Lullabies or White Noise?

With DS I used to play a lullaby CD on repeat when it was bedtime. It became part of the routine and I figured he would learn to associate the music with sleep and it would help calm him. He has always been a good sleeper anyway so I am not sure if it really worked. I know white noise is recommended by lots of books/"experts" to calm babies and help them sleep longer so this is what I have been using with the girls. I have a white noise CD I play on repeat for naps/bedtime. Here's my concern, I just don't think it will have the same associative relationship as the lullabies might. They hear white noise all the time (heater, cars, vacuum, etc.) so it is not associated strictly with sleep, whereas a certain lullaby CD would be, kwim? What do you all think, white noise or lullabies?

 

Great question! We haven't done either with our boys, but only because the cd player we have is monstrous and I refuse it put in in their bedroom. They sleep fine without it. I can't wait to hear what others have to say.

 

With my older 3 kids, it was a lullaby CD. With the babies, I use a white noise machine. I have one not so good sleeper, and that is the 3 year old!

 

I actually do both. When they go to bed, I push their cd player that has the lullaby cd and I also push their noise maker on. They usually fall asleep by time the cd is done and then the noise machine is onthe rest of the night.

 

ugh, I am thinking that if I could just leave my vacuum on constantly they might actually sleep! (my neighbors must think I'm nuts!)

I tried some lullabies and they're not working, I have a humidifier going all the time its not working any more its not loud enough, so yesterday I bought the first years soother that has lullabies, noises, and heartbeat, I am hoping its loud enough. I am going to give that a try when I get some batteries. (duh!)

 

I have used music since the beginning. We started out with a John Coltrane CD (wierd, I know, but DH is a jazz buff), but I switched to a classical lullaby type CD that someone gave us. I started to get worried that when they were like 21 and on a date that they would hear John Coltrane and nod off...

I turn it on when I give them their last bottles at night and let it play until it's finished. I even take it when we travel.

 

I have used a white noise machine from the beginning. We use it for nap time and all night.

 

We use a white noise machine for naps and bedtime, but mainly b/c we have a small house and we need something to drown out our voices and the t.v. I don't know if the babies associate it with sleep or not, but are usually good sleepers (at least DS is anyway).

 

Our swings had music and white noise built in, i thought the white noise was very anoying but it put them right to sleep, they loved it.
and now when i hear it, it makes me miss when they were that little

 

I use the waterfall crib toys, they love them.

 

We started using a white noise machine just before they were six weeks old.

 

QUOTE(benderboys @ Feb 10 2008, 09:15 AM) [snapback]615041[/snapback]
I have used music since the beginning. We started out with a John Coltrane CD (wierd, I know, but DH is a jazz buff), but I switched to a classical lullaby type CD that someone gave us. I started to get worried that when they were like 21 and on a date that they would hear John Coltrane and nod off...

I turn it on when I give them their last bottles at night and let it play until it's finished. I even take it when we travel.


:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

 

We used white noise for a long time. At first, it was really just to drown out other household sounds. They started acting like it was bugging them around 10 months, so we experimented with a lot of things, cricket sounds, rain, nothing, lullabies, etc. Eventually, what worked is to leave the radio in their room on the classical music station. That's been working great....except for last night when they played some AWFUL opera at 2 AM for almost an hour! They were stirring and I couldn't stand to listen to it anymore, so I turned it off. Then they both woke up, but eventually they went back to sleep!

 

The twins have used white noise machines since birth for naps and bedtime. They are both great sleepers. I did recently come upon a lullaby machine by Homedics that plugs in (yea, no batteries!) & shows images on the ceiling so I do turn it on when I put them in their cribs. It can stay on permanently or it has a timer in 15 min increments.

 

Lullabies.

 

Ihave used the music for calming and to help STTN. Now I can even put it on in the car and it calms them and stops crying and sometimes even to sleep. I would recommend music.

 

We did lullabies for the girls at bedtime. It was on while we got them ready for bed and then played for 15 minutes after we laid them down. There was no white noise. At naptime, I had an ocean sounds CD that we played. It would play the entire nap. I liked having something different for nap and bed since they were different ways of sleeping.

With Dax, I have a lullaby toy that plays as I get him ready for bed and then it plays for 5 minutes after I put him down. He also has a white sound machine (an air purifier) that is on during nap and bedtime though. In our case, the white sound is there to drown out his loud sisters rather than for a sleep associative benefit.

If I had to choose only one and there were no other loud sounds to take into account, I would go with the lullabies. Like others have said, they can be taken in the car so that is good.