back (from a doctor of physics!) He says:

"Here's a good summary from the World Health Organisation:
www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs193/en/

In short, there is not enough evidence to say there is a link between mobiles and cancer, though they are classified as 'possibly carcinogenic', so sensible precautions should be taken. Texting and internet are not a problem, just calls, so don't spend hours each day talking on your mobile, especially in poor signal areas, and if you are going to make a long call, use a hands free kit. Children are vulnerable, so the Department of Health recommends that children under 16 should use mobiles for short, essential calls only (or use a hands free kit, presumably)."

So in other words - best avoided, but the short exposure we're talking about should not have hurt, especially as it wasn't an actual call. Hope that helps - am going to buy a hands free kit myself now!

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CabbageHead · 17/04/2013 13:16

For travel we used an iPod and I got cheap speakers that don't need batteries they just plug into ur iPod/phone.. Very effective.

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BigScoop · 17/04/2013 20:57

I'VE ORDERED A EWEN THE SHEEP and have ipod ready... I just feel so guilty about what's already been done. We didn't use it loads and loads, just struck me the other night. She's only seven weeks.