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April 10, 2025

A Quick Guide to Sound Machines for New Parents

Technology is helpful to new parents with a young baby looking for support. Rest assured, baby tech, like a smart baby monitor developed by pediatricians and scientists, is tested repeatedly before its release. That said, these products may have features you want to learn more about, like a built-in sound machine that plays white noise and lullabies. If you have heard how sound impacts a baby’s development, additional information can help you decide what’s best for your baby’s environment.

The Truth About Background Noise
White noise or lullabies serve as background noise while your baby sleeps. They help soothe your little one and calm them while blocking out other sounds. This benefits parents and babies, allowing them to get more restful, undisturbed sleep. However, too much of a good thing can have a negative impact. “Too much” means the background noise is too loud and playing too long. You can use a sound machine or a baby sleep monitor that plays white noise or lullabies at a lower volume without causing any discomfort for your baby. 

The Science Behind It
A baby’s ears have smaller ear canals than an adult. Over time, repeated exposure to sounds above 85 decibels (dB) could negatively impact hearing. For reference, 80 dB is typical for an average alarm clock (remember those?). When your alarm clock was on your nightstand, around the same level as your ears and within arm’s reach, it was very loud. When you moved it across the room, it wasn’t blaring as loudly in your ear.

Similarly, the decibel level an inch from an infant sound machine may be different than that of the decibel level by the time it reaches your baby’s ears. So, both volume and distance from the machine affect the noise level, and you have the freedom to adjust the volume and distance and follow user instructions to use baby tech properly. That way, you keep your baby monitor hub at a comfortable distance and volume for a good noise level.  

A Comfortable Noise Level
A high-quality baby sleep machine has a cut-off decibel level to ensure it doesn’t reach a level that could impact hearing development. This means it shouldn’t go over 85 dB. That’s not the default sound level for the baby tech product, either; it’s just the maximum threshold. Keeping the volume between 20 and 50 dB can help create a comfortable sleep environment for your little one. 

Along with a sound machine on a hub, a baby monitor can also feature a baby cam and a smart sensor attached to an ankle band. These features allow you to track changes to heart rate, oxygen saturation, and external skin temperature (as well as the room temperature thanks to the hub). By monitoring any changes to your baby’s sleep patterns, you can make changes as needed, including the volume of white noise or lullabies and where you place the hub. 

Whether that’s a baby monitor that plays white noise and lullabies or a data-tracking sensor on an ankle band, you can use all the support you can get. Whenever you have a question about your child’s well-being, you can also reference the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and talk to your pediatrician. 

Sources:

American Academy of Pediatrics.
(2023). Preventing excessive noise exposure in infants, children, and adolescents: A joint policy statement. Pediatrics, 152(5), e2023063753. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2023-063753

April 10, 2025

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October 02, 2025
4 Tips to Help Your Baby Adjust to the Time Change Before Daylight Savings

When the clocks “fall back” on November 2 this year, many parents expect to brace for disrupted sleep (which goes both ways). Babies thrive on consistency, so even a one-hour shift can throw off naps, feedings, and bedtimes. With a bit of preparation, you can help your little one adjust before Daylight Saving Time.

Start Shifting Early
With steady, minor adjustments, you can help align their internal clock without major disruptions. Begin about a week before the change, knowing that it may take longer than that for your little one to adapt. One idea is to move your baby’s wake-up, naps, and bedtimes earlier by just 10-15 minutes every day or

two. Consider keeping bedtime routines the same, including bath times, book reading, and lullabies. These are cues for sleep, even if the timing is slightly different.

Use Light and Environment Advantageously
Morning sunlight helps reset circadian rhythms, so open the curtains soon after waking. At night, dim the lights earlier than usual to signal winding down. Consistency in the sleep environment, such as comfortable room temperature, quiet, and darkness, makes the transition smoother.

Lean on Smart Monitoring Tools During time-change prep, an all-in-one wellness monitor that tracks oxygen saturation levels, body temperature variations, heart rate, sleep patterns, and even nursery conditions through a connected hub is excellent, especially for parents of newborns. By seeing trends in your baby’s natural sleep cues, you can implement gradual schedule shifts more confidently.

A built-in baby wellness cam offers night vision and two-way audio to observe if your baby is settling earlier or waking at new times. Environmental sensors for temperature and humidity levels help you fine-tune the nursery for comfort. At the same time, app notifications provide reassurance if your baby stirs more often during the adjustment period.

Stay as Consistent as Possible
Some babies adapt quickly, while others need a week or more. Once the clocks change, stick to the shifted schedule and resist reverting to old times. A little extra patience and help from your monitor go a long way.

When the clocks “fall back” on November 2 this year, many parents expect to brace for disrupted sleep (which goes both ways). Babies thrive on consistency, so even a one-hour shift can throw off naps, feedings, and bedtimes. With a bit of preparation, you can help your little one adjust before Daylight Saving Time.

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Should You Follow a Feeding Schedule?

Babies know what they need: milk, sleep, and comfort. They tell you when they need them. You sometimes wake up to the sound of your little one through the baby sleep monitor because they’re hungry. Yet, your little one doesn’t run on a schedule, and they can’t tell you the time. So, should you, as a new parent, follow a feeding schedule?

Daytime Feedings
The early days with a newborn swing between sleeping and feeding with a few (or a lot of) diaper changes in between. Sometimes, the day just feels like a series of feedings, and you can’t even remember what happened when you weren’t feeding the baby. Eventually, you notice a kind of pattern to the sleep-wake cycles. You can create a little strategy to give yourself one (or more than one) grown-up nap a day, letting your baby sleep in a comfortable environment thanks to a smart baby monitor. 

Nighttime Feedings
Newborns don’t really have a bedtime. They just take a series of naps until they adjust to a new schedule and develop their circadian rhythm, sleeping for two to four hours. When they’re not asleep, you should encourage them to drift off again after feedings, so they get into the habit of sleeping more at nighttime. 

Breast vs. Bottle
Sometimes, breastfed babies have to nurse more frequently than bottle-fed babies. While the size of a person’s breast doesn’t determine how much milk they produce, it does impact how much milk they can store. Women with smaller breasts sometimes store less milk at a time, so their babies may nurse more frequently. Women with larger breasts store more at one time, so there may be less frequent nursing sessions. 
On the other hand, bottle-fed babies can take in more milk per feeding and don’t have to work for a letdown. Your little one’s feedings may be more spaced apart if they’re bottle-fed, regardless of whether there’s breastmilk or formula in the bottle.

Babies don’t know the difference between night and day and need frequent feedings. Instead of focusing on a feeding schedule in the early days, keep everyone in the family comfortable and well-fed. 

Babies know what they need: milk, sleep, and comfort. They tell you when they need them. You sometimes wake up to the sound of your little one through the baby sleep monitor because they’re hungry. Yet, your little one doesn’t run on a schedule, and they can’t tell you the time. So, should you, as a new parent, follow a feeding schedule?

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New parents take on a lot in the weeks and months after having a baby. It’s plenty of fun with many new experiences. While the parent who gave birth, breastfeeds, and pumps has another full-time job, partners can step in to help in different ways.

Researching Baby Products
Parents often research and purchase baby products long before their little one arrives. As parents, both of you should be looking into high-quality baby tech and supplies. One of these essentials is a baby monitor, which you might forget to prioritize. Partners, it’s your turn to research smart baby monitor options that give you extra support.

Nowadays, this goes beyond simple cameras with night vision. You can find monitors with various features, including a smart sensor on an ankle band to track your baby’s heart rate, oxygen saturation levels, and external skin temperature variations. A design that has a nightlight is a plus, too.

Nap-Time Checks
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*Contact naps are only okay if the parent is awake or there’s another person present to monitor the snoozing parent and sleeping baby. 

Late-Night Wake-Ups
If the breastfeeding parent recently fed the baby, there’s breastmilk in the fridge, or your baby takes formula, there’s no reason why a dad or partner shouldn’t take on nighttime wake-ups. You can learn to change a diaper, prepare a bottle, and comfort a baby. We’re in the 21st century, and with birth parents being full-time employees at other jobs, it’s time to share the unpaid role of parent, especially in the beginning.

Someone who has given birth or had a C-section is still recovering from what is technically a surgery. If there is a caregiver who stays home while the other is at work, that home caregiver doesn’t get lunch breaks or a chance to decompress. So, let them sleep or take turns covering nighttime wakeups. You can both access your baby sleep monitor through an app, so it’s not the sole responsibility of one parent.

Scheduling Pediatrician Appointments
Your first pediatrician appointment is likely within a week or two after leaving the hospital or giving birth. There will be several appointments within the first year of your baby’s life, and dads can make those appointments. It’s super easy. After both parents agree on a pediatrician, contact the office and tell them it’s your first appointment with your baby. It’s probably way less stressful than ordering a pizza over the phone back in 1995.

Being a parent is exciting, and if you’re lucky enough to go into parenthood with a partner, do your best to be their best advocate. There are things that only a birth parent can do, and you can help with the rest.

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