Benefits of lulling babies to sleep with white noise and minus points

White noise is a method used to help your baby sleep better at night when other methods are not working as expected.

Babies often wake up several times during the night to breastfeed, sometimes it can be difficult to sleep again. White noise can help your baby fall asleep, but there are still long-term consequences that you should explore. So, consider both the advantages and disadvantages of this method of lullabies to consider when deciding whether to implement for your baby or not.

What is white noise?

White noises are special sounds used to help babies sleep that will eliminate noises from everything around them. For example, some white noises you can use are the sound of rain or the sound of waves, the sound of the hair dryer, the sound of streams flowing, the sound of TV interference ...

In addition, there are machines that can make special sounds for babies. Some machines are equipped with lullabies or even heartbeats to mimic the mother's heartbeat.

A year study published on the Archives of Disease in Childhood page was groundbreaking and proved that white noise actually helps a child's sleep. 40 children participating in the study showed that babies can sleep after 5 minutes when listening.

Benefits of white noise with babies

Some of the effects on the baby are:

1. Useful for children's sleep

The most obvious benefit of this remedy for babies is that it can help babies fall asleep quickly. If you notice your baby shows signs of being sleepy with ambient noises in addition to his daily resting time, he may be more likely to respond to whiter noise.

If your baby gets used to the noise and when everything goes quiet at bedtime, he or she may react back and not want to sleep.

2. Cover other noises

If your family has many small children, white noise will help your new baby. For example, when your baby wants to go to bed but siblings are playing, at this time, the white noise will help the baby get rid of the surrounding sounds and the baby will sleep more easily.

The harmful effects of white noise

Despite the benefits, white noise can have several disadvantages, such as:

1. Potential developmental problems in children

While there are many benefits to this, this method of lulling isn't always safe. In 2014, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) tested 14 white noise machines on the infant market and found they all exceeded the permitted sound limit (more than 50 decibels). or even an increased risk of a language disorder in a child .

Based on research by AAP, pediatricians recommend that any white noise generator should be at least 200cm away from children. You should also adjust the low sound level when letting your baby sleep.

2. The child may be dependent

Babies who respond to white noise may sleep better at night and naps during the day, but provided the noise generator is turned on at all times. This can make it difficult for your baby to fall asleep in places where you don't have the device with you, for example when your family is on vacation or at grandparents' house.

3. Some babies won't like it

You should know that white noise is not always effective. Each baby will have different ways to sleep on their own. As a result, this method may fail for babies who are not interested. If you want to try putting your baby to sleep with white noise, you should follow the advice of experts to ensure safety.

The importance of sleep for children

When adults are sleep deprived , they often look around dreamily, spending a long day with lots of coffee to help them stay awake. However, inadequate sleep can be difficult to find in infants and young children. Some of the consequences of sleep deprivation for babies are:

Excitement

Irritated crying

Discomfort often

Abnormal behavior change.

How much sleep do children need?

To avoid the harmful effects of sleep deprivation for your baby, you should know how much sleep your baby needs during the day. Here are some guidelines for your child's age groups:

Infants: Need about 18 hours of sleep a day and wake up after a few hours of sleep to breastfeed.

1 - 2 months: Children can sleep straight from 4-5 hours.

3 - 6 months: Children sleep about 8 - 9 hours at night and some naps during the day.

6 - 12 months: Sleep 14 hours a day with 2-3 daytime naps.

The above numbers are for reference only, because each baby will have different sleep needs and characteristics. Some babies need more sleep and vice versa.