Need Ideas to Create White Noise During Naps

Updated on January 11, 2011
J.K. asks from Kula, HI
51 answers

Hi! My baby girl is three months old & is constantly being awaken by her older sister and dog barking during naps. I'm looking for creative ideas or a great product that works to create white noise for her. I don't own a cd player or iPod with speakers & prefer not to use the tv. Please share I need help!

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A.C.

answers from Cincinnati on

I use a fan in the summer and a cool-mist humidifier in the winter for my kids. Works like a charm and is useful, too.

2 moms found this helpful
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T.M.

answers from Philadelphia on

I use a fan for myself. It really helps, i am a light sleeper. I would get a white noise machine. The fan may make her a little chilly.

1 mom found this helpful
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M.F.

answers from Houston on

I use a fan. I also have a noise machine makes rain noise, ocean, etc. They are about $20-30 dollars and you can find them at all the major stores.

1 mom found this helpful

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S.T.

answers from Provo on

We use a humidifier. Blocks out the noise or naps and at night and helps our daughter sleep through it!

4 moms found this helpful

S.M.

answers from Kansas City on

Try buying an air purifier. You will have a few benefits at once: the noise of the fan, cleaner air, and you can get some lavender essential oil which will relax baby even further and make the room smell nice. If you sprinkle a few drops of the oil on the filter of the purifier at the beginning of nap, it will last longer.

2 moms found this helpful
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J.B.

answers from Atlanta on

There are little machines you can buy through Amazon, but my favorite white noise is a fan. I sleep with one every night and have been addicted to the sound since I was a kid. I was also happy to read with my last baby, that there are some studies showing that having circulating air in the room where a baby is sleeping evidently helps cut down on SIDS! That was nice to know because I definitely had my fan going when he was in the cradle next to our bed as a newborn.

2 moms found this helpful
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B.F.

answers from Atlanta on

We bought a clock radio at Belks any mark down store it also has on it the white noise stuff like, nature, rain, etc. it has worked great and will grow with our child's needs.

1 mom found this helpful
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J.C.

answers from Washington DC on

Bought mine at Bed, Bath, and Beyond. I have one in each of the bedrooms and one in the hallway between the two. They work great. (I use the 'rain' function.)

1 mom found this helpful
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S.S.

answers from Los Angeles on

We use an air purifier in our son's room. We got it to help with his allergies but now we just turn it on for the white noise...It blocks out a lot of outside sounds!

1 mom found this helpful
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L.A.

answers from Dallas on

if you can use a laptop, etc we used http://www.simplynoise.com/ when my daughter had colic.

we loved it because it has options if you want to try brown or pink noise too. (ours liked the brown noise.)

oh yeah, and it's free. :-D good luck.

1 mom found this helpful
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A.V.

answers from San Francisco on

We have a Baby Einstein sea aquarium thing that attaches to the side of the crib and our two month old loves it. It has different settings so you can either play music or white noise bubble/water noises with different volume settings. It also has the option to light up with fish that swim by or you can just turn the lights off altogether. I especially like that after a certain amount of time the bubble noises get quieter then the lights turn off and gradually turns itself off, magically right around the time that our son is asleep! I think its only about $40 from Target or Babies r Us.

1 mom found this helpful
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T.C.

answers from Johnson City on

i used a radio, just a normal one, set to a soft station.

1 mom found this helpful
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J.R.

answers from Los Angeles on

Hi J.,

There are great noise machines that you can get from A Sharper Image or Brookstone. I use one that has ocean waves on it for my son and it has a volume control so when we have something going on in the house, I can turn it up to block out the noise. I also found My Pal Scout/Violet from leapfrog has a little nap time dog that plays 10/20 minutes of music or 10/20 minutes of nature sounds. I use that one when we are traveling.

Hope this helps!

1 mom found this helpful

M.M.

answers from Chicago on

Buy a Marpac white noise machine (980 is the current model, I believe).
You can get them on ebay for $40 - amongst other places.

I have one in each of my kids' rooms, and it's become the standard shower gift that I give to people that are expecting.
We couldn't live without them!

1 mom found this helpful
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A.H.

answers from Los Angeles on

We got our noise machine at the Sharper Image store. It has a number of settings but we use the "white noise" option. It helps my twins sleep through each others noises and outside noises.

1 mom found this helpful
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R.M.

answers from Philadelphia on

A small fan placed in her room can go a long way to blocking outside noise. I bought one for my daughter's room when she was 4 months old and I face it toward the wall so it doesn't blow on her. You can get a cheap fan at your local Walmart for around 10.00-12-00. Good Luck!

1 mom found this helpful

M.M.

answers from San Antonio on

The cheapest option is to get a small table fan and point it away from your baby's crib. A good brand is Vornado. http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=vornado+fan... These fans are loud and can drown out the sound of barking dogs, door bells & screaming siblings. Any brand will work as long as it looks like the Vornado brand - make sure it doesn't say "quiet, noise-free" on the box!! You can find these types of fan for around $20 at Walmart, Kmart, Target, Bed Bath Beyond and even Walgreens.

A wonderful benefit to using a fan is that studies have shown that air circulation can help prevent SIDS http://www.healthnews.com/family-health/child-health/simp...

Keep in mind - that if you ever travel you'll have to bring the fan, otherwise your baby will NOT be able to sleep w/o it!! Your baby will get accustomed to the sound and w/o it the room will be too quiet!!

Good luck!

1 mom found this helpful

D.M.

answers from Denver on

I use a fan. I point it at the ceiling so it's not stirring up the room. I have also used humidifiers for this.

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C.C.

answers from Los Angeles on

A hepa filter works great and also helps to eliminate odors. There are three settings (high, medium and low). We keep ours on low all the time.

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S.M.

answers from Los Angeles on

Have you tried swaddling your baby? My sister-in-law gave me a 'miracle swaddle blanket' for each of my babies, and it really is wonderful. My son outgrew his in about 3 months, but my daughter slept in hers until about 7-8 months; today she is the better sleeper. Good luck.

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S.O.

answers from San Diego on

We always turned the radio on or played a CD. My son liked Hawaiian reggae music. My daughter preferred softer Hawaiian music. And if I didn't have a CD to play, I would just turn on the radio or the fan. You can get a small radio/cd player for about $20 or a small for less than that.

Both my kids also liked being swaddled in their swaddler blanket. You can get them at Babies R Us or Target.

L.F.

answers from Dallas on

i bought a fan at wal-mart for $9.99. works great!

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M.H.

answers from Los Angeles on

Infants find the sound of a vacuum cleaner calming and will relax them to sleep. Or anything that mimics the sound of a vacuum cleaner nshould be helpful. This was my grandson's pediatrician's suggestion, and it really worked!

Hope this helps.

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K.W.

answers from Houston on

We bought a music box that we can plug into the wall (so we don't have to keep winding it). I just turn it on and my daughter sleeps through anything (lawnmower, dogs, etc).

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M.S.

answers from Los Angeles on

We use a fan. We all have one in our rooms. I have to have it to sleep :-)

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D.S.

answers from Los Angeles on

Homedics Sounds Spa is great! It's inexpensive and there are many different settings--the waterfall setting works great for my baby.

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A.P.

answers from San Luis Obispo on

We have always had a small fish tank...the bubbler and filter make a peaceful sound. And the light makes a great nightlight.

S.S.

answers from Los Angeles on

I didn't look through all of your responses, but this is something I read about online recently... it's awesome and doesn't require anymore effort than turning on your computer:

http://www.simplynoise.com/

A cool feature is that you can set it on "oscillate" so the sound will sort of come and go.

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S.H.

answers from Detroit on

Cloud B Giraffe Sound Machine is my favorite... you can get it for about 20 dollars at amazon... not only does it have white noise, but a few other neat sounds too (the jungle, etc). It also has velcro attachment, so it hang wherever you would like... crib, car seat, etc.

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D.P.

answers from Raleigh on

I have the Marpac Sleepmate 980a in both my kids rooms. Can't live without them! Rather pricey, but they last forever, they are small, and do the job. It sounds like a box fan, but without the wind.
http://www.amazon.com/Marpac-SleepMate-980A-Electro-Mecha...

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H.L.

answers from Cleveland on

I always run a fan during naps, just keeping it far away so not cold.

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C.D.

answers from New York on

I use the Sleep Sheep. I got it at Buy Buy Baby but you can get it other places too. It has 4 sounds and my 3 month old son loves all of them. He sleeps differently to each sound (I play the ocean & he sleeps for an hour or longer... and the stream sound he sleeps all through the night - but the whale or rain he sleeps for 30-45 mins only so its good for just napping).

I suggest getting the smaller travel size instead of the big plush sheep.. that way you can bring it everywhere you go. It has velcro straps and it has made doing grocery shopping and errands a breeze!

D.B.

answers from Boston on

We use an air filter designed to filter dust and allergens out of the air. There are many on the market - Bionaire, Holmes and Honeywell are some of the big names. Look in any discount or appliance store - usually near the humidifiers, and some stores even have an "allergy" section. You need the change the filter every so often but it's a constant noise and better than a CD. Ours is small - about the size of a small toaster oven - and we often take it on trips with us so we have the white noise anywhere we go.

H.S.

answers from Cincinnati on

A white noise machine. (sharper image and many other stores have them). I cannot imagine my last 5 years without it. My children are great sleepers because of it!

M.P.

answers from Provo on

Do you have an iphone or touch? I have an app there and I love it! I now can't sleep with out it too. It's the sleep machine lite. I'm actually loking at buying an older model for cheap just for him and the one app.

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C.P.

answers from Provo on

I have used the radio and set it to a very soft station, a fan, and a humidifier. The humidifier worked great because our air here is really dry and the baby slept better.

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C.W.

answers from Bellingham on

you can pick up a sound machine for $20 or even less. They usually have a white noise sound, and a beating heart, ocean, rain, etc.

L.A.

answers from Austin on

Bed bath and beyond sells the alarm clock with the sound machine it is usually on sale for about $19.99.. check craigslist in your area.. someone probably got one as a gift and is selling one.. I love the one I have it has 6 different sounds or you can play the radio portion of it.. Also mine has a projector clock so you can point it at the wall or ceiling to see what time it is.. works great as a night light..

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M.L.

answers from Philadelphia on

I used a fan with my 5 children set to medium -- works great! And inexpensive. I just point in away from the crib so that there is no draft.

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J.V.

answers from Raleigh on

I agree with the other mom that said to buy a noise machine....I knew what she was talking about but didn't know what it was called. I don't own one myself but I know someone that lives in a apartment and their neighbors are up a lot at night and they said they love it! Good luck!!! : )

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M.H.

answers from Las Vegas on

I use an Air Purifier with my two kids, it works great for white noise and also cleans the air. Mine has 5 different speeds and they get louder with each speed so you can adjust it to your liking. I love mine, it's a Rabbit Air brand. Love it!

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A.H.

answers from San Diego on

get a radio/cd player or run the vacuum

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D.G.

answers from Los Angeles on

Bed Bath & Beyond has sound machines. We use the waterfall sound ;)

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M.T.

answers from Los Angeles on

Have you tried the radio? Not on any particular station but, in between stations where all you get is "static". It's a little tricky because, you can easily pick up two stations at once which wouldn't be soothing at all but, try it – everyone's radio is different. Switch around from AM to FM to see which works best for you. I did this for my first and it worked pretty good, I later bought a white noise machine from Sharper Image, and needless to say it works better but, did run about $40.00 though.

Good luck!!!

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M.O.

answers from Denver on

Same issue with our 2 month old (noisey older siblings, lol) we bought our little one the Cloud B Giraffe!! She loves it and we got the travel size so it can soothe her in the car, stroller airplane... wherever we go. It has four sounds, including a real giraffe noise and volume and timer control. plus it's plush so she can cuddle with him when she gets older=)
http://www.amazon.com/Cloud-Gentle-Giraffe-Go-Soothing/dp...

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J.K.

answers from Anchorage on

I used a box fan. Kept it close to the door away from them, so that it didn't blow directly. We moved to a Colder climate, so the fan isn't a good idea. I tried CDs, white noise machines, sttuffed animals that make sounds, but nothing compared to the fan. My kids are just way too sensitive to noise. One day my husband and I went on a quest to find a noisy humidifier. Plugged every single one we came across, and they were too quiet. The sales people always gave us a puzzled look when we asked for a noisy humidifier. Finally we found one at walmart. Is ugly, but it gets the job done!!!! It's a fake plastic wood color with a black top. Has three settings. First setting is okay. I put it on the second one because it sounds like the hum of a jet engine ( like when you sleep on a plane with your ear upagainst the window. The third actully sounds like the plane itself is in the room. We don't use the third setting Lol. Both the fan and humidifier worked great. Drowns out noise very well. Espcially noisy toddler, tv and company. Hope this helps.

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K.K.

answers from San Diego on

Hello, If you have a radio, you can put on classical music and play it so that she can hear it. This will not only calm her, it will help with the other noises in the house.
Good luck with your precious family.
K. K.

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B.B.

answers from San Antonio on

We have used a humidifier for naps and bedtime since our daughter was 3 months old. It has helped with allergies and stuffiness, and with sleeping for longer period of time. She is now 15 months, and we just started alternating between the humidifier and a fan set on low. She is making the transition so easily.
Good luck!

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K.D.

answers from New York on

A fan is great. I sleep with one. For both my kids I bought a white noise machine at BRU. $20 and we use the wind setting. It's small and perfect! Easy to pack and take with us when we visit friends and family.

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