White noise - does it help with sleeping through the night/falling asleep?

[jellybelly25]

That's it really. Has anyone tried it? And if so what 'noise' did you use?

[Molesworth]

My MIL has a gadget for exactly this purpose - you can choose from various noises (sea, birdsong etc), including white noise.

[jellybelly25]

ooh, what is it called?

[Molesworth]

I'll find out and report back - there might be something similar here

[Molesworth]

Or you could probably get the same effect from leaving a (noisy) fan or untuned radio on in the bedroom, or it might even be possible to buy a CD (or download MP3) of nature sounds/white noise which you could put on repeat?

[jellybelly25]

Thanks, I didn't know you could get sucha gadget!

I need to get a new radio/CD player etc so I'm sort of hoping that I get some good positive feedback before I spend more money on things that are meant to bag us some more sleep!

[Doozle]

We had one specifically for babies, it had white noise as well as wave sounds.

It would turn itself off automatically after 20 mins and then come back on again if they started crying.

I remember thinking it helped at the time.

[Orissiah]

We used the white noise function on LO's Graco swing while she slept in the cot. We used it until she was 6 months old as when she was young she would wake up at the slightest noise.

She's 12 months now and has slept without white noise for 6 months. She sleeps through noise now so has obviously learned to sleep well.

During the daytime naps we used it for the entire duration of the nap eg 1.5 hours. At nighttime we used it for 30 minutes as she was falling asleep.

I don't know if it was a coincidence, but she napped the longest than any of the other babies at our antenatal club and was the first to sleep through the night (at 12 weeks). She was the only baby who had white noise.

[Milsy]

I have found white noise brilliant with my babies. Babies don't like silence I don't think.