Is It Okay to Play White Noise All Night for a Baby?

Is It Okay to Play White Noise All Night for a Baby?

Blog Article

White noise benefits babies’ rest in many ways, but parents should remain mindful. While there’s no set time for how long you should play it for your baby, setting limits is critical. Time limits prevent newborns from becoming dependent on the white noise they initially need to sleep through the night. As your baby grows, you can wean them off the sound machine more easily when they don’t rely on this white noise to sleep through the night.

Eventually, you may stop using a sound machine for your baby entirely. However, when you decide to stop using the infant white noise machine will vary depending on your and your baby’s personal preferences. Continue to experience your little one’s sound machine benefits by keeping conservation in mind. Setting time limits can help save energy and prevent your machine from burning out prematurely. Since the best baby sound machines can cost $100 or more, this can also save you a lot of money in the long run.

Are you wondering how loud white noise should be for your baby? Since your baby’s auditory senses are more sensitive the younger they are, it’s essential to keep track of how loud you’re setting your infant's white noise machine. Still, you should also understand the noise decibels your baby can handle.

While new parents tend to think of their baby as extremely delicate, the “shushing” sound in utero can range anywhere from 70 to 90 decibels. For comparison, most vacuum cleaners operate at 70-80 decibels. So, your baby is used to some pretty loud noises! However, this doesn’t mean their ears are prepared to deal with loud volumes all the time, and the benefits of a sound machine for babies will be more useful at environmentally similar levels.

While it can be tricky to determine precisely how loud the white noise should be for your baby, you’ll want to match it to your environment and adjust as your environment changes. For example, if your baby is crying, you’ll need to set your machine to match their crying. Believe it or not, this can be up to 120 decibels when your baby is upset. Once your baby starts to fall asleep, you should adjust the intensity of your machine. The best white noise machine for babies should always include a dial or range of volume settings so that lowering and raising the noise is fully adaptable to your current setting. All night, white noise machines can be safely played at 50-70 decibels. Still, you should start by setting 30-60 minute limits to prevent dependency.

Some parents wonder if white noise is bad for babies. Ultimately, the answer is no– as we’ve discussed, white noise benefits a baby’s rest in many ways. However, setting your machine volume too high can impact your infant’s auditory health. As mentioned above, leaving your baby’s machine playing all night can also lead to dependency. The best way to avoid any experience where white noise is bad for babies is to opt for a device with adjustable sound and time limits. Consequently, the best baby white noise machines allow you to set time limits. Additionally, some of the best sound machines for babies come with built-in volume limits.