White noise or lullabies? What can make newborns sleep well

While white noise might help a baby fall asleep, its effects on long term health are still disputed.

More parents are making use of white noise to put their newborn to sleep, as an alternative to the famous lullabies.

Having a newborn at home, sleep practices become an important part of the routine.

Pediatricians often tell parents to engage in relaxing activities right before bedtime like giving warm baths to the newborns or playing pleasant music. 

While white noise might help a baby fall asleep, its effects on the long term health are still disputed.

What is white noise?

A white noise is a sound which has the same loudness across all audible frequencies, making it a bland sensory experience.

This sound can mask all other sounds occurring naturally in the environment like sounds of vehicles on the road, people talking inside the house, music playing in neighborhoods and others.

Some studies have shown that playing white noise and then putting a baby to sleep has a calming effect on their heart rate and respiratory rate.

A 1990 study published in the National Library of Medicine had studied two groups of 20 neonates to see how well they respond to white noise.

The results showed that about 80 percent of babies fell asleep on exposure to white noise, while the remaining 20 percent slept spontaneously.

White noise significantly cuts off external noises and is beneficial for households having multiple children in different age groups or living with extended families.

Down side of white noise

An expert speaking to Harvard Health Publishing said white noise might interrupt important stages of sleep like the Rapid Eye Movement (REM phase) if the music is loud for the baby.

Some experts have also raised concerns around the growing dependency of sleep on external aids like white noise.

A study published in the Academic Academy of Pediatrics found most white noise machines were exceeding recommended sound levels which are set at 50 decibels.

Many studies are also recognising not all babies will respond well to white noise and it could be an individual choice.

Lullabies versus white noise

Lullabies, on the contrary, are melodious songs used to make a baby sleep. Most of them are made of repetitive lyrics which can soothe a fussy baby.

In comparison to white noise, lullabies are more suitable for calming down a crying baby and helps the parent bond with the child, however, white noise is more effective in maintaining sleep by cutting down the distractions and the sound resembling the whooshing sound of the womb, creating a feeling of familiarity.