Do white noise/sleep aids actually work?

[Lucylou321]

I have a 4 month old who has gone from sleeping 6 hour stretches overnight to barely an hour at a time if I'm lucky. I know sleep regression is common around this age but it's been like this for about a month now and I can't see any light at the end of the tunnel and I'm totally exhausted from not sleeping more than an hour at a time. I BF and baby is wanting to feed each time but more for comfort than anything as only feeds for a short time and then falls asleep.

I'm getting pretty desperate and wondering whether any of the sleep aids like Ewan or Ollie the owl, my hummy etc are worth it and if so which ones? I'm willing to try anything at the moment I'm so exhausted

I was gifted a myhummy when my baby was 2 weeks (she's 3.5 weeks now). We've had some great nights and some terrible nights since then, and although I think the bad nights have been down to feeding issues it's hard to tell for sure what impact it's having. That being said, I think it is helping with creating familiarity around bedtime. Also, ours switches itself off after a while but if she cries it goes back on automatically so there have been times she has stirred and I've thought she might wake up but she just drifts off again so it seems to soothe her. I am glad we have it and wouldn't stop using it so I think it is worth trying.

Well they work for me! You don’t need to buy one first though, experiment with something off YouTube on your phone and see what impact it has. My dc preferred waves to white noise. None of us liked the heartbeat ones.

Used white noise on YouTube for a few weeks when my little girl was about a month old, got Ollie the owl soon after as it seemed to work. Used it every night since and she loves it

Yes loved mine. The music and lights were great, but the white noise was wasted on mine.

First of all: hang in there, it will get better. I can't say when but it will! And also I'm sending lots of sympathy because I know only too well how hard sleep deprivation is!

Personally for me and DS (almost 1 now) the white noise didn't work, we tried a Ewan and apps. I know lots of babies who it did work well for. I'd try an app on your phone first and see if it helps. Different babies seem to like different noises so if your baby likes a certain type of noise ie waves or heart beat or white noise you can choose you sleep aid based on that.

Good luck and I hope you get some rest soon

We used to have Ewan and Ollie but actually found a free app on my old phone worked just as well. He has it on for naps and bedtime and it helps him. He has had it from very early days and is 9 months now. I don't blame to stop it until he can choose whether he wants it or not

I don't PLAN to stop it that should say

They work until they don't work. In other words it can be patchy and I have my doubts! You feel like you've cracked it one night and the next it stops working... use the free sounds online

I LOVE our white noise machine. DD is 7 weeks old and it soothes her really well when she won't settle. I used an app first to check it worked, now we use a hushh machine that has a clip so can be taken everywhere. It doesn't auto turn off after 30 mins like many (babies often wake as soon as it stops) so I can have it on all night. It's now my go to gift for all new parents.

I'd recommend downloading a free app first my pfb loved white noise until 4 months he's 18 months now and we have just started using it again for afternoon naps. It works well ..... for now!