White noise a technique to help the baby fall asleep

White noise: a technique to help the baby fall asleep?

Popular with some moms, white noise is said to soothe babies at bedtime.

The sound of rain, a vacuum cleaner, a hair dryer, a car engine...

Photo Ádám Szabó at Unsplash

What about those white noises? The opinion of Anne Desgeorges, expert in perinatology and consultant in infant sleep.

What is white noise?

White noise is a tone that combines all sound frequencies simultaneously. Its characteristic is a certain uniformity thanks to the superimposition of these sound frequencies.

"White noise creates a kind of sound screen that prevents other, louder, more specific noises from penetrating and thus disturbing the baby," explains Anne Desgeorges, a breastfeeding and sleep consultant for the baby.

White noise can be natural sounds like rain, a river's beat, wind in the trees, a heartbeat or conversation.

"They can also be mechanical like a fan, a washing machine, the dishwasher or even the hair dryer, the hum of a car engine on the highway or the "chhhhhh" of the radio between two stations," explains Anne Desgeorges.

White noise, to put the baby to sleep

White noise has been known to help babies fall asleep by masking other sounds.

This is because the receivers in your inner ear are not sensitive to the same frequencies: if they are activated at the same time by white noise, external sounds seem to be attenuated. "White noise calms many babies.

Most likely they will remember the soft purr of the mother's womb, where all sounds were perceived by the baby through the filter of the mother's heartbeat and other body noises (blood circulation and other noises such as digestion).

When a baby falls asleep with a white noise and if the sleep was soft, he will associate the white noise with pleasure, his mother's warmth and breastfeeding.

"White noise is not magic, but it is a very effective tool for new parents," says Anne Desgeorges.

Rain, vacuum cleaner... Which white noise to choose?

Every child is unique and if a source of white noise is suitable for one baby, it can disturb another. So don't hesitate to try several white noises if your child has trouble sleeping.

You can choose between the sound of a hair dryer, a vacuum cleaner, a heartbeat, raindrops, etc. If your child can't tolerate any of these, stop the experiment or try again a few weeks later.

"Beware, white noise should be as soft as the sound of a shower if you are in the next room. Your baby shouldn't feel like he's on the edge of an airstrip all night.

Remember that every baby has a different level of sensitivity to external stimuli such as noise.

You can play with the choice of white noise, the level of noise, and where the source of the white noise is placed," advises Anne Desgeorges.

The pink noises

Pink noises are white noises of lower intensity and higher frequency. They combine several sounds such as a heartbeat and the sound of a conversation or a fan.

They are richer, deeper and not too high-pitched like the sound of waves, wind in the trees, rain with an "Um".

"Two studies, one Chinese and one German, have shown that in adults, pink noise improves the quality of sleep and deep sleep in particular and facilitates memorization.

Therefore, we can deduce that in addition to creating a sound screen, pink noise calms the brain, relaxes and improves the quality of sleep," concludes Anne Desgeorges.

Nissan launches relaxing playlist

Nissan engineers partnered with electric music composer and DJ Tom Middleton to create the Nissan LEAF Dream Drive. It's the first zero-emission playlist that puts a baby to sleep in minutes.

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