White noise can make such a difference when it comes to your child's sleep. But with it's use comes a lot of questions and concerns. This post is designed to answer the most common questions I get about white noise so you can make an informed decision for your family.
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Why use white noise to sleep and not lullabies?
I always recommend true white noise over crashing waves, rain sounds, or even calming music. But why? Because true white noise is meant to block out stimulating sounds. The sound isn’t changing if you use true white noise. But if you use any of those other options, there are changes that you can hear.
Our brains are always processing stimuli, even when asleep. These changes can be stimulating and if your child is in a lighter stage of sleep, these changes may even stimulate their brain enough to pull them out of sleep. That’s obviously NOT what we want! So I always prefer to use white noise so we know that it is working for us and not against us with sleep.
Is pink noise and brown noise the same as white noise?
Pink and brown noise work just as well as white noise when it comes to sleep. White noise is made by using all the frequencies at once. Pink noise lowers the highest frequencies a bit and brown noise lowers them even further.
Many people actually prefer pink and brown noise over white noise because it sounds less harsh. No matter which color you choose, all will help block out stimulating sounds and help your baby fall asleep quicker and have better quality of sleep.
How loud is too loud for white noise to sleep?
As a parent, this question can be a hard one to find an answer to! Right off the bat, we know that prolonged listening to 85 decibels or higher can cause hearing damage so we want to stay away from that high decibel level.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends using 50 decibels of less in a hospital setting. I recommend that you use a decibel level around 60-65. Here’s why:
- 60 decibels is about the level of normal everyday conversation. Your baby is used to this level of decibels on a daily basis. When you realize that normal conversation happens at this level, you can see how it’s not going to be harmful to the ears. Our ears were designed to communicate with each other frequently!
- The recommendation of 50 decibels in a hospital setting is just that. It’s meant for hospitals where machines are beeping, people are coming in and out of patient rooms frequently, and there’s lots of different voices and chit chat. That is obviously a very different setting from your child’s quiet room when there is only white noise playing.
- 60-65 decibels is still far below the upper limit of 85 decibels (which for reference could sound like a hair dryer or blender or lawn mower).
Won’t my child become dependent on white noise to sleep?
Yes, they likely will! But just like with any sleep habit (rocking to sleep, pacifier use, etc) we can make changes. If you don’t want your child to use white noise forever, you can change it at any time! Or you can wait until they are old enough to request to change it themselves.
I hear from parents a lot that they have this fear of dependency for sleep but honestly, it’s not a huge deal. White noise can easily be transported with your family for when you travel. Even if you forget your white noise, I’m willing to bet you’ve got an extra device with you that can play white noise from an app.
On top of that, we don’t seem to place the same fear of dependency on things like pillows and night lights and comfy blankets. So I think it really comes down to whether you believe the research that shows white noise improves the quality of sleep. If you do, then why would we consider it a bad thing to use for sleep?
When should my child stop using white noise to sleep?
Because white noise improves our quality of sleep, even most adults could benefit from sleeping with white noise so you don’t necessarily have to wean your child off! But, if you are really set on weaning your child off of white noise at some point in the future, I recommend waiting until after 3-4 years of age so that you’ve passed most of the big sleep transitions and milestones (toddler sleep, crib to bed transition, dropping naps, new siblings being added, etc). When you get to that point, you can just turn the volume down a little bit each night until it’s gone! Easy breezy.
Can white noise to sleep cause developmental delays or processing problems?
This question is rampant right now online and on social media. But let me ease your mind on this one, there is nothing in the research that shows correlation between white noise use for sleep time and any kind of delay or disorder. And if there isn’t even correlational evidence, then there certainly isn’t causal evidence either.
Most of the studies I’ve seen people incorrectly cite about these concerns are based on rats being exposed to white noise 24/7 and often at a much higher decibel level (85+) than is ever recommended. Of course there would be an issue if your child was subjected to high levels of white noise all the time. This would obviously negatively impact their ability to hear and process language and therefore their ability to communicate effectively. But that is a far cry from using it during sleep time only and at normal decibel levels.
If you see this claim being made, I’d encourage you to ask for the peer-reviewed research, then go and read it, and you’ll see that none of these claims have anything to do with using white noise responsibly for sleep.
Wanna know more about white noise? Check out my other white noise blog: White noise: Why it’s a non-negotiable for sleep. And head here to see the white noise machines I personally use and recommend.
