Is there the ultimate trick that will really put any baby to sleep? Yes, there is! It’s called white noise and has rocked hundreds of thousands of babies to sleep. What’s behind it?
When all ropes are torn, no more praying and begging will help, every bit of hope that your baby will ever fall asleep again is shattered, there is only one thing that helps: the white noise. But what is that exactly?
White noise is a constant sound that you can play to your baby. The noise is in a certain frequency range, which has a calming effect on babies.
White noise: The sound of the womb
But why does it do that? It’s simple: White noise sounds similar to the sound of blood flowing through the womb – a sound that the baby literally grew up with. When the baby hears White Noise, it gives him a feeling of security and safety.
If your baby is between one week and six months old, this method works best. The happiest parents are those who have a writing baby: These babies also fall asleep within minutes of hearing white noise.
Even writing babies fall asleep
The sound should be played at room volume, about 40 decibels, and not too close to the baby’s ear. Most parents leave the sound on only to fall asleep, reduce the volume once the baby falls asleep or turn it off completely. However, it’s not a problem if it runs all night – after all, the baby has been listening to the blood rushing in the womb 24/7.
You can find out what the white noise sounds like in this YouTube video, which has already received over 420,000 (!) hits:
Mothers for whom this noise seems anything but reassuring should be told: there are babies who are reassured by the following noises (no joke!)
- Running vacuum cleaner
- Switched-on hair dryer
- Fan
By the way: White noise is part of psychoacoustics and is often used in tinnitus patients.