By Dr. Binal Kancherla
All parents run across sleep dilemmas with their child at some point. If it doesn’t happen at 5 days, 5 months old or at 5 years old, it will happen! When my two sons – now ages 5 and 3 – were younger, I would place them in their crib while they were drowsy so they could learn to self-soothe. This method, along with establishing bedtime routines early on, seemed to work well for my family…most of the time!
Recently, I came across an interesting study in Pediatrics, titled, “Infant Sleep Machines and Hazardous Sound Pressure Levels.” While sleep-inducing white noise machines can be a miracle product for exhausted parents, this study may have left many families worrying about whether sleep machines increase a baby’s risk of hearing loss.
The study proposes that during the early development of a baby, their auditory pathways are sensitive and require the appropriate auditory input. Appropriate input means sounds, such as human speech, that are regular in the baby’s environment and usually produced with an irregular frequency. White-noise machines expose babies to a noise of a very consistent frequency over long periods of time. According to the study, in the long-term this disrupts the normal processing of frequency in the brain therefore affecting the child’s ability to hear and process sound intensity.
Researchers tested the maximum noise levels in 14 infant sleep machines at three distances. All but one exceeded the current recommended noise limit for infants in hospital nurseries, even at the farthest distance.
I think the study raises some concerns, but it doesn’t provide specific evidence that these machines lead to hearing problems. Although white noise machines may be successful in lulling a baby to sleep, I believe it is important for parents to establish proper sleep patterns. This can be done by starting a bedtime routine early in infancy, placing the baby in his or her crib while drowsy but not fully asleep, and not allowing the infant to fall asleep while taking a bottle or nursing.
For those new parents out there who opt to use the white-noise method, it’s probably a good idea to position the machine farther away from your baby’s crib, more than the 6 ½ feet tested in the study. Other tips include keeping the volume set on low and only operating the machine for a short duration of time.
Ultimately, each family and each baby is different, but one thing is always true – sleep is necessary to function, to live, for both parent and child. So, find something that works for your family and consult your pediatrician with any specific concerns.