Noise is Your Friend

I remember before our wonderful bundle of joy arrived we (I) worried about how she would sleep because we live in an apartment. In all honesty, having a newborn in an apartment can be somewhat terrifying because you can't control that much of the environment. For instance they tell you to control the temperature on your hot water heater--that just isn't an option for most apartment buildings.


But the most troubling for this control freak is the noise control. We live in one of the entry way apartments, which means you hear most of the comings and goings. This was amplified by the fact that, until recently, our entryway door had keys perpetually getting stuck in it. For some reason people thought banging the door against the frame was the most efficient way to remove them; sorry, folks, a little jiggle should do the trick. Our apartment also faces the street, so there is a steady bustle of cars and people walking.

I guess what I'm saying is that our building, that I would characterize as fairly quiet before, becomes excruciatingly loud when you start thinking about a sleeping baby. So I figured out a way to combat this problem: television (our any noise) is your friend.


Even at the hospital, I always had the television on and she didn't leave my room. Then once we arrived home, we have constantly had the television on. I'm really not exaggerating much--we turn the TV off right before the hubby and I go to sleep. I know it sounds simple and ridiculous at the same time. But I didn't want strange voices, door slams, loud hustle and bustle to freak her out. Not to be boastful, but I have to give myself a pat on the back: Noise has never been an issue for her sleeping habits.

But noise isn't really a new idea. Most baby books recommend playing some sort of sounds to soothe sleeping babies (i.e.: white noise, womb sounds, rain, etc). We also do the womb sounds on her snuggle nest and bassinet. Recently she's started "engaging" with toys (she looks and talks to them, but not quite grabbing). So in that regard, we play these sounds with a pink and purple seahorse and a Sleep Sheep.

In all fairness, though, she's my daughter--she likes noise of all kind. I sing to her constantly (poor kid!); and even though it's unintelligible, she's already a chatterbox. Plus, I like being on the go, and having a noise resistant baby makes outings so much easier.