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Home › Articles › Crying Issues › Shhhhhh!

Shhhhhh!

Using White Noise to Calm a Fussy Newborn

By Joan Petrillo

Pages:  1  2  3  

Campbell isn't the only baby who likes the sound of white noise. Pediatricians often recommend white noise to parents of fussy or colicky babies. White noise is recognized throughout the pediatric medical community for its benefits in easing colic, calming crying and helping infants fall asleep.

White noise contains a mixture of sound waves extended over a wide frequency range. This unique noise calms by blocking out unwanted sounds. Because a young baby's developing neurological system is not able to tune out surrounding stimuli, many babies become overwhelmed. White noise helps shut out agitating factors that trigger crying. White noise lessens the stimuli of a baby's big new world, preventing stressed-out newborns. It also reminds them of life in the womb.

Exposure to white noise starts very early during the development of the fetus. Doctors report that a fetus begins to develop sense organs around the 8th week of pregnancy. The fetus gradually becomes sensitive to sound. At 29 weeks the fetus can hear the sounds within the mother's body. The "swoosh" of the mother's bloodstream, the heartbeat and the rumble of the digestive tract are constant. The fetus becomes comfortable with these sounds. In their dark, watery world, it is their constant friend – a 24-hour symphony and a reassuring melody.

Dr. Harvey Karp, an expert in treating colicky babies and author of The Happiest Baby on the Block (Bantam, 2003), says that "inside the uterus, the baby is tightly confined and hears a constant sound that's a little louder than a vacuum cleaner." This white noise, he theorizes, elicits a "calming reflex" that soothes and comforts the fetus.

"Fetuses are barraged by sensory input, from the whoosh of blood through the mother's arteries to the rocking of her every move," says Dr. Karp. He suggests that parents help their infants "feel like they are back home in the comfort of the womb" by exposing them to similar sounds.

Dr. William Sears, who has been a practicing pediatrician for more than 30 years and author of numerous pediatric books, says babies are soothed by sounds, preferably ones that remind them of the sounds they experienced in-utero. "The most calming sounds are rhythmic, monotonous, low-pitched and humming in quality, with slowly rising crescendos and decrescendos," he says.

Dr. Sears says use of white noise, "will lull an overloaded mind into sleep" by blocking agitating stimuli. He recommends trying to re-create white noise with household devices such as a vacuum cleaner, bathroom fan or the sound of an air conditioner.

The practice of soothing babies has been passed down from generation to generation throughout the ages. Its longevity is attributable to its efficacy. Today's parents enjoy the convenience of white noise machines and white noise CDs. These handy tools help soothe both parents and infants by creating a comforting environment where babies drift off to sleep.


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