White noise, the last thing to soothe your baby's crying
Did you know that there is a noise or sound that has the ability to reassure the listener, especially babies? Is the White noise, a constant sound very similar to that of rain and wind, which is linear, that is, monotonous, without ups and downs, and which has the peculiarity of calming those who listen to it.
Many people who suffer insomnia or find it difficult to fall asleep already use this source of white noise to relax when they go to bed at night, because they say that hearing only this murmur helps them to fall asleep.
How does the white noise sound?
The white noise is formed by the whole spectrum of sound frequencies without repeating them with a certain frequency and without there being one that stands out from the others. The result is a constant sound sum of all the frequencies, just like the white color that is the sum of all the colors, hence the name of White noise.
Some people describe it as a kind of hypnotic buzz. In fact, the white noise can be the sound of a constant rain or that of the waves of the sea, although it is identified as soft noise that of a television without tuning, or the sound that many appliances produce when they are working, for example the one of an extractor hood, the washing machine while turning or the dryer. In short, it is a permanent murmur that sounds incessantly.
White noise to relax your baby
The curious thing about this white noise is that it has a relaxing effect on the human being and especially on babies. This is because the white noise makes us not hear the rest of the sounds that surround us and that can startle us. Being constant, and covering the rest of the environmental noises, has a mesmerizing effect that is reassuring as there are no highs or lows that demand attention.
But why does white noise soothe some babies? It could be said that it is simply because it covers the rest of the noises. But, it seems that the white noise is very similar to the sound of fluids flowing and in general to life in the womb and this memory brings security and well-being to the baby and provides peace of mind. This sound also masks other unwanted external noises, causing the baby not to notice that a door is closed, that the telephone rings or the conversations of others.
When a baby wakes up agitatedly it is usually because there has been a mismatch in the ambient noise you are hearing. This also happens to adults, but babies have an enhanced form.
On the other hand, in the event that the baby has been crying for a while, his brain is over-excited by the crying itself, and this situation becomes a vicious circle. When the white noise enters the scene, the masking effect of it covers the sound of the crying itself and thus the babies calm down until they manage to fall asleep.
Ways to get white noise
Any appliance with some type of rotor system has the capacity to cause a noise capable of covering a large part of the spectrum. That's why many parents already know that when they approach their children to the extractor hood of the kitchen or to a hairdryer they usually stop crying.
Another way to get white noises is leaving the day of the radio at some point where no station captures, something that can also be achieved with televisions, tuning them manually, until we get to see the famous "gray fog."
However there are free and paid mobile applications, and videos on YouTube that reproduce different types of images and sounds, including different types of white noise. Some companies are already dedicated to selling discs with personalized white noise for each client.
Marisol Nuevo Espín
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