Never in a million years would I have guessed how much I would come to appreciate, no LOVE, white noise. (Not that terrible movie from 2006 or whenever it came out). I'd always heard that babies sleep better when they have some kind of background noise on & was so relieved to receive a Sleep Sheep at my baby shower (I'd forgotten to register for it!). The sleep sheep is great, however we ran into a small issue with the length of time the noise plays for (ours has 2 settings, 20 minutes or 45 minutes). & rocking a baby standing in a bathroom with the shower going (stupidly, I'd often have it on hot) in the middle of the night got old pretty fast too. So... I turned to the wonderful world of technology (namely the Apple I-tunes store) for a solution. Enter "Ocean Waves" off the Natural White Noise for Babies album.
What.A.Lifechanger. Every kind of technology we have - computer, iphone, ipad, ipod, CD has a copy of this "song" on it in our house. (sidenote, a bit scary how much technology we have). It's a 10 minute long track that I put on a continuous repeat-1 loop while she sleeps - primarily while she naps during the day. It was a lifesaver when she was a tiny infant, and I now find myself turning to it again as she's gotten a bit older & is constantly listening for Mommy or Daddy's voice (which distracts her from sleep or wakes her up!). Not to mention other household noises... or a cat who without fail decides to come down & start yowling begging for a snack the moment Kate goes down for a nap.
A funny aside; I mentioned this to my neighbor, who has 3 grown children, & she laughed. "We bought a tape recorder & spent 2 hours recording the noise of the hairdryer back when my oldest was a baby. We would literally set a timer & run in to flip over the tape before it would stop to keep her from waking up". This made me crack up. As with soooooo many "baby enlightenments" I'm having, there are always continual reminders that however new & fabulous this idea may be to me, all other moms have been through the same thing before.
& a thank you to all other more "seasoned" mothers who put up with new moms like me. I suspect it makes you smile to see new moms "discovering" things as much as it makes us smile to "discover" them too.
So bottomline; new moms - add this $1.00 item to your baby MUST HAVE list - it will be the best GW you've ever spent!
xo
p.s. Also the idea of taking the baby in the shower with you on the nights you don't have time for a long bath (once they're older - we started around 4-5 months) - another stroke of Mommy genius. If you haven't tried it I HIGHLY suggest it - though they do get a bit slippery so its easier as a person job - one holds the other stands outside & suds/scrubs & takes the baby out earlier so that you can finish your shower in peace. (& take an extra 5 minutes because you deserve it!!!)
p.p.s. This is on the ipod (with speaker) right now while Kate naps, enabling me to get a little bit of work done... & write this post! :)
(available on Itunes)
What.A.Lifechanger. Every kind of technology we have - computer, iphone, ipad, ipod, CD has a copy of this "song" on it in our house. (sidenote, a bit scary how much technology we have). It's a 10 minute long track that I put on a continuous repeat-1 loop while she sleeps - primarily while she naps during the day. It was a lifesaver when she was a tiny infant, and I now find myself turning to it again as she's gotten a bit older & is constantly listening for Mommy or Daddy's voice (which distracts her from sleep or wakes her up!). Not to mention other household noises... or a cat who without fail decides to come down & start yowling begging for a snack the moment Kate goes down for a nap.
A funny aside; I mentioned this to my neighbor, who has 3 grown children, & she laughed. "We bought a tape recorder & spent 2 hours recording the noise of the hairdryer back when my oldest was a baby. We would literally set a timer & run in to flip over the tape before it would stop to keep her from waking up". This made me crack up. As with soooooo many "baby enlightenments" I'm having, there are always continual reminders that however new & fabulous this idea may be to me, all other moms have been through the same thing before.
& a thank you to all other more "seasoned" mothers who put up with new moms like me. I suspect it makes you smile to see new moms "discovering" things as much as it makes us smile to "discover" them too.
So bottomline; new moms - add this $1.00 item to your baby MUST HAVE list - it will be the best GW you've ever spent!
xo
p.s. Also the idea of taking the baby in the shower with you on the nights you don't have time for a long bath (once they're older - we started around 4-5 months) - another stroke of Mommy genius. If you haven't tried it I HIGHLY suggest it - though they do get a bit slippery so its easier as a person job - one holds the other stands outside & suds/scrubs & takes the baby out earlier so that you can finish your shower in peace. (& take an extra 5 minutes because you deserve it!!!)
p.p.s. This is on the ipod (with speaker) right now while Kate naps, enabling me to get a little bit of work done... & write this post! :)
Um we would be lost without our white noise. It's a really a brown noise loop (also from iTunes) and we keep it playing loud all night/during naps. It's the best at allowing the baby to keep sleeping during those light sleep stages.
ReplyDeleteI was just writing a blog post about how much I love our white noise. New mommy minds think alike :)I will have to try the baby shower idea, that one I have never done?!
ReplyDeleteLove our white noise machine!! She probably doesn't even need it anymore, but I do!
ReplyDeleteWe are addicted to using white noise. We bought a white noise machine from Brookstone and crank it on the loudest setting. On our phones we use the White Noise app (tons of sound choices - we use 'pink noise'). When I'm out and about, I can count on putting it on in his stroller and it helps him zonk out in a new place. I use it too if trying to nurse and he is distracted. Kind of helps calm him. Anyway we use it for naps and all night long - though our family has found it weird before (my mom hates it - always jokes that he will grow up to say his favorite lullaby is "zzzssshhhhh". LOL)
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