White noise for newborns

Before a baby is born, he is surrounded by many sensations. The sounds that he hears is the blood pumping in the moms vessels, her heart pounding, breathing, talking and muted noise from the outside world. To help a newborn sleep longer and feel settled after birth, parents can have background noise or whitenoise playing during sleep periods or fussy periods.

The simplist form of white noise is the parent themself! Ssshhhing in the infants ear while rocking and holding the newborn is an effective way to help her stop crying. After the newborn is settled and sleeping, playing a radio set to a static station is an inexpensive white noise machine. The most important part of effective white noise or background noise is that it needs to be as loud as a vacuum cleaner. This is as loud as it was when the baby was in his mothers womb.

Sounds of water falls, ocean waves, birds singing may be relaxing to us, but a newborn doesn't recognize those sounds though he may eventually learn to like them. Playing the static radio at least for the first few weeks and more typically the first 3-6 months will help extend sleep periods and calm a fussy baby. If the newborn sleeps better with the white noise even as he is older, it is ok to continue using it.

For more information and a free Newborn Sleep DVD please go to www.SwaddleKeeper.com