How White Noise Creates a Happy Haven For Crying Babies
By Cherie L. Stirewalt
If you were a baby, you’d cry too. After being thrust into a world full of strange people, strange sights and strange sounds, you’d want to return to the womb; a happy haven where it was warm, cozy, and the sound that lulled you to sleep was a pleasant kind of whooshing. So how do you show you are unsatisfied with your current living arrangement? You cry. And you drive your parents bonkers. What is a parent to do?
Experts believe that you can significantly decrease crying associated with colic and recreate this whooshing noise by playing white noise for your crying baby.
What is White Noise?
White noise is all around us. The humming of a fan, the road noise in the car, these are all forms of white noise. And in your baby’s case, the whooshing in the womb was white noise. Quite simply, white noise is all the sound frequencies a human ear can hear all being heard at once. Almost like a crowded room of people all talking at once. That roar you hear is white noise.
Why Would My Baby Want to Hear White Noise?
Your baby needs something to soothe her and remind her of her happy haven in the womb. Playing white noise will accomplish this goal and more.
First, you can play white noise to help drown out, or mask other noises. Several people sleep with a fan running to not be disturbed by other sounds in the house. Likewise, by playing white noise while baby sleeps, most sounds will be masked. So, if the dog barks, or the phone rings, you don’t have to worry about your baby being disturbed. She will sleep more soundly and be much happier.
Second, the white noise will mimic the sound your baby heard for 40 weeks or so while in the womb. That rush, whoosh, or roaring sound is easy to recreate with simple things you might have around the house. The sound that most resembles the sound baby heard is a vacuum cleaner running, but there are a few more options you could try.
How Do I Recreate White Noise?
You can recreate white noise by using everyday items around the house. Below are some ideas.
- A radio set to static
- A vacuum cleaner running
- A fan running
- A dishwasher running
- A hair dryer running
The goal is to create a soothing atmosphere which reminds baby of her environment in the womb. You can take other actions to achieve this atmosphere by turning down the lights, turning on some white noise, and keep baby gently swaying (swings work great for this). Another idea for creating the womb environment is to swaddle your baby. Swaddling helps your baby feel safe and secure.
But I Don’t Want To Burn Up My Appliances!
If you try running your vacuum cleaner during a crying spell and your baby calms down quickly, you might want to invest in a white noise CD, or white noise generator. You can find these readily available for purchase online.
A white noise CD is more portable. You can just throw it in your diaper bag and go. If you prefer, you can opt to download a white noise mp3 and have them on your computer to burn several disks for your baby’s other caretakers. The other plus about having a white noise CD is you can control the volume. You can also put the CD on repeat and let it go for hours.
So, if your baby has colic, and you are looking for a fast, easy solution to try to soothe her crying, pull out your vacuum and plug it in. Recreate that happy haven she experienced in the womb by making your own white noise. Baby will get some peace, and mommy and daddy will get some quiet.
Cherie Stirewalt is a colic baby survivor and writes about the colic remedies she mastered to soothe her baby’s crying.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Cherie_L._Stirewalt/190585
Memtech Acoustical has supplied and installed CSM (Cambridge Sound Management) technology systems for our customers in the military, medical and educational fields. Cambridge offers innovative, simple and intelligently engineered solutions to the problems of privacy and acoustic distractions including white noise machines.