Digestives?
There are so many things I love that it is hard to choose sometimes. For instance, I am tempted to tell you about Josh’s inspired chocolate-covered digestive biscuits with a thin layer of peanut butter on top…but that only really applies to my fellow UK pals, so I’ll leave it at that.
No, my other passion…
I think I’m going to tell you about something I really believe in. It has been a part of my life for several years and helps with work and relaxation. Yes, friends, I am talking about white noise and white noise generators. Those of you who really know me know that I am a huge proponent of white noise- almost embarrassingly so.
It all started here.
It all started when we had Rebekah. Sure, Josh’s occasional heavy breathing or snore would startle me awake at times, but I was usually able to wiggle around just enough to stir him into another position and then go back to sleep. Sneaky, I know. 
But when we had Rebekah, I experienced a lot of anxiety post-partum depression that kept me from sleeping. Even after she started sleeping through the night, I would lie awake listening to tiny noises or in anticipation of her waking up. So, we started using white noise. We were still able to hear important sounds (such as Rebekah waking up and needing us), but it enabled me to fall asleep without worrying about it. Plus, if she woke up early talking quietly to herself, I didn’t immediately have to wake up.
For the kids’ rooms
Once noise started to become a problem for Rebekah, who as my best friend, Shannon describes, “She can hear carpet crunch”, we took advantage of white noise in her room, too. It was especially helpful when Luke was born and he was waking up at all hours of the night- we didn’t have to worry about Rebekah waking up, too. I really couldn’t handle both of them crying at 3am. As it is, both my kids love their sound machines. Rebekah will remind me to turn it on, and Luke loves to play with the various nature sounds on his.
p.s. They do have sound machines that mimic mama’s heart for baby, too- you know those sleepless sweet days and nights where baby just wants to be held next to Mama? If you’re juggling anything else, such as work, house work, cooking, or Lord forbid, other children, you can’t always hold the wee ones. I have used the heartbeat sound therapy even when I have babysat small babies and was shocked how soothing it was for them.
For sleep-training
Our next application was for crying it out. I know that some of you may not agree with this philosophy, but when applied appropriately and at an age-appropriate time, crying it out can help babies learn to self-soothe and sleep better in the long run, thus making them well-rested and happier babies. You don’t have to agree. Seriously. But, Luke would have eaten at 2am and 5am for the rest of his life if given the chance. So, with both babies, we were able to let them cry for a certain amount of time until they outgrew their need for feeding to sleep. You can read more about my experience here.
You may wonder why we used white noise? Because I am not totally heartless. I cannot bear to hear my children cry for longer than a few minutes. So, we turned it to a level that allowed me to tune it out, but Josh could still hear each child and determine what needed to happen. Bless him. He’s a good man. There are also great generators that have timers- so you can set it for 15, 30, or 60 minutes and then it will go off. This can help with not allowing your baby to cry too long, or for you to get in a nap, but not sleep away the whole afternoon unwittingly.
For work
My newest application is for work. Since I do work from home, white noise can help me focus better and for longer periods of time. I naturally start to tune out the surrounding world for the couple hours I need to work. This is particularly helpful since I live in a flat with thin walls. We can hear everything, including our neighbour jamming to Johnny Cash at all hours of the night.
For our sleep
We still use a white noise generator for night time sleep- I reiterate my point that our flat is LOUD. Without white noise, I can hear every car door slam on our street (and they park bumper to bumper up and down it), every door in adjacent flats open and close, Josh making breakfast for himself earlier than I care to get up, Rebekah stomping up and down the stairs for midnight potty trips, Luke kicking in his crib, the wind howling through our draft flat, etc. I usually start the generator off pretty low and turn it up as needed. The cool thing is that most are adjustable, so you can find a happy sound and a good volume for you.
For Travel
As you know, we live in Scotland. So even though the UK is crazy-expensive, is still has the added bonus of being relatively close to “real Europe.” We try to travel somewhere new once a term, including summer. Last autumn, we went to Germany, next week we’re hitting Paris, in April we’re going to the West Coast/Isle of Skye with my mom, this summer we’re visiting family in London with Josh’s parents, and this autumn, fingers crossed we’ll do Italy or my beloved Spain. How do we globe-trot with 2 small children and 2 medium-sized adults who are not used to sharing a room? I’ll say it again: white noise generators. The feature that is particularly helpful for travel is portability. That way we still have the luxury of peace regardless of who checks in next door.
Shopping for the right white
My favorite features for a white noise generator are:
- Portable
- Small, lightweight
- Adjustable
- Nature sounds
- Timer
As it is, I do write for a white noise company. You may have noticed my personality in the links. 
Anyway, as such I can point you towards some great products. First, here is a FREE white noise generator!! Also, there is an upgrade I you can have for free- just use the discount code: TILTUP. Also, if you are in the market for a machine of your own, I can also provide you with a 10% off discount for any product: TILT10.
For more Things I Love Thursday, be sure to check out Diaper Diaries.
Disclaimer: Interestingly, as a result of being a believer in white noise, I was offered a job as a copy writer and editor for a white noise/sound masking company. As such, I do work for a white noise company. But it is this connection that allows me to offer you the discount. Win-win, I say.
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We used music with Joshua (and later Abigail) when we first moved to a small apartment, but looking back I think white noise would have been much better.
I love white noise machines. I couldn’t live w/o out ours. We keep in it my sons room, and have used it since he was a newborn. I think that is what helped him sleep through the night at an early age. When his baby monitor on, we can still here it, so we get the benefits too. If we’re traveling and I don’t have the machine, I just can’t sleep right. I think I’m addicted.
I loved this post! White noise IS important and is such a helpful, small thing for us worried mamas! We were given the perfect travel sized machine as a hand-me-down when Jackson was born. It finally bit the dust, but I replaced it with a pretty small one. I took it on our little day trip last weekend and it traveled just fine. Phew
Our white noise maker is a necessity of life. I am not even kidding. We have a really great portable one that we travel with, but also use every single night plugged in. Then, in addition to that, we have a air purifier that makes a lot of “white noise” sounds, so we use that too. Since having both girls sleeping in the same room, we needed the air purifier as added noise back up. We sleep with our doors open, so we hear the noise in our room too. And the black out shades…. oh my love. Black out shades, white noise machines and warm oversized blankets. That’s a good recipes for a long nap!
I am in the living room of our very small house, which is right next to each of my kids’ bedrooms. They both have white noise machines they’ve had since they were babies – and they’re 6 and 4. I look forward to spring every year but get irritated because I forget how noisy the world is when we open the windows – birds! Cars! Doors!
Thanks for the visit to my blog today and the nice comment; I enjoyed your post too!
They are truly wonderful!!!
I knew it!
You know I have always been big on “white noise” when the kids are sleeping, but I always use bigfans, air purfiers, and humidifiers. I never know what to do for traveling. A small machine just for white noise for travel is genius!
Great post and tips! We use fans as white noise and I can’t sleep without them. Jason would prefer no white noise but has gotten use to it. I have one right by my bed for when I can/want to sleep without him and without having to listen for Cody and then we have one in our bathroom that is the perfect distance to not bother Jason too much but it drowns out sounds that bother me.
The one in Cody’s room is great because we can have students over and not have to constantly tell them to “be quiet” and Cody sleeps right through whatever is going on. We do travel with the fan and it helps in hotels, etc. I don’t have an actual white noise machine but it sounds great…might have to look into that! 
I agree with y’all, obviously- white noise is fab. I also used to use fans, but hated the bulk for travel (or asking family to have one on hand), and I was always nervous about little fingers and choking hazards with babies/toddlers with the cord. So, I am very pleased to have portable, light-weight, small options at hand. Plus, you can change the kind of sound so it’s not always fan noise.
It is nice to have a portable one. Josh also had to get used to it but I notice he definitely turns it on for a nap!
Yes- having a portable one is awesome!!!! It’s so lightweight we even take it when we can only have carry-on luggage!
Ok, you’ve convinced me that I might have to look into something portable. It is a pain to take his fan with us. I have it hidden back to where he can’t get to it so its safe. We keep fans at our parents houses but when we travel to a hotel it’s a bit of a hassel. I was afraid at first of getting Cody so attached to the fan that he wouldn’t sleep without it if he had to but so far it doesn’t seem to be a problem. He sleeps through power outages and thunderstorms just fine. We’ll see how much he relies on it when he’s older. ha!
Great post, Em! My kids are addicted to fans, which my mom thinks is just ridiculous (okay, never outright said, but implied)…it is a huge hassle when we travel. Though they can sleep without anything if they have to, they wake up earlier and don’t sleep as peacefully. So, I’m checking out your links-I appreciate the info, as it’s kind of overwhelming trying to decide what to get. Thanks!
Mine are exactly the same- I don’t feel like that we’ve created monsters or anything. Just better sleepers.
I am a firm believer in sound machines (& use one in both of my kids’ rooms!), but I do also believe that it gets them used to sleeping with “sound” and that long term they will have a hard time sleeping without any (kind of like those who use ear plugs and then can’t sleep without them!). Things that other children have easily learned to sleep through, mine won’t. Not sure what to do about that problem. I don’t like the fact that I am creating sound/noise machine-dependent children. :-/ I agree that it seems to be the best solution for us during this time in our lives, while are children our young (and we live with our in-laws!), but in theory, I would love to have the machines out of their rooms when they get a little older. We’ll see how it goes. And as small as they are (sound machines), it would be one less thing to have to pack on a trip (& one less thing to forget!).
You are right that the walls in most UK flats are thin-thin. But I usually didn’t have any trouble sleeping on Orchard and I’m not an especially sound sleeper. I’m not “dependent” on any background noise to sleep though. Unless, of course, it was during the day and there was extra noise outdoors [hello lawn bowlers!
] or we had the windows open. (We did, however, start using sound machines for the boys to protect them from each other’s noise!!) You definitely gotta love that Johnny Cash though . . . ha ha! “And It burns, burns, burns . . . the ring of fire.” He only played it probably once every 3 months or so when we were living there though. He must be stepping it up a notch!?! Sorry! :-/ Did we warn you about that??
I have recently discovered the MAGIC of white noise….my husband has recently started snoring…..or Ive recently become a much lighter sleeper and have noticed the snoring more….and with a baby due in a few weeks, I VALUE my sleep…..so I “stole” our recently purchased white noise machine that we bought for baby from his nursery and it is now in my room and I am addicted!! Love it!
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