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Ok, so the column's called 'Kids Play on the Net' and sounds like it should be all fun. But this time around, I want to tell you about two sites I've discovered since my son was born that I use often to aid in his (and our) sleep.
At Howefitz Blog, I covered Dr. Harvey Karp's “Five S's”. Possibly the most crucial of these is 'shushing', at least in my experience. Now, you can either shush until your lips go numb and turn blue, turn on a vacuum or hair dryer near your bouncing newborn, or you can do what any self-respecting geek parent should do: turn to the internet for help.
Shushing is essentially white noise. To find a very technical definition of white noise, check out Wikipedia. To get your pants scared off, watch the special features of the movie White Noise. (Not the movie itself, but the special feature that shows the real people that study white noise. Ghost Hunters wishes it was that creepy, but I digress...)
In a nutshell, white noise is that sound you hear when the radio isn't tuned in or the TV is on a channel that's just 'snow'. In an effort to save my aching lips, I did a google search for white noise generator. I then picked a couple of favorites:
Sound Sleeping
Soundsleeping.com is a great site with a few options. You can choose a music type (drums, flute, or vibes) and several sound effects (bird song, bonfire, creek, etc...). You choose from the options and can mix the sounds, adjusting the volume of each until you reach you're maximum level of soothing audio enjoyment.
Although you can't truly define this as white noise, I like this site for myself, and often use it for sleep aid as well as background ambience when I'm writing or just want to hear my own thoughts.
The Pros: The adaptability and options make this one a lot of fun.
The Cons: If you want to relax your baby, you want something NOW! You can't fiddle with a bunch of sliders and optional sound effects, which brings us to my favorite...
Simply Noise
Simplynoise.com is the simplest white noise generator I've found online, and it is absolutely amazing for getting my newborn quieted down! Simply Noise is just one page. You can choose three different types of noise: white noise, pink noise, and brown/red noise.
Brown/red noise turned out to be my favorite. It's deeper than the other two, and is reminiscent of ocean sounds. The only other option on Simply Noise is toggling oscillating on/off.
Just choose your sound, volume, and whether you want it to oscillate, and you're headed to sleepy town!
The Pros: With it's few options, this site is ready in one or two clicks. Each time you visit, it remembers the type of noise you like and the last level of volume! You just have to click oscillate again if you like that option.
The Cons: You will soon become addicted and rely on this every night.
Why it works:
For your newborn, Dr. Karp says that the first three months of life should be looked at as the fourth trimester. Your baby in the womb was settled next to his mother's aorta. The flow of blood inside his mother's body was his soundtrack for nine months, and it was loud! A similar sound will be soothing for him as he adjusts to life outside.
For you, the white noise is a mask for distracting ambient sounds. I've heard many people say that they can't sleep without a fan on, and it's probably for this reason. It's hard to get to sleep if there's a highway near your window, for example. White noise is at just the right frequency to mask those sounds and give you the night's rest you deserve!
I hope you enjoy these sites as much as I did, and get a great night's sleep!
Footnote: I have yet to encounter a disembodied spirit while resting to white noise, so don't be afraid to try this out... ;)
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written by BellaDaddy, October 15, 2009
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