Expert Advice

“Many new parents mistakenly believe their babies prefer the gentle tinkling sounds of a brook or the distant hush of the wind. It seems counterintuitive that our tender infants would like such a loud noise; certainly we wouldn’t. Yet babies love it! That’s why many books recommend the use of roaring appliances to settle screaming infants. I have never met a cranky baby who got overstimulated by the racket from these devices. On the contrary, the louder babies cry, the louder the shhhhing has to be in order to calm them.”
The Happiest Baby on the Block by Harvey Karp, M.D. pg. 96

“For new babies, loud shhhhing is the “sound of silence,” the anti-cry. Shushing may seem a strange way to help a crying baby; however, so is turning on a vacuum cleaner. Yet that’s what many baby books suggest! What’s so special about that sound? The answer is, this white noise imitates your baby’s experience inside the womb and switches on her calming reflex.” Fetuses do hear the muttering of voices and other “outside” noise. However, most of their daily entertainment is a continuous, rhythmic symphony of shhhh. Wave upon wave of blood surging through the arteries of your womb makes this harsh, whooshing sound, which is as loud and rough as a gale wind blowing through the trees. “In the early 1970’s, doctor placed tiny microphones into the wombs of women in labor and found the power of the sound was an incredible eighty to ninety decibels (even louder than a vacuum cleaner)! To get a good idea of what this sounds like to your baby, try dunking your head under the bathwater while the faucet is turned on – full blast.”

Fetuses do hear the muttering of voices and other “outside” noise. However, most of their daily entertainment is a continuous, rhythmic symphony of shhhh. Wave upon wave of blood surging through the arteries of your womb makes this harsh, whooshing sound, which is as loud and rough as a gale wind blowing through the trees.

“In the early 1970’s, doctor placed tiny microphones into the wombs of women in labor and found the power of the sound was an incredible eighty to ninety decibels (even louder than a vacuum cleaner)! To get a good idea of what this sounds like to your baby, try dunking your head under the bathwater while the faucet is turned on – full blast.”
The Happiest Baby on the Block by Harvey Karp, M.D. pg. 140-141

“Most babies sleep better when a harsh, continuous white noise plays near their bassinet. These womb-like sounds drown out other distracting noises and have a profoundly lulling effect. As with swaddling, the mere addition of white noise to your baby’s nursery may extend his sleep by an hour or two.”
The Happiest Baby on the Block by Harvey Karp, M.D. pg. 217

In one study, for example, an obstetrician inserted a microphone into a women’s uterus while she was in labor (after her water had broken), and recorded the external sounds that could be heard from the inside. He got clear recordings – not only of voices and the mother’s internal body sounds but also of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, which was being played in the delivery room. “
The Expectant Father by Armin A. Brott and Jennifer Ash pgs. 97-98

“Other ways to deal with baby fussiness include the following: -Heart-like sounds. Monotonous repetitive sounds like those that imitate the beating of your heart and the gurgling noise of your digestive system when you were pregnant make a baby feel she’s home again. -Womb noises. Imitation womb sounds, like the noise of the bubbles from an aquarium, white noise from an FM station that’s gone off the air, the sound of a vacuum cleaner or air purifier with a fan, the droning sound of a car engine when you take your baby for a drive, and the whirring and whishing of a clothes dryer may do the trick.
Great Expectations Baby’s First Year by Sandy Jones & Marcie Jones with Michael Crocetti, MD, FAAP Pg. 77

“Helping your baby sleep -Playing a soothing sound, such as a recording of a mother’s heartbeat, sounds of a water fall, ocean sounds, or soft background noise like a fan or dishwasher.”
Parenting For Dummies by Sandra Hardin Gookin and Dan Gookin pg.107

“For most, however, a steady hum of background noise – from a TV or stereo, a fan or air conditioner, a musical toy or one that imitates uterine sounds, or from a white-noise machine- appears to be more conducive to restful sleep than perfect silence, particularly if the baby has fallen asleep to the beat of such sounds.”
What To Expect The First Year by Heidi Murkoff, Arlene Eisenburg, and Sandee Hathaway, B.S.N. Pg. 183