Twinkie Mom: White Noise

According to the dictionary white noise is "noise containing many frequencies with equal intensities". The womb is a noisy place so naturally babies are soothed by white noise after birth. We have used white noise for naps and bedtime with Tanner and Abigail since they came home from the hospital. As they have grown the source of white noise has changed but the result has usually been quick to sleep and a lengthy period of sleep.

From 0-6 months we used the music (and vibration) settings on the Kolkraft Bassinet that we were given by my cousin Nicole. It had 6-8 classical songs that played for about five minutes, which meant we were constantly having to press the button in order for Tanner and Abigail to fall asleep. It ran on batteries (that were most difficult to replace...as Matt can confirm) so eventually the songs took on a drunken, slurred tone which meant they needed to be replaced.

When Tanner and Abigail were about two months old they began taking morning and afternoon naps in their swings. Our Graco Lovin' Hug Swing has ten classical songs and five nature sounds (and several volume settings) which play continuously unless you set the automatic shut off feature (which I never figured out how to do). We use the nature sounds because the songs became really annoying to listen to over and over again while the nature sounds could easily be tuned out as you washed dishes or folded laundry. In the beginning we had one Graco swing and Fisher Price swing that we were borrowing from a friend. The Fisher Price swing ran on batteries so we didn't use its music/nature sounds to make the batteries last longer.

Once the Twinkies grew out of their bassinets and began sleeping in their nursery we used the music/nature sounds on our Graco Pack 'N Play. It had five classical songs and five nature sounds that played for about 5-10 minutes. My only issue with the Pack 'N Play was that it had three volume settings: soft, really soft, and practically silent. None of them really seemed loud enough to get the job done which is why I bought a CD player for the nursery.

Once we got our second crib, and Abigail was no longer sleeping in the Pack 'N Play, I bought a CD player for the nursery. I looked for some lullaby CDs on iTunes and found two that I didn't hate (who knew lullaby CDs were some cheesy?). I selected these two CDs because they had instrumental songs with nature sounds in the background which seemed to soothe Tanner and Abigail to sleep. The only issue with the CDs is that Matt and I could never agree on the proper volume. I had it set at one level for naps and Matt would always turn it way down for bedtime. My belief was that it needed to be loud enough for them to hear but what do I know?

Just before the heat wave this summer Matt bought an air conditioner for the nursery because Tanner and Abigail were becoming increasingly uncomfortable sleeping there. At the time we were using the Graco Lovin' Hug Swing nature sounds for white noise in the nursery for naps and bedtime. Once we began using the air conditioner we stopped using the swing sounds because the air conditioner provided enough white noise to soothe the twins and get them to drift off to sleep. Once the heat wave broke we used the air conditioner on the fan setting which had the same effect on the Twinkies.

Once in a while the twins have to be separated at nap time because they keep each other awake. On these occasions Tanner sleeps in a Pack 'N Play in what we refer to as the "blue room" and I either use the Graco Lovin' Hug Swing nature sounds or a floor fan set on high (if the temperature warrants it). Recently the twins and I traveled to Caribou to visit my parents. I was worried because they wouldn't have the air conditioner to provide white noise. I took along a floor fan and put it on high during their naps and bedtime and it worked like a charm.

This summer when we were in Camden for a family gathering the twins napped at my Gram's home at Quarry Hill. Once again we were without white noise so I used the clock radio next to the bed. I recalled someone at Mother's Milk saying that tuning a radio in between stations worked as white noise for their child. I did just that and they were asleep within ten minutes.

Here are a few of the many white noise/sound machines available in stores: