Why use white noise for newborns? What types of white noise are there, and what are their benefits? Maybe it's new great way put the baby to bed? Let's figure out what's what.
What is white noise?
In scientific terms, white noise is stationary noise, the spectral components of which are evenly distributed over the entire range of frequencies involved.
To put it more simply, it is a uniform, monophonic sound without drops. Although pure white noise does not actually occur in nature or technology, because such a signal would have infinite power. The concept of white includes any noise in which high, low and mid frequencies have the same volume and therefore do not differ from each other by ear. As a result, we hear a monotonous sound.
There are other colored noises: pink, red, blue, purple, brown and gray.
Types of white noise
White noise can be natural or technical. Falling asleep sweetly and happily to the sound of rain, many do not even realize that the sounds of strong, uniform rain are a type of white noise. And it was created by nature itself. Like the sound of a nearby waterfall, for example, and the sound of a stream. And the noise on the TV or the noise of a hair dryer are technically generated white noise. There are even special “white noise machines”. By the way, the whispering and drawn-out “shhhhhh” that mothers intuitively try to calm the child down is also a type of white noise.
For us, the most famous types of white noise are:
- the sound of water flowing from the tap and from the shower head;
- noise of a fan, vacuum cleaner, hair dryer, washing machine, air conditioner;
- the hiss of a free radio frequency or television channel;
- the sound of the ocean, the rustling of leaves, the wind.
White noise for newborns
Often children cannot cope with their not yet formed nervous system, even if they are very tired. However, they are not wet, not hungry and not sick. Parents suffer for hours to no avail to help their child. They rock you to sleep, try not to move or breathe, and close all the windows and doors. And then . Because, for example, a fan was turned on in the room. Why is this happening?
Creating a ringing silence for falling asleep is not entirely the right approach, because the human ear is not accustomed to it. Complete silence even frightens us. After spending 9 months in the mother's womb, the child became accustomed to constant noise. The uniform beating of the mother’s heart, the monotonous flow of blood in the placenta, some muffled voices from the outside. White noise reminds the baby very much of this “ sound system", which was a guarantor of security for him. That is why the baby automatically relaxes and calms down under its influence.
The benefits of white noise for a newborn
In addition to helping newborns fall asleep, white noise improves sleep quality. Regular cycle deep sleep in babies it is only 20-30 minutes, and then the superficial sleep phase begins, when even a slight cough can pull Morpheus out of the arms. After this, the child will hardly be able to sleep soundly. This phase occurs twice as often in infants as in adults. Exposure to white noise prevents sleep from being interrupted at the moment of transition from one phase to another.
Also, calming and relaxing from white noise often helps a baby if he refuses to latch on due to overexcitation or extreme fatigue. White noise for newborns is also an aid in relieving stress.
There is a theory that using white noise while a baby sleeps reduces the incidence of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). This is a very controversial statement, since a study by foreign scientists using a fan in a child’s room was aimed at testing the theory of the influence of carbon dioxide accumulation on the breathing of babies. The fan was supposed to accelerate it. And the excessive concentration of carbon dioxide is one of the possible reasons SIDS. The results of the experiment say nothing about white noise.
Thanks to more regular sleep due to white noise, children are less prone to somnambulism (sleepwalking).
White noise can also help parents get better sleep due to the same principle of phase reduction REM sleep. The child sometimes just tosses and turns, but does not wake up completely, and the mother immediately reacts to any rustle and then cannot fall asleep for a long time. White noise will help her sleep better and feel better.
Harm of white noise for a newborn
Scientists have not identified any direct harm from white noise. Although it has been proven that the brains of experimental rat pups developed more slowly under the influence of such noise, this fact cannot be confidently applied to humans. Human brain yet completely different and develops somewhat differently.
There are some restrictions on the use of white noise:
- do not leave white noise on all night;
- do not place the white noise source closer than one meter from the baby’s crib;
- The volume of the white noise source should be very moderate, but at the same time such that other sounds are absorbed by it. For example, for that same mother’s “shush” to work, it is necessary that the volume of the mother’s voice exceeds the baby’s crying.
- When using white noise, do not exceed the permissible sound power of 50 decibels. Louder noise will be harmful to the psyche and hearing.
Video
Many mothers use this sleeping method as white noise for newborns. Listening to the calm sounds of nature, the sound of the surf, the sound of water, the sound of a hairdryer, the murmur of a stream is useful for sleep.
Many mothers use music and lullabies to put their baby to sleep, but what to do if the child is very active, excited and refuses to go to bed despite the late hour? Sleep experts recommend using white noise. These could be sounds of nature, the buzzing of a vacuum cleaner, and others. They are no less effective than mother's lullaby. Thanks to white noise, the child calms down and stops crying. It can become your magic lifesaver.
What it is?
White noise is a uniform background sound. It does not carry any information, which is why over time a person simply stops noticing it. White noise - rustling leaves, drops, road noise, the hiss of a radio or TV, the quiet hum of a vacuum cleaner, the noise of the sea, rain, hair dryer or washing machine.
As paradoxical as it may sound, noise can help your baby fall asleep soundly.
How does it work
Many people wonder: why is white noise more effective for a baby than a lullaby? Everything is very simple: as mentioned earlier, it does not carry any information, it is just a monotonous hum. These are the sounds that resemble those that the baby heard while in the womb. This has a simple effect on a child: he remembers that serene state, soft rocking, dim light, monotonous hum. White noise is a memory of the most peaceful and safe place. It effectively calms babies in the first months of life. Special observations were carried out, during which it was proven that the process of falling asleep occurs three times faster not in complete silence.
Why does this only work in the first months of life?
White boiling around life is very useful at any age during nap. Over time, the baby forgets about the sensations in his mother’s stomach. But white noise still has a beneficial effect on the child.
There is no need to specifically play music with recordings of such sounds; it is enough to simply go about your business while the baby is resting. It is very good if there are other children or animals at home.
How to use white noise?
The sound, especially loud, interferes with sleep for children of three or four months, in principle, just like adults. What's in this case goes speech? Conversations in the next room, passing cars, neighbors' renovation work. To help your child fall asleep and enter the deep, slow-wave sleep phase, white noise is needed. In this case, quiet sounds are not heard, and loud sounds are not perceived so violently.
This is especially necessary for very active children who react to any rustle. They are so interested in being awake that there is no time left for sleep. During deep sleep, the threshold for the perception of sounds is lowered, but some children can still hear them, then sleep will become superficial or even interfere with sleep. This could be a slamming door, a barking dog, a car alarm, conversations, a working TV, a familiar melody, and so on. However, white noise is very beneficial for a baby.
Healthy sleep
As you know, children can wake up due to extraneous noise, if they want to roll over to the other side and for other reasons. Sleep interruption ( nap) is very harmful to the baby’s body. White noise for newborns is necessary to prolong sleep, so your child will be much more cheerful, active, and inquisitive while awake.
Rules and selection of appropriate sounds
As you know from physics courses, white noise is a random process. There are a lot of such sounds, it’s hard to say which one your baby will like. You need to act In addition, you need to know some rules:
- Avoid making sounds for more than twenty-five minutes.
- Place the source at a distance of at least a meter from the crib.
- Do not exceed the permitted volume (50 decibels).
Regarding the first point. If the baby constantly sleeps to these sounds, then in the future it will be difficult to wean him from this. If you bought a special white noise machine, it will automatically turn off after twenty to twenty-five minutes. The third point must be observed, otherwise it will lead to frustration hearing aid and your child's mental health.
White noise and breastfeeding
No matter how strange it may sound, special sounds will help you and your child when breastfeeding if the baby refuses to take the breast. It often happens that the baby arches, cries, refusing to take the breast, but when he hears the noise of a hairdryer, vacuum cleaner or water, he instantly calms down and begins to actively suck. If you have problems with feeding, this option may help you.
Moreover, now everyone has smartphones, you rarely see black and white push-button telephone. You can download a lot free applications with these Does anyone not like this option? There are many toys - white noise generators. Also, kids love to listen to the radio on an empty frequency, that is, hiss.
Natural white noise
Try to buy a small home waterfall or fountain, this sound will be more natural, perhaps your baby will like it. Only in this case it is necessary to follow the rules mentioned above. It’s just that some kids are so cunning that they can easily distinguish the noise of a real river from an artificial recording, then your salvation is a store where you can buy a home waterfall.
Benefits and harms
Among useful properties Scientists have discovered the following phenomena:
- normalization of sleep;
- stress reduction;
- good print on nervous system;
- reducing the likelihood of sudden infant death syndrome.
If we talk about harm, then white noise for newborns is absolutely safe, provided that safety rules are followed.
Classification
White noise can be divided into the following groups:
- natural;
- man-made;
- artificial.
The first group includes the sound of rain, leaves, the murmur of a stream, the sound of a nearby waterfall (distant sounds are considered pink noise), surf, and so on.
The second group is a little easier: it includes a vacuum cleaner, hair dryer, washing machine, the hiss of a TV or radio...
Artificial - these are recordings of any type of white noise, which is less effective on the child. There is an opinion that it is even harmful to the child.
Hysterics
White noise helps many parents overcome their child's hysteria. If your baby doesn’t like something or is bothered by something, use this method. A large number of mothers cope with the endless crying of their child only with this miraculous method.
Using white noise during intestinal colic It will also help to cope with the problem, alleviate the child’s suffering, and set him up in a positive mood.
Be sure to remember the rules of use. Although listening for a long time will calm your baby, it can become addictive, which is very harmful. If you turn it up loud, it will have a bad effect on mental health baby, there may be problems with the hearing aid.
When can you turn it off? After twenty-five minutes, or maybe earlier, when the baby falls asleep well and soundly. At this time, the acuity of sound perception drops sharply. Then you can just go about your business. It is better if the child sleeps under household noise. Good helpers children and animals will live here. TV, radio and similar receivers only harm healthy sleep, since this noise carries information, the child hears familiar melodies and the conversation of strangers.
At correct use It is impossible to harm a child, use these tips, they will make your life much easier.
Characteristic “snow” on the TV screen, accompanied by white noise when there is no signal
In nature and technology, “pure” white noise (that is, white noise having the same spectral power at all frequencies) does not occur (due to the fact that such a signal would have infinite power), however, any noise whose spectral density is the same (or slightly different) in the frequency range under consideration.
Statistical properties
The term "white noise" is usually applied to a signal that has an autocorrelation function, mathematically described by the Dirac delta function across all dimensions of the multidimensional space in which the signal is considered. Signals with this property can be considered as white noise. This statistical property is fundamental for signals of this type.
The fact that white noise is uncorrelated in time (or in any other argument) does not determine its values in the time (or any other argument considered) domain. The sets received by the signal can be arbitrary up to the main statistical property (however, the constant component of such a signal must be equal to zero). For example, a sequence of symbols 1 and −1 multiplied by a sequence of delta functions following the symbol frequency will be white noise only if the sequence of symbols is uncorrelated. Signals that have a continuous distribution (such as a normal distribution) can also be white noise.
Discrete white noise is simply a sequence of independent (that is, statistically unrelated to each other) numbers. Using the Visual C++ pseudorandom number generator, discrete white noise can be obtained as follows:
x [ i ] = 2 * ((rand () / ((double ) RAND_MAX )) - 0.5 )
IN in this case x - array of discrete white noise (without zero frequency component), having uniform distribution from −1 to 1.
It is sometimes mistakenly assumed that Gaussian noise (that is, noise with a Gaussian distribution of its values - see normal distribution) is equivalent to white noise. However, these concepts are not equivalent. Gaussian noise assumes a distribution of signal values in the form normal distribution, while the term "white" refers to the correlation of a signal at two different points in time (this correlation is independent of the distribution of noise values). White noise can have any distribution - both Gaussian and Poisson, Cauchy, etc. Gaussian white noise as a model is well suited for the mathematical description of many natural processes (see Additive white Gaussian noise).
Colored noise
Applications
White noise has many applications in physics and technology. One of them is in architectural acoustics. In order to mask unwanted noise in the interior spaces of buildings, low-power stationary white noise is generated.
IN Lately Many pediatricians recommend using white noise to calm and good night babies; it is assumed that in the uterus the baby constantly heard white noise: the beating of the mother’s heart, the work of the stomach, the noise of blood in the vessels. [ ] .
White noise is used to measure the frequency characteristics of various linear dynamic systems, such as amplifiers, electronic filters, discrete control systems, etc. When white noise is applied to the input of such a system, the output is a signal that is the system’s response to the applied stimulus. Due to the fact that the complex frequency response linear system is the ratio of the Fourier transform of the output signal to the Fourier transform of the input signal, obtaining this characteristic mathematically is quite simple, and for all frequencies for which the input signal can be considered white noise.
Many random number generators (both software and hardware) use white noise to generate random numbers and random sequences.
IN operating system Linux console command speaker-test, which generates white or pink noise, is used to test headphones/speakers.
Mathematical review
Random number vector
Random number vector w (\displaystyle \mathbf (w) ) is a sequence of white noise samples when its average value μ w (\displaystyle \mu _(w)) and autocorrelation matrix R w w (\displaystyle R_(ww)) satisfy the following equalities:
μ w = E ( w ) = 0 (\displaystyle \mu _(w)=\mathbb (E) \(\mathbf (w) \)=0) R w w = E ( w w T ) = σ 2 I (\displaystyle R_(ww)=\mathbb (E) \(\mathbf (w) \mathbf (w) ^(T)\)=\sigma ^(2) \mathbf (I) )That is, it is a vector of random numbers with zero mean, the autocorrelation matrix of which is a diagonal matrix with variances along the main diagonal.
White random process (white noise)
Continuous in time random process w (t) (\displaystyle w(t)), Where t ∈ R (\displaystyle t\in \mathbb (R) ), is white noise if and only if its mathematical expectation and autocorrelation function satisfy the following equalities, respectively:
μ w (t) = E ( w (t) ) = 0 (\displaystyle \mu _(w)(t)=\mathbb (E) \(w(t)\)=0) R w w (t 1 , t 2) = E ( w (t 1) w (t 2) ) = σ 2 δ (t 1 − t 2) (\displaystyle R_(ww)(t_(1),t_(2 ))=\mathbb (E) \(w(t_(1))w(t_(2))\)=\sigma ^(2)\delta (t_(1)-t_(2))).If the value σ 2 (\displaystyle \sigma ^(2)) does not depend on time, then the random process is stationary white noise, if it depends on time - non-stationary white noise
"White noise" for newborns
No sooner had my baby arrived from the maternity hospital than her newly-made uncle, my little brother Andrei, came to visit us. Before he had time to fully enjoy his communication with Katyusha, she began to be capricious.
- What's happened? Hungry, probably.- Andrei became worried.
- No. I think she's tired and wants to rest. Still, it’s hard work to explore the world, especially for such little ones.
Continuing to communicate with Andryusha, I wrapped the child tightly in a blanket so that she would be warm and comfortable, and, lightly rocking, moved her closer to the sink with the water turned on. Katya, as soon as she heard the sound of water bubbling from the tap, calmed down and slowly began to fall asleep. At that moment my brother looked at me as if I were a great magician.
- “What kind of miracle is this? How did you put the child to sleep in a second?”- Andrei asked in surprise. I had to explain that the whole secret lies in white noise, a kind of cradle from nature. This noise as a background sound helps babies stop being capricious, relax and soon fall asleep due to the fact that it resembles noises in the mother's womb.
So what is this “white noise”?
A good analogy would be the concept of light. It is known that light is represented as a complex spectrum of colors. By the same principle, in white noise, sounds with different tonality and saturation are combined into continuous noise. These sounds include: the noise of flowing water, a running engine, a room fan, etc. household appliances. The sounds are different, but they all have one feature, namely monotony, which magically calms the child’s central nervous system.
Why do children love to listen to white noise so much?
There are many reasons for this. The first and main reason is a reminder of the cozy and familiar mother’s womb with its characteristic noises for babies. The second reason is simple - when the little one is tired and can’t cope with going to bed, the noise will really calm him down. And the third reason is that this kind of noise can distract the baby from new and often frightening sounds. external environment– be it music, loud voices or street sounds. It turns out that white noise helps to remain in an understandable environment for children, but at the same time they are in a completely new environment for their perception.
How does white noise work?
“Calm a child with the noise of a vacuum cleaner? What nonsense. These were exactly my first thoughts. But once I tried it, I was convinced that this method works. The baby really calmed down and began to fall asleep. Surprising but true. Advice for all moms to try it this method, he saves better than toys with music.” What is the secret of such an influence on the child’s psyche? The baby's body is saturated with oxygen due to intensive blood circulation in the vessels of the maternal placenta.
US pediatrician Harvey Karp says that the baby's central nervous system relaxes due to triggering in children innate reflex, responding to the sounds of blood circulation in the womb, that is, to white noise. As follows from the example, the sound of water calmed the baby and made it easier for him to fall asleep. Under what circumstances is it possible to listen to white noise? At the reception, new mothers talk about the impact of noise not only on children, but also on mothers - they believe that noise makes it possible to calm down, not jump at every rustle, and sleep peacefully.
During studies conducted by American scientists, it was found that monotonous, measured noise (for example, a fan running quietly at night) helps reduce the incidence of SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome) by up to 70%!
How white noise works when falling asleep.
1. Noise helps you relax.
The little one can relax and fall asleep safely. Sometimes a child really wants to sleep, but he is unable to concentrate directly on falling asleep and this makes him capricious. In this case, the noise will just help calm him down and send him to sleep. It is important that at this time the noise level does not exceed the threshold of 50 dB. If the sounds of rushing water are comfortable for the mother, then they will also be comfortable for the child.
2. Noise increases sleep duration.
Typically, a newborn's sleep time is somewhere between 30 and 45 minutes. And before the deep sleep phase (5 to 10 minutes) there can sometimes be an unexpected awakening. This can be avoided by having white noise. “Fragile sleep” occurs more often in children than in adults. In this regard, white noise will serve as a kind of “guard” for children’s sensitive sleep.
3. Noise distracts from other sounds
Sometimes it is very difficult for a mother to create suitable conditions for a child’s quiet time, especially if there are many other children and adults at home. White noise will serve as a distraction from unnecessary sounds and will help set the baby up for sleep. The sniffling of other sleeping children, older children getting ready for school and other unnecessary sounds can be veiled using white noise and saved light sleep baby. Even playing all night long, white noise will not cause discomfort.
Before accepting miracle noise as an assistant, you need to understand exactly what effect you want to get. If for a one-time motion sickness of a newborn, you can use a fan or hair dryer. If you want your child to sleep peacefully throughout the night, then you can lose "White noise" every night from our website, after adding it to your bookmarks.
White noise in the lives of adults.
Various studies prove the beneficial effects of white noise on adults. With its help, attentiveness increases, creative thinking develops, and it also becomes possible to overcome insomnia. Experts also claim that with the help of certain manipulations, white noise can tone the brain. And with proper add-ons, noise can be as soon as possible restore brain activity during overwork, stress and illness. White noise produces a calming effect. Indispensable for relaxation and meditation sessions.
Tip: you can enable several at once different sounds thereby obtaining a unique white noise that is suitable for your child.
Happy listening!
Do you know what white noise is? Have you ever felt its effects? What is the benefit of white noise, and is there such a thing in principle?
I’ll try to answer these questions now!
So, white noise is stationary noise, the spectral components of which are evenly distributed over the entire range of frequencies involved, as Wikipedia tells us. In other words, this is broadband radiation consisting of all wavelengths of approximately the same intensity or the maximum possible spectrum of such different wavelengths.
It received its name by analogy with white light - an effect observed in the visible part sunlight: If all the colors of the visible spectrum of light are mixed, they will give white color.
In the audible frequency range, an example of white noise is the sound of a waterfall.
In continuation of such a scientific metaphor!
There is also the concept of colored noise: noise different colors. And among all their diversity highest value has three types of noise: white noise, brown noise and pink noise.
All three main types of noise are common:
Where they randomly mix various factors, arises White noise- it can be heard, for example, by tuning an old radio to a wave that has no radio stations. Another example is thermal noise in semiconductors. It is created by chaotic vibrations of atoms and with high amplification it is quite audible in any sound-reproducing device. The origin of white noise is clear - it's just a game of chance.
Brown noise. At low frequencies, noise has more energy than at high frequencies. Acoustic brown (or red) noise is heard as muffled compared to white or pink noise. Its color has nothing to do with brown the light corresponding to it. Brown - from the word Brown, Brownian movement. To the ear, brown noise is perceived as “warmer” than white noise. It is also widespread in nature, and this is not surprising - after all, it is generated by random walk. For example, it corresponds to sea waves and, naturally, Brownian motion of particles.
Pink noise, despite its unclear origin, is extremely common. It first attracted attention when physicists noticed that some semiconductor devices were making a strange noise. In addition to the usual thermal white noise, they found the presence of noise that had more low and very low frequencies. It turned out that the power of this noise is inversely proportional to its frequency and this relationship is true even for frequencies of thousandths of a hertz. This means that some processes lasting several days or more take place in semiconductors, which generate this noise. It was called "flicker noise", which is now another name for pink noise. Examples: the distant noise of a waterfall (since high-frequency components of sound are attenuated in the air more than low-frequency ones), the sound of a flying helicopter, this noise is also found, for example, in heart rhythms, in graphs electrical activity brain, in electromagnetic radiation of cosmic bodies.
I would also like to highlight green noise- noise natural environment. The spectrum is similar to that of pink noise with a “spike” around 500 Hz. Green noise also denotes the mid-frequencies of white noise.
How does colored noise affect a person?
As you probably already guessed - in different ways! Of course, all this is individual. Taste and color... as they say! But many have noticed that this noise helps to concentrate if there is a noisy environment around, helps to distract from any thoughts, relax, fall asleep, calm down crying child and even calm down headache!
Like these ones interesting characteristics I found on one English-language site:
White noise(at all frequencies) is an effective masker of extraneous noise because it covers a wide range of the "spectrum". It's great for reading, studying, and any other activity that requires concentration.
Pink noise(a mixture of high and low frequencies) will help relieve stress and cope with tension. It creates a therapeutic environment that relaxes your mind and body.
Brown noise(uses low sound frequencies) helps improve sleep, masks tinnitus, and reduces headaches. It will also help calm your children and animals.
Here's an interesting video! Skeptics should think about it)))
Of course, everything is individual. And, probably, one should not hope for the miraculous effect of these sounds one hundred percent. Try it, see what suits you, but don’t overdo it! Noises... sounds of nature... All this is good! But sometimes it’s better to go out into nature (and almost everyone can do this once a week!).
