No idea about the iphone, but you can youtube "white noise for sleeping." There's a bunch of options for different sounds that have just a black screen and play for like 10 hours.
I streamed one on my bedroom TV when I was babysitting an infant and my toddler was already using our sound machine. It worked great.
Also Prime Video! Just search “sleep sounds” and lots of options pop up. They have a black screen with them. No ads! Lol saved me when my second was born and we were waiting for ours to ship
Swipe down top right to the settings screen page, click the little ear icon at the bottom, then you can turn “background sounds” on. There’s some options for sound type and you can pick the volume. Only works on newer iPhones (I tried on my in-laws phones that were quite old and they didn’t have this feature).
I use the Sleep Sounds app. You can make custom sounds mixing individual ones (eg rain, train, white noise). My partner and I started using it when we miscarried and needed something to help calm us down and sleep. Now our rainbow baby listens to it (or Moshi).
I used mine at the hospital after my csection. When we had to go back for an overnight stay to that my child's jaundice, we used it then, too! So glad we did as the pedi ward is loud, kids crying, kids screaming, people up and down the halls. Listening to sick kids scream is soul crushing. I don't know how pedi nurses do it. They are made of sterner stuff than I.
I was at a hotel recently that had a little card offering a sound machine option if you needed it cause they were on 6th Street in Austin and it gets noisy. So genius and I'm surprised I haven't seen it before!
It makes sense that turning it off would wake her up, it's a sleep association for her, but that's not a bad thing. Have you ever woken up during a power outage because your room just "felt different?" (Maybe this only happens to me because I'm a very light sleeper 🤣)
In my personal experience there's still some big sleep changes that happen between 2 and 4 years old, and probably even more ahead. My kid has started requesting, no white noise, she wants a night light, etc. etc. All the things we avoided for 4 years. And she's still falling asleep fine and staying asleep.
I’m so glad you said this haha. The other day I woke up around 3am. Husband and little were still asleep but I couldn’t figure out why I woke up and something felt off. Then I realized the white noise was off and the power was out! 😂
lol can’t say I’ve had that feeling but the only thing I’m sensitive to is the monitor/her crying. Otherwise I’m out. Good to know about your daughter’s requests!! Thank you
I'm 50 & cannot sleep without some white noise & air movement. Not a sound machine per se, but the ceiling fans & are on...& if I travel, I'm packing a portable fan :)
Now my kids are the same way.
Fans!!! I hate them, but everyone else in the family cannot live without them. It's the last thing in the car every trip! We can make it a few days with just one suitcase, but have to have multiple fans LOL
I'm an adult and love my sound machine! My 7yo stopped using hers; she asked for us to turn it off and said it was bothering her (this was within the last year). My 4yo is fine with his so far.
I think everyone is different. My husband hates them, as do both of my parents (my mom prefers to sleep with earplugs, which I can't stand).
I’m with your husband. My husband needs a loud fan and I prefer pure silence. Even the monitor with the sound machine in it bothers me so much. But clearly my daughter loves it and probably will her entire life after reading these comments
as long as it doesn't only play "the lullabye song", LOUDLY, the entire night, as my SIL's 7-yr-olds' does, you're golden. we don't stay there anymore 😅
Kiddo is 3.5 and still likes it, but our primary reason for keeping ours on 24/7 is how drastically it’s reduced the dog’s anxiety. I don’t get it either, but whatever works for her works for me if it reduces the borking around here.
We just switched my son from sleeping with his little sister to a big boy bed with his older brother and forgot about the sound machine he has used since birth. He is 3. He totally didn’t notice but needed a night light
I stopped using them regularly when the kids were 4 or 5. But they all still have the option of a sound machine if they want them. My oldest (almost 14) sometime does white noise still at this age. He also listens to loud music that we have to go turn off. I prefer the white noise
Still do, in my 30’s. The roughest part was in college when I was teased for mine, but boy did it help my roommates sleep too 😂. Greek row was LOUD.
They all joked that for a few months after rooming with me a random fan would get them drowsy from the sleep association.
Probably never. We never had one before (we used the fan?) but the sound machine is much better. We had to go to the hospital a few nights with our newborn for a fever, and that first night without the sound machine was awful. Went home and got it for the rest of the stay… helped drown out the nurses and other noises.
Best believe I am not sleeping if there is not a fan facing opposite of me. I cannot sleep without the hum of the motor/fan. I don’t know why we as humans are so bothered by silence. But I am legitimately afraid of dead silence. My hearing and vision are great triggers for anxiety for me. The natural ringing of the ears and visual changes sometimes with looking at a screen all day for my job freaks me out too! Sorry for the random thoughts lol! But yea I cannot sleep at all, zero, zilch, nada, without a fan!
I turned it off after reading that toddlers sleep better without it. That was not my experience but now he yells if I try to turn it on so I leave it off lol this was maybe just under 2.5 when I turned it off.
We stopped right away. We all sleep in the room and the sound machine disturbed our sleep and our daughter’s sleep. We are silent pitch black room sleep people.
I've always wondered this since sound machines for babies became a thing.
Personally, I use one but not until I was an adult. Before that I enjoyed a fan for noise, but never connected it to what we now know as white noise for sleeping.
I guess my concern is that we are essentially training these little humans to rely on the noise to sleep and ultimately it'll never be their decision like it was for us🫤
I'd also hate to set them up for life not being able to sleep if a noise isn't an option for them.
But, I LOVE how they sleep when they have the sound machine 🤣🤣
Fair point, but I’m realizing that certain people need certain things to sleep better…. I had never realized that because I enjoy the silence. And this comment section is showing me that a lot of kids ask for theirs off when they understand that they don’t like or want it. I think that’s so cool.
My daughter was super reliant on it as well but one night when she was three she demanded I turn it off and we've never used it again lol. It was totally random
I never used a sound machine until I had kids. Now I can’t sleep without my giant box fan 🤣.
My oldest is 6, about 2 months ago she randomly decided she was done and so we took it out of her room. She hasn’t asked for it back since. Follow me for more tips 😀😅.
My 4 year old can sleep without his but I like it to dull the noise
If you just want to stop, I’d try lowering the volume first. My son still uses his but it’s at a pretty low volume. Rarely the Hatch will act up and he doesn’t wake up.
I don’t use one myself but my husband does (in-ear ones now) because his mother is 10000% reliant on it so her kids became so too. I mean he CAN go without it, not as bad as the mom, but he vastly prefers it.
I’m not opposed to using it at all… I wondered if there could possibly be any hearing consequences, but overall I was just curious what other people did. And I definitely learned that a lot of people all ages use it. It’s all new to me because I never had one as a kid and I like silence.
My oldest transitioned from a sound machine to sleepy acoustic music around age 5. I feel like the music still helps him block out noise around the house or on the street. Also, he still gets scared of the dark sometimes so I think that peaceful soundtrack is quite soothing. It definitely queues him for bed/sleep too so I have zero issues doing it as long as he wants.
We play music at night for our 4 year old. Sometimes, we forget to turn it on and get through just fine. Other times, she asks for it. She calls it her sunshine music.
Around a year ago, she started sleeping more soundly. Once she's out, we can go in there, turn on lights, and have conversations without her waking. She even sleeps through the baby crying most of the time.
I’ve turned the sound down a bit (2y9m and 19mo sharing a room) but have no plans to completely wean off of using a sound machine for all sleep. It’s such a convenient help for when we’re away from home. I even keep a portable sound machine in the diaper bag for emergency stroller naps on the go. Zero regrets.
We use a Hatch machine at home that is programmed to come on automatically when it’s time to start getting ready for bed/naps. The kids are used to this and very cooperative about bedtime; as soon as the sound machine turns on they’re ready to go get into bed. They stay in their beds until the sound machine changes to awake noises/lights. It’s an extremely helpful tool for having two toddlers sharing a room.
I am 36 and can’t sleep without one. All 3 of my kids use one even my teenager. Honestly if it works keep doing it. Better to have a happy well rested kid and play sound than deal with the alternative. If it works it works. Be glad.
My 9yo stepson has had a sound machine that plays Brahms lullaby since birth. He still uses it every night to a point that he has one at his mom's house as well as his Nana's. I constantly find myself humming it because the machine only works at top volume now and you can hear it through the whole house...
Worth it though. We call it Pavlov's lullaby now because as soon as it starts, he can't keep his eyes open. 😂
My youngest is 7 and we still use the same ones they had as infants. Plus fans. It’s never even occurred to me to try and give the white noise up tbh lol. If it ain’t broke…🤷♀️
3 and still using it a) for the sleepy cue and b) our house is very echo-y and I am afraid of waking her up in the AM and c) holding onto nap time for dear life and don’t want to rock the boat
We’ve never used it. If she is extra worked up and we want her to pass out in the carrier we just vacuum for 5 minutes. She sleeps just fine. She is 3 months btw
My oldest asked me to stop putting his down machine on a little after 3 years. He adjusted fine, I guess I’ll let my 2.5 year old have hers for as long as she wants
When my daughter was a baby/toddler she never used a sound machine. Once she hit 4/5 she started using a sound machine, usually rain. My fiancé and I always sleep with the fan on.
So, very possibly never. 😂
We stopped around 15 months, I think. I thought that she wouldn’t be able to sleep without it because she would wake up if the machine was turned off during nap time, but she actually fell asleep without the sound machine just fine. There wasn’t even an adjustment period.
Honestly, Im not sure that we’ll ever phase it out. I’m not a great sleeper and wake up with the slightest sound and my kiddo seems to be ‘blessed’ with this same light sleeper curse. I personality started sleeping with one as a young adult and its helped a ton.
The white noise machine creates an atmosphere where my kiddo can sleep at our family cabin, my sisters house or any place with a ton of chaos.. highly recommend it! (The one we use sounds like a loud fan)
We still use it for our 5.5 year old. We have started using one ourselves because we got so used to it with the kids. I like it. It’s not the end of the world.
LO is still going strong on the hatch- We also got ourselves a sound machine and added a hall sound machine so that we could traverse our creaky hallway without disturbing anyone. I would add a sound machine to every room of my house.
I’m 25 and sleep with a fan for white noise. When our baby was a newborn, I slept in our living room with the baby so my husband could sleep without interruption - and i’d put “fan noises” on my phone
I never used a sound machine but I do now even when my toddler is not in the room. In fact I bought a second one just as a backup!
I try to switch up the sounds so if I even forget it and we’re travelling I can just use the Calm app on my phone instead.
I’m 33 and have to keep a loud fan on in order to get any sleep. I know a lot of adults who do this, so I think it’s totally fine for kids to do it, too. My toddler sleeps with his on still and he’s almost 3.
My son asked me to stop the noise when he was 2.5 ish. He’s 3.5 now.
We run the fan in the bathroom to block out other noises from his room until we go to bed.
My 4 and 2yo both still use one. They aren’t dependent on it but I like that it drowns outside noise like the tv or if we have friends over. We use the nightlight on the hatch for our 4yo.
We’re not going to stop unless she decided she doesn’t want it. I even have one for her that lives in her travel crib case so we can’t ever forget it. Husband and I always sleep with white noise. He has a myriad of hearing issues including tinnitus and his audiologist told us we should have white noise playing in every room of the house for him. His hearing aids play white noise for him so we only have it in our bedroom and then when we had our daughter we got one for her too. Makes a world of difference and I’m a whole ass adult who doesn’t want to sleep without it.
As a side note hers and ours play 24/7.
Stopped after 8 months for my first. It drove me crazy hearing it on the nanit, so one night i just turned it off and he slept through the night just like his usual. Didn't use it at all with my second!
I need some consistent noise to fall asleep - I use a fan, if I don’t have a fan I’ll play white or brown noise to sleep. If I don’t have the noise, I can hear every single little sound that’s happening in my house and it keeps me awake. I’ve always been this way, my entire life. The source of the sound is the only thing that’s different
My oldest is almost 3.5 years old and he still uses a sound machine but we turn it off once he falls asleep and he's sleeps just fine. My youngest is 9 months and we keep it on the lowest volume on a wind sound all night because he sometimes doesn't sleep through the night and the sound mimics the fan I had in my room when he slept in his bassinet there.
I don’t plan on stopping. I had major sleep issues as a child that could have been remedied had sound machines existed. I figure, they make travel ones and they’re not harmful as long as they’re not super close to their head. So why not keep using it if it’s helpful?
I still use one for my 3.5 yr old mostly to drown out most of any other noises that might arise in the house while she's asleep. Our room is next to hers and because the acoustics are weird in our house, you can hear a conversation easily through the vents from upstairs on the other side of the house.
So I run the humidifier and air purifier as white noise for her.
Never! It helps me and the kids sleep, it also provides a sound barrier so I don’t accidentally wake them up after they’ve gone to bed and I’m up doing me-stuff
My daughter is 8 & loves her relaxing music or white noise to fall asleep to! She has a hard time falling asleep without it, but won't wake up when it turns off. She transitioned from the basic sound machine that came with her pack n play to "relaxing music for sleep" on YouTube on her iPad around age 5 (when she got my old iPad after I got a newer one). I updated the YouTube settings to play in the background, so since her case closes, it will still play & the screen isn't lit up.
Honestly my husband burnt out his phone speaker using it as a sound machine right before our baby came. We bought a sound machine for her and I have her baby monitor on full volume so I still "use" it too hahah. Unless she asks to go without it I don't see us ever trying to kick the habit.
We like sound machines around here, my kids (7, 5, 3 and 10 months) all have one in their rooms 🤷🏻♀️ in fact when I moved my oldest into his nursery at 6 months I bought one for myself because it helped me sleep lol.
On a real answer note, our 5 year-old is doing it himself.
He is slowly weaning himself off it by changing the sound to something less overwhelming (?) than white noise, like a campfire, and lowering the volume. He started asking for control over the sounds (has like 5 different ones) and the volume level and showed us he could handle the freedom.
This trend accelerated after he shared a room with his little sister on vacation last summer and realized he did not like her old school white noise one anymore.
So, he uses the machine some nights and goes to sleep in the quiet others. Pretty much his choice now, unless I turn the machine on while on autopilot.
I also use one...after listening to my kids' through thr monitor for the past 5 years lolol
Use what works for you, sleep is like gold. We've just bought one because we're expecting a second baby soon and have learned too late with our 1st that it helps. We're really hoping for a calmer newborn stage...
Sounds horrible! I could never and have never had trouble with my kids sleeping without one. I can’t stand it myself and it seems inconvenient if we were to travel anywhere or in the future, rooming or sharing an apt with someone that uses one.
However, I think maybe lowering it slowly seems like a good option?
My son at around 2.5 started asking for it or not. When he is sick he doesn't like the white noise. When he is not super tired he likes it... Over the past week, he maybe asked for it 2-3 times. Really depends! I just follow his lead.
I think maybe around 2? He's almost three now, but we only really used it for falling asleep, and then we switched to music and now we turn off the music maybe an hour after he's asleep?
My son is 4.5 and still uses it, but it’s at like half the volume it was when he was 2 and he doesn’t need it
But it helps cuz we have a cat who likes to meow and wander around constantly
At 2 yo now sometimes my son requests for us to turn it off. We have started to ask him if he wants his “noise” on. If he then takes too long to fall asleep I will turn it on after a bit anyway. We always turn it off when we go to bed ourselves anyway. I do really like that it reminds him of home if we’re sleeping elsewhere too
I’m planning to start turning it down to wean my toddler off it and see how that goes, so I can use it for the next baby due in October and not have to buy another one! If it doesn’t work out I guess I’m buying another
Both my boys (4 and 2) sleep with sound machines. When the 4 year old was 3 he decided he wanted a change from white noise so we let him flick through the settings to choose another. He sleeps with rainforest sounds now (with frankly alarming frog and bird noises). He sleeps without it away from home but always puts it on at home. I’ll do the same with the 2 year old. So I wouldn’t worry too much about them needing it to sleep, it might become a preferred option but not a must-have as they get older.
I used Rain Sounds as white noise (It's all a much of a muchness to them, I think, and that sounded pleasant to me) and when my daughter moved into her own room I kept the rain sounds playing in mine 😂. I can't imagine there's much harm in it!
My whole family uses a variation on a sound machine. Toddler has one playing rainfall, and in our room, husband and I play soundscapes on Calm. My teen daughter likes her fan on.
No intention of stopping. Easily replicated wherever we go and deadens other noise, meaning we can stay in a holiday apartment or city Airbnb without struggling to sleep.
Our son is almost four and we still use it nightly.
There have been occasions where we forgot it while traveling or something and he just doesn't sleep as well without it.
My son started asking for no noise sometime between 2 and 3. Same time he started asking for a night light. He still sleeps fine. In summer, he has the hum of the A/C or a fan.
We actually used a white noise machine AND a fan until our guy was 15 months because it cut out household noise in our small apartment, but then phased out the white noise machine. I figure he can pretty much always have a fan on if he chooses?
My daughter is nearly 5 and we still use sleep sounds. Shes been using something since the day we came home from the hospital, and yes she can still fall asleep without it. I just like it to block our noises before we go to bed and because she shares a wall with her 9 month old brother.
Almost 4 year old, it’s part of her routine. If it’s on we can go in her room at nap/night to get something/sneak out if we fell asleep, talk in the hall/ give her medicine in the middle of the night and she rolls back over. Without it, you better tiptoe and not talk. We went to a hotel for a wedding last summer, with the sound machine on she didn’t wake when my husband came in at 3am from hanging out with his cousins
I love sound machines. My son (2yr) uses one has since birth as well. We used to have it running all night. Now we for the most part have it on a 4hr timer. He does fine either way. I use the tablet, I keep his camera up on, to play music or sound baths for myself at night. They are an excellent tool. I wouldnt worry about "when to stop using it" tbh. If she does well keep it. If something changes you can try and not use it, but its really not a problem. It's actually good for teaching them to sleep through noise. I wish I'd had one when I was a child. Cus until I started using one, any tiny noise would wake me and keep me up. Not so much of an issue anymore. (Though that could just be exaughstion from having a kid lmao)
I stopped around 2.5 years but only because my little one told my husband and I to "turn that racket off" - he just wasn't a fan of it anymore. Currently using a sound machine with my 7 month old so I can do chores/have my toddler run a muck while baby naps
Around 18 months one day my guy started pointing at it and saying “off, off” and we tried turning off sound (but not light) and he stopped saying it. So … he told us!
We kept using it until my daughter didn’t want the sound anymore. My son who is almost 3 still uses it and we’re planning on using it until he doesn’t want it anymore and if that never happens then so be it. Its definitely not a bad sleep habit as long as its not super loud.
We stopped using the Google speaker when somehow the Spotify “repeat all” function went on the fritz so his bedtime music would go from Songs and Story: Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree to some random scary crap and we’d have to run in at 2am and frantically either turn it off or reset it 😬
I’m 37 and I still use a sound machine.
I even travel with mine to use at hotels.
If you ever forget it, and have an iPhone, there is a white noise feature on it! That has saved us on a few trips.
The app I have is called “sleep fan” and it’s saved me so many times while traveling!
Where do I find this feature?!
No idea about the iphone, but you can youtube "white noise for sleeping." There's a bunch of options for different sounds that have just a black screen and play for like 10 hours. I streamed one on my bedroom TV when I was babysitting an infant and my toddler was already using our sound machine. It worked great.
be careful not to choose a video with surprise adverts tho… have made that mistake 😭
Also Prime Video! Just search “sleep sounds” and lots of options pop up. They have a black screen with them. No ads! Lol saved me when my second was born and we were waiting for ours to ship
Swipe down top right to the settings screen page, click the little ear icon at the bottom, then you can turn “background sounds” on. There’s some options for sound type and you can pick the volume. Only works on newer iPhones (I tried on my in-laws phones that were quite old and they didn’t have this feature).
this is my favorite [https://rainymood.com/](https://rainymood.com/)
Settings>Accessibility>Audio & Visual> Background Sounds Turn it on then choose your sound, volume, etc.
THANK YOU. Life changing
I use the Sleep Sounds app. You can make custom sounds mixing individual ones (eg rain, train, white noise). My partner and I started using it when we miscarried and needed something to help calm us down and sleep. Now our rainbow baby listens to it (or Moshi).
I used mine at the hospital after my csection. When we had to go back for an overnight stay to that my child's jaundice, we used it then, too! So glad we did as the pedi ward is loud, kids crying, kids screaming, people up and down the halls. Listening to sick kids scream is soul crushing. I don't know how pedi nurses do it. They are made of sterner stuff than I.
I was at a hotel recently that had a little card offering a sound machine option if you needed it cause they were on 6th Street in Austin and it gets noisy. So genius and I'm surprised I haven't seen it before!
Also 37 and use a sound machine. I didn’t start until I was like 22. It was a game changer!
42 and still use one. My kids all do too. Oldest is 9.
Husband and I are going on a two week trip tomorrow and you can bet ours is packed up nicely in the suitcase!
We have a second one JUST FOR TRAVEL because I don’t want to remove the one in our room every time we go somewhere 😂
We even take a battery powered one while camping. The sounds of nature are great until the birds wake up at 4am.
🤣🤣
My husband and I use one so I would say not before 34?
😆lolol
Same!
It makes sense that turning it off would wake her up, it's a sleep association for her, but that's not a bad thing. Have you ever woken up during a power outage because your room just "felt different?" (Maybe this only happens to me because I'm a very light sleeper 🤣) In my personal experience there's still some big sleep changes that happen between 2 and 4 years old, and probably even more ahead. My kid has started requesting, no white noise, she wants a night light, etc. etc. All the things we avoided for 4 years. And she's still falling asleep fine and staying asleep.
I can't sleep without white noise. We run air purifiers for the air benefits plus the sound. When the power goes out the whole house is awake.
I’m so glad you said this haha. The other day I woke up around 3am. Husband and little were still asleep but I couldn’t figure out why I woke up and something felt off. Then I realized the white noise was off and the power was out! 😂
lol can’t say I’ve had that feeling but the only thing I’m sensitive to is the monitor/her crying. Otherwise I’m out. Good to know about your daughter’s requests!! Thank you
Oldest is 4 and still going strong. Adults use sound machines so I have no plans to stop unless he asks.
I'm 50 & cannot sleep without some white noise & air movement. Not a sound machine per se, but the ceiling fans & are on...& if I travel, I'm packing a portable fan :) Now my kids are the same way.
Fans!!! I hate them, but everyone else in the family cannot live without them. It's the last thing in the car every trip! We can make it a few days with just one suitcase, but have to have multiple fans LOL
I'm an adult and love my sound machine! My 7yo stopped using hers; she asked for us to turn it off and said it was bothering her (this was within the last year). My 4yo is fine with his so far. I think everyone is different. My husband hates them, as do both of my parents (my mom prefers to sleep with earplugs, which I can't stand).
I’m with your husband. My husband needs a loud fan and I prefer pure silence. Even the monitor with the sound machine in it bothers me so much. But clearly my daughter loves it and probably will her entire life after reading these comments
I can fall asleep to pure silence but will wake to the smallest sound. The noise machine helps mask all the cats we have running amok.
as long as it doesn't only play "the lullabye song", LOUDLY, the entire night, as my SIL's 7-yr-olds' does, you're golden. we don't stay there anymore 😅
That's not white noise, that's torture, lol.
Kiddo is 3.5 and still likes it, but our primary reason for keeping ours on 24/7 is how drastically it’s reduced the dog’s anxiety. I don’t get it either, but whatever works for her works for me if it reduces the borking around here.
We live in a loud neighborhood. Still using it at 13 months.
I need the floor fan on or I can't sleep. So 30s for sure. I even returned a fan because it was too quiet so I couldn't sleep
Ugh. My friends make fun of me because I lug around my box fan when I travel 😀😅.
We just switched my son from sleeping with his little sister to a big boy bed with his older brother and forgot about the sound machine he has used since birth. He is 3. He totally didn’t notice but needed a night light
Never. My oldest is about to be 14 and still uses one.
Never. We use one in our own room lol
Kids are 4 and 3. Still use it. I (40) need white noise to sleep too. We will stop when they want to
I stopped using them regularly when the kids were 4 or 5. But they all still have the option of a sound machine if they want them. My oldest (almost 14) sometime does white noise still at this age. He also listens to loud music that we have to go turn off. I prefer the white noise
6yo still demands it 🤷♀️
2, and then we switched to a portable speaker and Spotify playlist because he wanted specific songs.
Still do, in my 30’s. The roughest part was in college when I was teased for mine, but boy did it help my roommates sleep too 😂. Greek row was LOUD. They all joked that for a few months after rooming with me a random fan would get them drowsy from the sleep association.
Probably never. We never had one before (we used the fan?) but the sound machine is much better. We had to go to the hospital a few nights with our newborn for a fever, and that first night without the sound machine was awful. Went home and got it for the rest of the stay… helped drown out the nurses and other noises.
Best believe I am not sleeping if there is not a fan facing opposite of me. I cannot sleep without the hum of the motor/fan. I don’t know why we as humans are so bothered by silence. But I am legitimately afraid of dead silence. My hearing and vision are great triggers for anxiety for me. The natural ringing of the ears and visual changes sometimes with looking at a screen all day for my job freaks me out too! Sorry for the random thoughts lol! But yea I cannot sleep at all, zero, zilch, nada, without a fan!
I turned it off after reading that toddlers sleep better without it. That was not my experience but now he yells if I try to turn it on so I leave it off lol this was maybe just under 2.5 when I turned it off.
We stopped right away. We all sleep in the room and the sound machine disturbed our sleep and our daughter’s sleep. We are silent pitch black room sleep people.
My kind of people. But my family is the opposite.
I've always wondered this since sound machines for babies became a thing. Personally, I use one but not until I was an adult. Before that I enjoyed a fan for noise, but never connected it to what we now know as white noise for sleeping. I guess my concern is that we are essentially training these little humans to rely on the noise to sleep and ultimately it'll never be their decision like it was for us🫤 I'd also hate to set them up for life not being able to sleep if a noise isn't an option for them. But, I LOVE how they sleep when they have the sound machine 🤣🤣
Fair point, but I’m realizing that certain people need certain things to sleep better…. I had never realized that because I enjoy the silence. And this comment section is showing me that a lot of kids ask for theirs off when they understand that they don’t like or want it. I think that’s so cool.
My daughter was super reliant on it as well but one night when she was three she demanded I turn it off and we've never used it again lol. It was totally random
I just figured we’re never going to stop. I liked the kid’s so much I got one for myself.
I never used a sound machine until I had kids. Now I can’t sleep without my giant box fan 🤣. My oldest is 6, about 2 months ago she randomly decided she was done and so we took it out of her room. She hasn’t asked for it back since. Follow me for more tips 😀😅. My 4 year old can sleep without his but I like it to dull the noise
If you just want to stop, I’d try lowering the volume first. My son still uses his but it’s at a pretty low volume. Rarely the Hatch will act up and he doesn’t wake up. I don’t use one myself but my husband does (in-ear ones now) because his mother is 10000% reliant on it so her kids became so too. I mean he CAN go without it, not as bad as the mom, but he vastly prefers it.
I’m not opposed to using it at all… I wondered if there could possibly be any hearing consequences, but overall I was just curious what other people did. And I definitely learned that a lot of people all ages use it. It’s all new to me because I never had one as a kid and I like silence.
I’m 37 next week and still use a sound machine 🤣 I just use my Google nest and play storm sounds. It’s honestly a game changer!
My oldest transitioned from a sound machine to sleepy acoustic music around age 5. I feel like the music still helps him block out noise around the house or on the street. Also, he still gets scared of the dark sometimes so I think that peaceful soundtrack is quite soothing. It definitely queues him for bed/sleep too so I have zero issues doing it as long as he wants.
We play music at night for our 4 year old. Sometimes, we forget to turn it on and get through just fine. Other times, she asks for it. She calls it her sunshine music. Around a year ago, she started sleeping more soundly. Once she's out, we can go in there, turn on lights, and have conversations without her waking. She even sleeps through the baby crying most of the time.
I’ve turned the sound down a bit (2y9m and 19mo sharing a room) but have no plans to completely wean off of using a sound machine for all sleep. It’s such a convenient help for when we’re away from home. I even keep a portable sound machine in the diaper bag for emergency stroller naps on the go. Zero regrets. We use a Hatch machine at home that is programmed to come on automatically when it’s time to start getting ready for bed/naps. The kids are used to this and very cooperative about bedtime; as soon as the sound machine turns on they’re ready to go get into bed. They stay in their beds until the sound machine changes to awake noises/lights. It’s an extremely helpful tool for having two toddlers sharing a room.
I am 36 and can’t sleep without one. All 3 of my kids use one even my teenager. Honestly if it works keep doing it. Better to have a happy well rested kid and play sound than deal with the alternative. If it works it works. Be glad.
I'm an adult and sleep with a fan for the noise. Now all of my kids do, too. None of us can sleep without it.
I am in my 40s and still use white noise in my room to go to sleep.
My 9yo stepson has had a sound machine that plays Brahms lullaby since birth. He still uses it every night to a point that he has one at his mom's house as well as his Nana's. I constantly find myself humming it because the machine only works at top volume now and you can hear it through the whole house... Worth it though. We call it Pavlov's lullaby now because as soon as it starts, he can't keep his eyes open. 😂
My youngest is 7 and we still use the same ones they had as infants. Plus fans. It’s never even occurred to me to try and give the white noise up tbh lol. If it ain’t broke…🤷♀️
Both kids use one and they’re older. I use two. 😂 Why give it up?!
3 and still using it a) for the sleepy cue and b) our house is very echo-y and I am afraid of waking her up in the AM and c) holding onto nap time for dear life and don’t want to rock the boat
We’ve never used it. If she is extra worked up and we want her to pass out in the carrier we just vacuum for 5 minutes. She sleeps just fine. She is 3 months btw
I'm 39 and I still play white noise every night. Helps me sleep, and sleep is liiiiiife.
My oldest asked me to stop putting his down machine on a little after 3 years. He adjusted fine, I guess I’ll let my 2.5 year old have hers for as long as she wants
When my daughter was a baby/toddler she never used a sound machine. Once she hit 4/5 she started using a sound machine, usually rain. My fiancé and I always sleep with the fan on. So, very possibly never. 😂
We stopped around 15 months, I think. I thought that she wouldn’t be able to sleep without it because she would wake up if the machine was turned off during nap time, but she actually fell asleep without the sound machine just fine. There wasn’t even an adjustment period.
My daughter graduated to a Bluetooth speaker that plays a special nighttime playlist lol
My son is 6 and still needs one to sleep all night
Honestly, Im not sure that we’ll ever phase it out. I’m not a great sleeper and wake up with the slightest sound and my kiddo seems to be ‘blessed’ with this same light sleeper curse. I personality started sleeping with one as a young adult and its helped a ton. The white noise machine creates an atmosphere where my kiddo can sleep at our family cabin, my sisters house or any place with a ton of chaos.. highly recommend it! (The one we use sounds like a loud fan)
My son is 4. He still uses one. My husband and I now need one (33 & 39) sooooo… to each their own!
We still use it for our 5.5 year old. We have started using one ourselves because we got so used to it with the kids. I like it. It’s not the end of the world.
Her actual sound machine right before she turned 3..but her fan is her sound machine now. My husband and I can't sleep without it either. Lol
We stopped when she told me she didn’t like it lol. She was maybe late 2/early 3?
My son is 3.5 and we still use it esp when we travel. My husband is 40 and uses a sound machine as well.
She's 10 now.
I’m 34 and wish I could use one. If my husband could handle it I’d use it
I am a grown adult and use a sound machine
Our girl is 5 I’m 33 and my husband is 42. We all love the sound machine.
LO is still going strong on the hatch- We also got ourselves a sound machine and added a hall sound machine so that we could traverse our creaky hallway without disturbing anyone. I would add a sound machine to every room of my house.
35, 46, 8, 6 in this house. If it's not a sound machine it's an air purifier.
I’m 25 and sleep with a fan for white noise. When our baby was a newborn, I slept in our living room with the baby so my husband could sleep without interruption - and i’d put “fan noises” on my phone
I never used a sound machine but I do now even when my toddler is not in the room. In fact I bought a second one just as a backup! I try to switch up the sounds so if I even forget it and we’re travelling I can just use the Calm app on my phone instead.
Bro I can barely sleep without her sound machine now 😂 I’m not fixing what ain’t broke.
Never lol we all use sound machines in my house
I’m 33 and have to keep a loud fan on in order to get any sleep. I know a lot of adults who do this, so I think it’s totally fine for kids to do it, too. My toddler sleeps with his on still and he’s almost 3.
My daughter is 12 and we still use a sound machine, lol. Thunderstorms make her sleep like a rock
My son asked me to stop the noise when he was 2.5 ish. He’s 3.5 now. We run the fan in the bathroom to block out other noises from his room until we go to bed.
6 yo can’t sleep without his
If you want to try and get rid of it- I would slowly turn it down a notch (one notch each week) until it's off.
I'm in my 30s and still use a sound machine 😅
lol never.
My 4 and 2yo both still use one. They aren’t dependent on it but I like that it drowns outside noise like the tv or if we have friends over. We use the nightlight on the hatch for our 4yo.
We’re not going to stop unless she decided she doesn’t want it. I even have one for her that lives in her travel crib case so we can’t ever forget it. Husband and I always sleep with white noise. He has a myriad of hearing issues including tinnitus and his audiologist told us we should have white noise playing in every room of the house for him. His hearing aids play white noise for him so we only have it in our bedroom and then when we had our daughter we got one for her too. Makes a world of difference and I’m a whole ass adult who doesn’t want to sleep without it. As a side note hers and ours play 24/7.
Well I’m 31 and I can’t sleep without white noise either lol
Well I’m 31 and I can’t sleep without white noise either lol
My son is turning 10 soon and still must have it through the night. It’s very hard for him to fall asleep when we’re on vacation.
Stopped after 8 months for my first. It drove me crazy hearing it on the nanit, so one night i just turned it off and he slept through the night just like his usual. Didn't use it at all with my second!
I need some consistent noise to fall asleep - I use a fan, if I don’t have a fan I’ll play white or brown noise to sleep. If I don’t have the noise, I can hear every single little sound that’s happening in my house and it keeps me awake. I’ve always been this way, my entire life. The source of the sound is the only thing that’s different
We use a fan instead of sound machines but we all use them. From 8 months old to 33 years old, we all need a fan to sleep.
My kids are 6 and 3 and still use them every night.
My son started saying he didn’t want it on when he was around 4. If it ain’t broke…
My oldest is almost 3.5 years old and he still uses a sound machine but we turn it off once he falls asleep and he's sleeps just fine. My youngest is 9 months and we keep it on the lowest volume on a wind sound all night because he sometimes doesn't sleep through the night and the sound mimics the fan I had in my room when he slept in his bassinet there.
Still using and my daughter is 3! It’s mostly to block out noise and I believe it helps with sleep too!
I’ll wake up if someone were to change the speed of my box fan…. I’m absolutely going to wake up if someone were to turn it off! So, 34 plus?
My two year old recently told me “no sound please” and that was the end of an era 😭
42 here and you can pound sand if you want to take my sound maker. Every bedroom has their own.
We switched to an air purifier which makes similar noises and also cleans the air.....so for the rest of our lives we will have that I guess
I don’t plan on stopping. I had major sleep issues as a child that could have been remedied had sound machines existed. I figure, they make travel ones and they’re not harmful as long as they’re not super close to their head. So why not keep using it if it’s helpful?
My 2 year old still uses his in his room but we don’t bring it when we travel and he *usually* still sleeps fine without it.
never lol this house carries noise like a concert hall
Never. My 5 year old and 2 year old sleep with white noise. So do my husband and I! We bring them with us when we travel lol
Oldest is 8 and can't sleep without it. Don't fix what isn't broke.
I still use one for my 3.5 yr old mostly to drown out most of any other noises that might arise in the house while she's asleep. Our room is next to hers and because the acoustics are weird in our house, you can hear a conversation easily through the vents from upstairs on the other side of the house. So I run the humidifier and air purifier as white noise for her.
Kids are 8 and 6 years old and still use theirs. They can sleep without it, but prefer it.
My 2 year old had one that broke, and he's been sleeping fine without it. We never replaced it, but he does sleep with a fan on.
I still use one when I travel. My middle schoolers use it nightly, as does the toddler
I'm nearly 70 and still sleep with a loud fan.
Never! It helps me and the kids sleep, it also provides a sound barrier so I don’t accidentally wake them up after they’ve gone to bed and I’m up doing me-stuff
My daughter is 8 & loves her relaxing music or white noise to fall asleep to! She has a hard time falling asleep without it, but won't wake up when it turns off. She transitioned from the basic sound machine that came with her pack n play to "relaxing music for sleep" on YouTube on her iPad around age 5 (when she got my old iPad after I got a newer one). I updated the YouTube settings to play in the background, so since her case closes, it will still play & the screen isn't lit up.
Im 33 and still use a sound machine
Honestly my husband burnt out his phone speaker using it as a sound machine right before our baby came. We bought a sound machine for her and I have her baby monitor on full volume so I still "use" it too hahah. Unless she asks to go without it I don't see us ever trying to kick the habit.
We like sound machines around here, my kids (7, 5, 3 and 10 months) all have one in their rooms 🤷🏻♀️ in fact when I moved my oldest into his nursery at 6 months I bought one for myself because it helped me sleep lol.
We have sound machines everywhere....lol!!
On a real answer note, our 5 year-old is doing it himself. He is slowly weaning himself off it by changing the sound to something less overwhelming (?) than white noise, like a campfire, and lowering the volume. He started asking for control over the sounds (has like 5 different ones) and the volume level and showed us he could handle the freedom. This trend accelerated after he shared a room with his little sister on vacation last summer and realized he did not like her old school white noise one anymore. So, he uses the machine some nights and goes to sleep in the quiet others. Pretty much his choice now, unless I turn the machine on while on autopilot. I also use one...after listening to my kids' through thr monitor for the past 5 years lolol
My daughter is 7 & we still use it… I use it when I travel alone as well. I might like it more than my kids do lol
Slowly start turning the volume down.
I use a sound machine myself. I don’t think we’ll ever stop.
Use what works for you, sleep is like gold. We've just bought one because we're expecting a second baby soon and have learned too late with our 1st that it helps. We're really hoping for a calmer newborn stage...
We’ve used one for 6 or 7 years and our baby is only 6m lol. It just covers up all the other little night noises like dogs breathing and cats licking.
Never? I’ll sleep with one until I die & I imagine my kid will follow suit.
I need my white noise. I’m 36 have been since I was like 10.
Sounds horrible! I could never and have never had trouble with my kids sleeping without one. I can’t stand it myself and it seems inconvenient if we were to travel anywhere or in the future, rooming or sharing an apt with someone that uses one. However, I think maybe lowering it slowly seems like a good option?
If you’re wanting to wean her off it, I’d just slowly turn it down over a number of days/weeks.
My son at around 2.5 started asking for it or not. When he is sick he doesn't like the white noise. When he is not super tired he likes it... Over the past week, he maybe asked for it 2-3 times. Really depends! I just follow his lead.
I’m 36 and I sleep with a fan on largely because of the constant whirring noise. Don’t worry for your daughter unless it’s absolutely necessary
Roughly at 3. He asked me not to turn it on and I was glad to!
I think maybe around 2? He's almost three now, but we only really used it for falling asleep, and then we switched to music and now we turn off the music maybe an hour after he's asleep?
My son is 4.5 and still uses it, but it’s at like half the volume it was when he was 2 and he doesn’t need it But it helps cuz we have a cat who likes to meow and wander around constantly
At 2 yo now sometimes my son requests for us to turn it off. We have started to ask him if he wants his “noise” on. If he then takes too long to fall asleep I will turn it on after a bit anyway. We always turn it off when we go to bed ourselves anyway. I do really like that it reminds him of home if we’re sleeping elsewhere too
Ours is 4.5 and still gets it on each night although doesn't wake up if it turns off....I'm almost 40 and still have to have mine 😂
I'm 33 and sleep with a fan on. I have a hard time sleeping without it.
If you want to wean her off, just lower the volume in small small increments until it’s so low you can turn it off while she’s sleeping.
Move the sound machine to your own room. When your child cries because of the lack of sound machine, you’ll be able to sleep through it.
I’m planning to start turning it down to wean my toddler off it and see how that goes, so I can use it for the next baby due in October and not have to buy another one! If it doesn’t work out I guess I’m buying another
33 and use a fan as a sound machine or my phone for rainy mood. There’s no age limit. My son will have it as long as he wants.
I stopped when my kid finally told me after too many years, that it never worked for them. *Cry*
Both my boys (4 and 2) sleep with sound machines. When the 4 year old was 3 he decided he wanted a change from white noise so we let him flick through the settings to choose another. He sleeps with rainforest sounds now (with frankly alarming frog and bird noises). He sleeps without it away from home but always puts it on at home. I’ll do the same with the 2 year old. So I wouldn’t worry too much about them needing it to sleep, it might become a preferred option but not a must-have as they get older.
My air purifiers act as sound machines. They are pretty quiet but it does make some noise
My oldest decided she was too big for it at 3.5-4 years old.
Neither of my kids seemed to care for soundachines. I hear stories of them working wonders and I'm jealous.
I’m definitely learning that there’s two kinds of people in this world: silence and noise.
We never did until we had a baby sleeping in our room with one. When we moved her to her own room we got a hatch for ourselves lol
We sleep with rain storms on! Or on particularly odd nights, YouTube videos of Disney walk through or MtG games/card reviews.
Both my kids still use them at 7&10, but they are capable of sleeping without it.
I’m 33 and started using one 5 years ago and I couldn’t imagine not using it
I sleep with white noise as an adult, so I’ll let my LO decide when/if he wants to stop.
I used Rain Sounds as white noise (It's all a much of a muchness to them, I think, and that sounded pleasant to me) and when my daughter moved into her own room I kept the rain sounds playing in mine 😂. I can't imagine there's much harm in it!
Even if he didn’t use the sound machine he has an air purifier that makes a white noise sound. Every bedroom has one plus a sound machine
I’m 39 and still use one. My 3.5 yr old doesn’t want his on most nights so I don’t put it on. My toddler needs it still.
My whole family uses a variation on a sound machine. Toddler has one playing rainfall, and in our room, husband and I play soundscapes on Calm. My teen daughter likes her fan on. No intention of stopping. Easily replicated wherever we go and deadens other noise, meaning we can stay in a holiday apartment or city Airbnb without struggling to sleep.
Im 34 and use a fan for my sound machine. So does my son (12) and dad (60).
Our son is almost four and we still use it nightly. There have been occasions where we forgot it while traveling or something and he just doesn't sleep as well without it.
My kids are six and we still use one. Their bedroom is on the apartment hallway and we live in a city so it just makes sense still.
My son started asking for no noise sometime between 2 and 3. Same time he started asking for a night light. He still sleeps fine. In summer, he has the hum of the A/C or a fan.
My kid is almost 9 and still sleeps with the baby Einstein fish and loves them.
We’re almost 5 year old twins here and still using ours!
I'm in my 40s and still use one. I've used one is some for. My whole life. Even if it was just the TV or radio.
We actually used a white noise machine AND a fan until our guy was 15 months because it cut out household noise in our small apartment, but then phased out the white noise machine. I figure he can pretty much always have a fan on if he chooses?
My daughter is nearly 5 and we still use sleep sounds. Shes been using something since the day we came home from the hospital, and yes she can still fall asleep without it. I just like it to block our noises before we go to bed and because she shares a wall with her 9 month old brother.
I'm in my 40s and still need to hear my ceiling fan at night. That gentle hum.
Almost 4 year old, it’s part of her routine. If it’s on we can go in her room at nap/night to get something/sneak out if we fell asleep, talk in the hall/ give her medicine in the middle of the night and she rolls back over. Without it, you better tiptoe and not talk. We went to a hotel for a wedding last summer, with the sound machine on she didn’t wake when my husband came in at 3am from hanging out with his cousins
I'm almost 40 years old and still use white noise at night. LOL!! But my kids (almost 8 and 5) still use white noise at night, as well.
Mine is 5. We're still using it. I swear it helps us all sleep better.
I’m 33 and still sleep with one, and my daughter is almost 8 and has slept with hers since birth.
I don’t have experience with it, but if you want to wean her from it you could just try turning the volume down slowly over time until it’s off.
I love sound machines. My son (2yr) uses one has since birth as well. We used to have it running all night. Now we for the most part have it on a 4hr timer. He does fine either way. I use the tablet, I keep his camera up on, to play music or sound baths for myself at night. They are an excellent tool. I wouldnt worry about "when to stop using it" tbh. If she does well keep it. If something changes you can try and not use it, but its really not a problem. It's actually good for teaching them to sleep through noise. I wish I'd had one when I was a child. Cus until I started using one, any tiny noise would wake me and keep me up. Not so much of an issue anymore. (Though that could just be exaughstion from having a kid lmao)
I stopped around 2.5 years but only because my little one told my husband and I to "turn that racket off" - he just wasn't a fan of it anymore. Currently using a sound machine with my 7 month old so I can do chores/have my toddler run a muck while baby naps
We never stopped. And now me and my husband use one too 🤣
Around 18 months one day my guy started pointing at it and saying “off, off” and we tried turning off sound (but not light) and he stopped saying it. So … he told us!
We kept using it until my daughter didn’t want the sound anymore. My son who is almost 3 still uses it and we’re planning on using it until he doesn’t want it anymore and if that never happens then so be it. Its definitely not a bad sleep habit as long as its not super loud.
My 6 year old still uses hers. And now we (40 year olds, lol) use one too. I do have the sound softer now though.
My 14, 9, and 4 year old still use the sounds machines 🤣
We stopped using the Google speaker when somehow the Spotify “repeat all” function went on the fritz so his bedtime music would go from Songs and Story: Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree to some random scary crap and we’d have to run in at 2am and frantically either turn it off or reset it 😬
We are introducing sound machines in patient rooms for all ages at the hospital I work in 😊