Why White Noise Helps a Baby Sleep

Have you ever googled “how to help a baby sleep” when experiencing many sleepless nights with your baby? It can be such a frustrating time for parents, especially when baby doesn’t fall asleep for a few hours at night each night. Turns out that using background noise, or white noise, can help babies fall asleep and stay asleep!

My four babies all had different routines before going to sleep, but the routines all seemed to work thanks to some sort of background or white noise. My oldest would have his last bottle and then need one of us in his room until he fell asleep as his mobile played music. My second would have her last bottle and then need to be rocked to sleep as her mobile played music or as I sang to her. My third baby needed to nurse before he fell asleep as his mobile played music. My fourth baby nursed as an infant and then went right to sleep, but as she got older she just liked to go in her crib with the sound of a space heater fan.

All of them, however, liked shushing, which is pretty close to the sound of white noise.

Here is why white noise helps a baby sleep:

• Babies are used to the loudness of the womb. When a baby is inside of a mother during pregnancy, he or she hears the constant sounds of the heart beating, digestion, etc. which can be very loud. When they are born, the world suddenly seems very quiet.
• Babies like shushing. What’s one of the noises you make when your baby is fussy? I bet you shush in some way or another. The shush is again tied into the loud sounds heard in the womb. White noise simulates that kind of noise.
• White noise helps to block stimulating noises. My kids know I’m coming in the house when they hear the floorboards creak. The baby now knows that noise too, but with a white noise machine on, she can’t hear the floorboards, or doors closing, or her older siblings making noise.

The Whisbear: A New Baby Sound Machine

Whisbear The Humming Bear is a cuddly, stylish and intelligent teddy bear that can help babies sleep better using white noise. It was created in Poland by two sisters who are moms to five kids combined who wanted a way to help babies to fall asleep.

From Zuzanna Sielicka-Kalczynska, the co-founder:

“My first son was suffering from colic and crying for hours at a time. Sleep seemed like an impossible luxury. My struggles sparked the idea of a soft, gentle toy that emits white noise, known to pacify colicky babies. This is how Whisbear was born.”

The Whisbear has a sleek Scandinavian look. It is inspired by the first kids’ drawings, where the arms and legs spring straight out of the head.

The Whisbear’s paws contain securely sewn in magnets that attach easily to crib, stroller, or car seat. It needs to be attached to a crib for the baby’s first 6 months if used unsupervised. (Note: I would leave it attached to the crib until at least a year since babies shouldn’t have anything in their bed until then.)

Inside of the Whisbear, enclosed in a pocket that closes using velcro, is a small, round white noise machine.

When not in use as a sound machine, the Whisbear is also a fun playtime toy that promotes motor and sensory development thanks to its crinkly and colorful legs.

How Does Whisbear Work?

The noise that Whisbear makes comes from the small round white noise machine. It has one button that turns the device on and off and also adjusts the volume.

The device can be turned on manually each night, or it can be set so that the CRY Sensor activates when the baby makes noise. The CRY Sensor has been created based on extensive research. It emits a special tone of white noise and features a stand-by mode that activates when a baby cries during the night or naptime, which means that parents don’t need to go into baby’s room to reset the device.

Whisbear Review

When I received the email about reviewing the Whisbear, I wasn’t sure I was going to accept. My baby isn’t quite a newborn anymore (sob!). She’s now almost 18 months old, so we’re definitely out of the newborn stage.

I decided to accept however when I realized that she has been used to white noise since birth and would soon not have any noise in her room. When she was born, she slept in my room next to my bed. I had the baby monitor to my older kids’ room on loudly (I have sleepwalkers), so there was always a shushing noise in our room all night.

When she graduated to her own room and crib around a year old, it was in the middle of winter. Her room doesn’t get any direct heat since it’s an old house, so I used a space heater fan in there to keep her room at a good temperature. (No worries. Space heater was used on a low setting, away from fire hazards, and with the door open.)

The fan made a consistent, shushing noise. When it wasn’t on, she was more restless and took much longer to fall asleep.

But this spring, there wasn’t a need for the space heater since her room was warmer. Thankfully, that’s when I was contacted by Whisbear for the review. They sent me one for free for this review.

The Whisbear is adorable. On its own, it is a cute and cuddly toy to play with. The baby loved it the moment I took it out of the box.

Unfortunately, because of the design of the crib, I couldn’t get the Whisbear to stay on the railings as its legs were too short to touch. On a crib with thinner railings (or on a stroller), the magnets in the legs would hold it in place.

Before using it during naptime or bedtime, I spent some time figuring it out and playing with the white noise device. Here’s what I learned:

• It uses 3 AAA batteries which are not included.
• White noise device turns on easily.
• It only plays a steady shushing sound.
• Sound adjusts to a louder volume easily, but not as easily to the lower volume. For some reason, it kept turning off. After a few tries, I was able to do it.
• Outside of the Whisbear, the highest volume is quite loud. Inside of the Whisbear, the highest volume is still loud, but muted a tad.
• The CRY Sensor works well, as long as it’s a loud cry. It won’t turn on if baby happens to just roll over in bed or whimper.
• The device is kept in place pretty well with the velcro, but I would still remove it if a baby was playing with the Whisbear just to be on the safe side.

I decided to keep it on the lowest volume whenever the baby slept with it in bed. It was still loud enough to help her sleep. If she were still an infant, I would use the louder setting, but at a distance.

I would recommend the Whisbear to anyone looking for a white noise device that will last from infancy to toddlerhood. It would make a great baby shower gift for any expecting parent as well!

More about Whisbear

• Winner of the 2016 Kind + Jugend Innovation Award in Cologne, Germany, the leading European award frequently referred to as the “Oscar” of the toy industry. Whisbear was the only independent toy brand among awardees.
• Participant of Google Campus for Moms in Europe and Blackbox program for international startups in Palo Alto, CA.
• Entirely made in Poland (we think that Polish gals have a thing for baby products – think Ula from Tula); eco-friendly materials; TUV certified
• The stuffing used is Hypoallergenic.

Be sure to visit www.whisbear.com to learn more and to follow on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest.

Where You Can Buy a Whisbear

The Whisbear, once only available in Europe, is now available in Watermelon, Citron, or Turquoise (leg colors)  on Amazon, as well as at Babies R Us. It retails for $49.99. (affiliate links). The Whisbear is covered by the lifetime warranty.

Whisbear Giveaway!

Whisbear has offered to give away a Whisbear to one of my readers !

 

First, join the conversations over at Mommy Knows What’s Best on Facebook by liking my page! (Not required, but the more the merrier, plus you’ll always be in the know about new giveaways and posts!)

Don’t forget! Come back each day to complete the daily entries! 

Disclaimer:  Giveaway begins 6/20/17 and ends 7/4/17. Mommy Knows What’s Best is not responsible for prize fulfillment. One entrant/email per household. One winner will be chosen randomly. Void where prohibited. Winner must be 18 or over. Open US. Winner is chosen at random by Giveaway Tools and entry is verified. Duplicate entries will be disqualified. Winner will be notified by email provided and on the blog and will have 48 hours to respond to MommyKnowsWhatsBest@gmail.com. Facebook, Twitter,Pinterest and all other social media outlets are in no way associated with this giveaway.  By entering this giveaway, you agree to these terms and conditions. If you have any questions, please email Marissa at MommyKnowsWhatsBest (at) gmail.com.