Suggested ad (Whisbear)
What does a perfect night of sleep look like? Maybe you’re in a dark room, lying in a fluffy bed. You have no alarm set, and the room is completely silent. Sounds pretty perfect, right? While that might be just right for you, babies actually thrive on a bit of noise while they sleep! That’s part of the reason why parents have been shushing their babies to sleep for thousands of years.
Why do babies like noise during sleep?
While it may not seem it from the belly-side view, the womb is actually a pretty loud place. Research has shown that the ambient sound your baby hears in the womb – largely the blood running through your blood vessels and the movement of your stomach and intestines – hovers around 90 decibels (about the level of noise when you’re 25 feet from a revving motorcycle).
When you meet your baby, it’s kind of like they’ve spent the last nine months at the motorcycle rally. And then one day, they’re born into a very quiet hospital room, and everyone is whispering to them. You take them home, and you want to make sure that they sleep as well as possible. So you make their sleeping space as serene as possible. As it turns out, though, they miss the noise of you.
Will any type of noise help my baby sleep?
You might be familiar with the term “white noise,” which refers to the sound made when you combine all sound frequencies together. If you played every single noise that the human ear can hear at the same time, you would have white noise.
As it turns out, there are many “colors” of sound. The colors refer to the area of the sound frequency spectrum they fall on. A Northwestern University study found that “pink noise” can have positive effects on sleep. Pink noise emphasizes lower tones than white noise, so it’s less abrasive and a lot gentler to the human ear.
A German study found that when participants listened to pink noise while sleeping, their brain waves were larger and slower, which is often linked to heightened memory and processing skills. Another benefit of pink noise is that it decreases production of cortisol – the stress hormone!
How do I play “pink noise” for my baby?
If you don’t want to put a computer or other pink noise making device near your baby’s crib, Whisbear is the ideal alternative. Whisbear is a premium European sleep aid, sensory development toy, and best friend for newborns, infants, and toddlers. Shaped like a bear, Whisbear produces a calming pink noise that safely soothes crying and colicky babies by mimicking the sounds of the womb.
When your newborn is too young to sleep with stuffed animals, Whisbear attaches to the edge of their crib via magnets in its paws. When your little one gets just a little bit older, Whisbear becomes an engaging part of playtime too, with its rustling paws and ears that encourage sensory and fine motor development.
Unlike other sleep devices, Whisbear plays for a full 40 minutes. After it gently turns off, Whisbear shifts to the CRYSensor setting, ready to reactivate anytime your baby starts to cry and pacify your baby back to sleep (granting you some extra ZZZs).
Tap below to help your baby sleep better with the pink noise of Whisbear.
This ad is brought to you by Whisbear
Sources
- Lindsay Abrams. “Study: Listening to certain sounds seems to improve sleep.” The Atlantic. The Atlantic. April 12, 2013. https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/04/study-listening-to-certain-sounds-seems-to-improve-sleep/274921/
- Amanda MacMillan. “The sound of ‘pink noise’ improves sleep and memory.” TIME Health. TIME Magazine. March 8. 2017. http://time.com/4694555/pink-noise-deep-sleep-improve-memory/
- Marla Paul. “Sound waves enhance deep sleep and memory.” Northwestern Now. Northwestern University. August 15, 2017. https://news.northwestern.edu/stories/2017/april/pink-noise-sound-enhance-deep-sleep-memory/
