Next up, let’s talk about sound machines. As a sleep consultant, white noise is one of the first things I recommend to help your baby sleep well. Not only does it block out ambient noise from your household our outside, it is very comforting to baby. When they were in the womb, it wasn’t quiet in there! Some researchers believe the noise level was as high as 90 decibels, which is like a lawnmower or loud vacuum! That’s loud! No wonder when we lay them in a quiet room they have a hard time falling asleep.

White noise also becomes a great sleep cue for babies letting them know it is time to go to sleep no matter where they are. There are a few things we look for when it comes to a good one: it gets loud, it plays white noise or an ocean sound continuously (no shutting off after 20 minutes) and it has batteries. You can use a box fan or a broken radio to get white noise but there are some sound machines created specifically for sleep that we think are worth the money. Here are our favorites, at all different price points!

• LectroFan - this sound machine is one of the original white noise machines and known for being loud. It has a great, general white noise sound and will drown out anything around. No battery backup.

• Homedics - I think everyone on our team owns at least one of these. This is a basic sound machine at a great price. It gets loud AND has a battery backup which doesn’t seem important until your traveling or the power goes out in the middle of the night. Great for home, travel, or to keep at grandma’s house!

• Hatch Rest - This is a sound machine, green light clock, and night light all in one. It’s controlled by your phone and is pretty amazing. It gets very loud and you set when you want everything to turn on and off. It is also nice because you can use it as a dim nursing light for those middle of the night feeds. Their newer model, the Rest+ has a battery back up and is also an audio monitor but, I’ve heard it is harder to set up.

• Rohm Portable Sound Machine - this is our favorite for travel! It is small, gets very loud, and clips easily on to a carseat or stroller.

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