by Mama Butterfly
When my son was born, my mom bought us a "noisemaker," which is a little machine that makes white noise sounds -- wind, ocean, rain, etc. I started playing it softly for my son when he got old enough to be sensitive to noise in the house while he napped and slept at night. It became especially helpful as he got older and we began traveling more often. He was so used to the noisemaker sound that he always knew when he heard it, it was time to go to sleep. It created a "homey" ambiance that allowed for better sleep when we weren't at home. He never became dependent on it, but I found it helpful on many occasions.
He is almost 3, and I still play it for him when he sleeps. It's so helpful, particularly in the afternoons when it's time for his nap and A isn't quite ready for hers. Our house is on the smaller side and our living room is just a small hallway away from his room. She can squeal the afternoon away and he can't hear it at all.
When my daughter was born, I bought one for her and now both my kids dream to windstorms and waterfalls! I love getting my little A ready for bed. I'll still be holding her upright and as soon as that noisemaker clicks on, her eyes almost immediately droop. It cracks me up every time! It's kind of like insta-sleep -- just kidding! If only there was such a thing!
Do you have any "secrets" that help your kids sleep, particularly when you're away from home? What helped you easily fall asleep as a child?
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Comments (9)
well, that is my secret, We have always used a noise machine. She can fall asleep with out it, but it's funny how until about 10 months, JUST turning it on did create the "inta-sleep" phenomena!!!
I love noise machines!! My kids love them too. A lullaby CD works the same and I love that when we go on a long car ride and I'm ready for them to stop fussing and doze out all I have to do is pop in the "sleepy CD" and they are out like a light.
Makes for a very happy mama after a long day!!
My boys fall asleep to an ocean cd. I've used instrumental cd's too. Like soft classical or piano music. When we go on a trip, I pop it in after lunch while we're driving and usually, within 5 minutes, they are all out!! Love it! Nice thing about using the rain noises, is that when there's a storm, it's not so scary and won't wake them up, because they are used to that sound!!
wow, you've classically conditioned your child!!!
my daughter used to go to sleep to the womb bear. Since she was born I've always had noise going on, like the TV. But that's when she shared a room with me.
A railroad track borders our property, so we hear the train going by all the time and when our woods thin out in the winter it gets really loud. Oddly, we find this comforting. We also have a big dog and two cats and a house full of creaking wood floors. All that background noise combines to be our "noise machine."
I let my baby fall asleep when it's really noisy in the house, that way people don't have to be quiet while she's asleep and also if she falls asleep when it's quiet, any little noise will wake her up. It's weird, but it works! She can sleep through anything these days.
I use Baby Einsteins Sleepy Baby CD.
Soft music.
At the center that I worked at, all the infant rooms had the noisemakers, and for the older rooms we usually had soft instrumental music playing.