 Infant Sleep Myth-conceptionsMyth #1: Babies sleep better in a quiet room
We might like to sleep in peace and quiet, but the "pin drop" silence of the nursery is actually sensory deprivation! In the womb, babies are surrounded by a symphony of sensations 24/7 - holding, soft touch, loud whooshing, and lots of jiggling. This is why white noise sound a - and snug swaddling - are the keys to boosting naps and nighttime slumber!
Myth #2: Never wake a sleeping baby
During the first months, babies learn how to self-soothe and sleep better when parent wake them up...each time they're put in the bassinet! This idea seems counter-intuitive (or just plain crazy!), but here's the logic behind it: All of us (babies, kids and adults) wake a tiny bit 2-4 times a night. If everything is just as it was when you went to bed, you'll fall back into slumber and not even remember stirring. However, if something is amiss (say, your pillow fell on the floor or you smell smoke) you'll probably wake up fully. So, rocking/feeding a baby to sleep is fine, but if you don't then rouse the baby - a bit - after placing her in the bassinet it will delay her learning to self-soothe (and make her dependent on you to help her fall back asleep).
Myth #3: All white noise is the same
The intensity of the sound babies hear in the womb has been measured at between 75 dB (like a vacuum cleaner) and 92 dB (like a hair drier). But, the amniotic fluid, thick eardrums, and middle ear fluid dampen out the high-pitched sounds so that fetuses actually hear a deep rumbling sound.
That's why hissy, high-pitched sounds are much less effective (and more annoying to parent's ears!)
Most sound machines and apps are high pitched, and is a problem for many babies, since high-pitched sounds command us to pay attention (think of sirens, alarms, etc). They can also be annoying to a parent's ears at night! On the other hand, we're all lulled by deeper sounds (the rumble of a train or plane). For this reason, our white noise CD contains 6 specially engineered tracks, 3 extra high-pitched sounds to calm crying and 3 low-pitched rumbling sounds to be used to promote sleep for at least the first year of life.
Stay tuned for more myths debunked by The Happiest Baby!
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