White noise recommendations for adults

[thenewaveragebear1983]

would white noise help me sleep and if so, what do people recommend? Do I use an app?
my issue is that I am falling into a horrible pattern of going to bed, falling asleep instantly, waking 20-30 minutes later- wide awake. It’s dh’s snoring once he falls asleep that wakes me, and to be honest it gives me the rage so much that it wakes me up. Once I am awake even the sound of him breathing just makes me Seeth with anger, and I then can’t get back to sleep.

we have had the conversation about snoring, and he will roll over if he snores, but i can’t exactly ask him to stop breathing can I? So I need something, anything, to mask the sound so I don’t get woken,

this is my Garmin sleep graph for last night. I feel like I was awake more than I was asleep, and it didn’t even start recording til 2.30 when I’d already laid awake for at least an hour.

we will go and sleep on ds’s bottom bunk but it’s not ideal, and he’s equally sniffly and fidgety.

Try brown noise not white, it's much more relaxing. There's a good podcast called Brown noise for sleep, it has 2 hours sold brown noise and lots of others you could try. I like the cabin sounds one, it has gentle airplane cabin noises, lockers closing, pilot making an announcement etc, it's so nice.

I use an app called Whitenoise (on the App Store on an iPhone it's a black background with moon and stars)

There are loads of different sounds which you can choose from and play up to 12 hours.
It's been great for the babies (they have a heartbeat sound and the sound of the womb)

And I like it and quite often listen to the sound of rain to put me to sleep!

Hi OP I have a similar issue with a road outside my bedroom, normal traffic is fine but then I was waking several times due to lorries etc. I bought a Yogasleep white noise machine to try but to be honest it didn’t do anything for me! Even on a high volume. Now I have some Anker sound core sleep earphones which do the trick. They have white/ brown noise etc built in, or you can listen to your usual music/ audiobooks and it will switch to white noise when it senses you are asleep. An investment but it has been lifechanging for me! My friend with a snoring husband has an more ££ pair called QuietOn or similar, which I looked at but were a bit much for me - also I don’t want to completely block noise in case the DC call (tho DH would hear). Assume there is a reason you can’t just use earplugs?

If you have Spotify I use “baby mouse boo” relaxing white noise and guitar.

However, have you tried earplugs? I think they might be much better than white noise for snoring! I’ve found 3M 1100 really good!

I put in quies wax ear plugs and the a headband with built in speakers (allows for side sleeping) over the top and play brown noise through that.

I use thunderstorm sounds on Alexa from the echo in my room but also on my phone. I find it really helps. Not sure whether it would block out snoring though. DD who is a student living in halls has a pair of Bose noise-cancelling earbuds which have different white noise tracks that you can play through them. She says they're amazing and she can now sleep through pretty much anything.

This is the brown noise pod cast I listen to. Couple of mins of ads at the start and then brown noise all the way down.
I like brown noise with rain sounds too.

Bose noise cancelling earbuds are amazing my dh can snore like a grampus when he gets going but I am oblivious when wearing these and sleep so much better

I play crackling fire sounds through Google Home.

Thank you!

I have tried earplugs but they give me weird dreams and I’m combination with an eye mask even more so, I think it’s a bit too much ‘sensory deprivation tank’ and I go a bit trippy….

I like the sound of the headphones but I will try the brown noise first. I don’t think I’ll drown out the snoring but it’s the breathing that Disturbs me, once I’m awake I cannot tune out from it, so hopefully this will drown it out.

I tried the brown noise last night but I just found it intensely overstimulating, I could feel my heart racing along to it. It felt like a really fast paced noise which I know is ridiculous as it’s just ‘noise’ and that’s the point. I might try again, maybe listen to it during the day while just chilling out to try to get used to it a bit. In the end last night I sent dh to ds’s room and had a pretty crap night again. So tired today!

Sleep in a separate room, unless you are in the first throes of your marriage/ relationship, not worth the pissing about of being woken up, we've had separate rooms (and bathrooms) for most of our 35 year marriage, bliss ,we still love each other but don't want to murder each other 😊

@StrangeSally we don’t have a separate room. Dh will sleep on ds’s bottom
bunk but I find it really uncomfortable and I’m no more likely to sleep listening to ds snuffling about than dh unfortunately. If it’s snoring I will happily tell dh to do one, but k can really complain about breathing can I? I would happily sleep on the sofa but we are mid building work and I will be having a sofa bed in one of the rooms when they are finished. Doesn’t help me now though!

I just bought some silicone earplugs, will try those instead of the noise!

@thenewaveragebear1983 oh ,sorry I realise not everyone has the spare space.On holiday when we are forced to sleep in the same room, I have used the headphones from Amazon that fit on your head like a head band, they are quite good at muffling when hooked up to white noise, or pink noise, but I'm so sensitive to some noises that I couldn't stand it all the time😆

Yes I saw some headphones like that actually, I thought they would be good. I didn’t like the brown noise but I did think I could try some gentle yoga music or meditation music. It doesn’t need to be loud it just needs to mask the breathing!

I listen to white noise or rainforest music on Spotify!

@StrangeSally what is pink noise?

I listen to water sounds on Spotify. This one is my favourite and lasts all night if you want:

open.spotify.com/playlist/3mjDGZmAWzJP46TM2cJFFo?si=Dmg3UujxQ6mVUF1IPayEuw

I do find earplugs far better for snoring though, and I completely understand your frustration. Loop earplugs (£16 on Amazon I think) are great, far better than disposable ones.

I can’t deal with brown or pink noise at all, but I’m ok with a crackling fire or waves. I have a machine like this, but you can probably find an app. Might be worth a try, a different noise.

https://amzn.to/3MbZhtX

I much prefer stream/water sounds to white noise. I get mine from headspace which I can access free with my job (and I think quite a lot of places offer similar perks).

You could also try "gentle stream" or whatever as a search on Spotify or similar.

I listen to either train cabin noises: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5o7Yds42K2FPf2CF4Okb7Y?si=j1XtV1HTSXaCFF5Pv2by6Q

Or this rainstorm: https://open.spotify.com/track/2mlhErkYGf5R0xZCktlUqd?si=MuY2oZMTS9mWhwfJT0vFeA (my most played track on Spotify last year )

The app Resound On was recommended by my audiologist to help with tinnitus. You can build different noises to make a sound that is specific to you. Mine has 3 different sounds layered together, and I can adjust the levels of each one. You have build a library of sounds that you find soothing.

I have a marpac sound machine - it’s got a little fan in so it’s a ‘natural’ white noise instead of a recording if that makes sense - we used to have one that had all types of noises but I used to find myself listening for the point where the recording loops back from the start.

This sound machine has white noise, brown noise and about 20 other lovely sounds and it has an all night setting. Highly recommend

Deal: Easysleep Sound Machine White Noise Machine for Baby Adults Kids Sleeping with Night Light 25 Soothing Sounds 32 Volume 5 Timer Memory Function for Home Office Travel amzn.eu/d/5JH9yWR

Great, thank you all for the suggestions. I need to sort my headphones out and try some of the real sounds, they seem more what I’m looking for.
I did have a better night last night though with some silicone earplugs in, except one fell out in the night so I could still hear a bit of snuffling from dh!