super sonic hearing

mrspresley · January 2011

so Miss A is a really light sleeper... DH says she has super sonic hearing we can make the slightest noise downstairs while she is sleeping upstairs and she will wake up!

I've done things to try to make her more "adaptable" when possible... from a young age I stopped closing the blinds and didn't get blackout shades so she is able to nap/sleep whether it is dark or not (great advice I got from someone, so glad I did it!)

But someone please explain this to me... I've heard that you should make a lot of noise when your baby is sleeping so that he/she gets used to sleeping through loud noises. i would love to do this but how does it work when every sound you make causes her to wake up, cry, and stay up? I would say that 9 times out of 10 she won't go back to sleep. Do we just keep making noise, wake her up, and eventually she'll stop waking? inquiring minds want to know

vanilla15 · January 2011

your Miss A is quite a bit older than my Miss A so I don't know if this will change with time, but we pretty much always have the TV on as background noise at the house. She sleeps in her crib in our room so when we put her down we leave the TV on and she is so tired by bedtime she passes out whether or not the TV is on. I leave it on just so she doesn't get startled if we make a lot of noise in the front of the house. When we go to bed, we turn it off & she keeps sleeping. When I was desperately trying to get her to STTN, we tried no TV & it didn't change a thing. Now we just leave it on & she can sleep through anything. I am not sure if the TV noise did it or if she is just a heavy sleeper. Could you leave a radio or iPod playing in her room so it isn't complete silence that way if you were to make noise downstairs, it wouldn't be so noticeable to your Miss A?

MrsNJSwimmer · January 2011

have you tried to use a sound machine or anything like that? Something to drown out background noise?

Married2MrWright · January 2011

MrsNJSwimmer:
have you tried to use a sound machine or anything like that? Something to drown out background noise?

I was going to post the same. We have a sound machine that we've used with her since birth. We usually have the ocean waves going. It's small and we've traveled with it, which is great because it creates an atmosphere of "sameness" no matter where we are! We also have incredibly barky dogs and it helps drown own their yips, day or night!

redshoegirl · January 2011

We've always made noise around the boys - we wanted them to be able to sleep no matter what, especially since Ben walks like an elephant lol. But I know that doesn't help you right now...so, like the pps, I'd recommend perhaps trying a sound machine?

Hawaiian Honey · January 2011

redshoegirl:
especially since Ben walks like an elephant lol.

- Tee Hee...This made me giggle

redshoegirl · January 2011

Hawaiian Honey:
redshoegirl:
especially since Ben walks like an elephant lol.
- Tee Hee...This made me giggle

LOL he does! I guess his mother never told him to "stop stomping around the house!" like my mom did. Stick out tongue

myday1708 · January 2011

Married2MrWright:
MrsNJSwimmer:
have you tried to use a sound machine or anything like that? Something to drown out background noise?
I was going to post the same. We have a sound machine that we've used with her since birth. We usually have the ocean waves going. It's small and we've traveled with it, which is great because it creates an atmosphere of "sameness" no matter where we are! We also have incredibly barky dogs and it helps drown own their yips, day or night!

Same here. We use the sleep sheep and keep it on the waves button. She can still sleep without it, but it does help drown out noise. We usually leave her upstairs and then go downstairs to watch TV so she doesn't really hear us until we go to bed. The only problem is that our floors creek! She can hear us and wakes up in the morning when we get up, usually. But at night, she usually keeps sleeping or if she stirs, she goes back to sleep.We didn't do anything in particular to get her to this point... Sorry I can't be of more help!

eacerna · January 2011

From the day E was born, we would let her nap/sleep with noise in the background. During the first few weeks after she was born, we actually have to turn on the hair dryer or the bathroom vent to get her to sleep! We also used the sleep sheep but that was not enough for her. Now, she has gotten a bit better and we don't have to use the hair dryer anymore! lol. We have a cd player in her room and play music pretty much all day/ night...we started with Hawaiian music and now just started using our lullaby cd. Perhaps, start with that? E's really good with sleeping through the noise that's why we are able to take her to the basketball games with us. The loud noise does not bother her and just naps in the Ergo pretty much the entire game :-).

mrspresley · January 2011

thanks for the advice. i have not tried drowning out the noise w/music but i was worried she would become dependent on it to sleep? she has the fisher price seahorse that plays music for 5 min but then it turns off.... maybe i will try that for a nap and see what happens....

oh and FWIW when she was younger she'd sleep through lots. she would fall asleep and there could be a loud party going on around her and she would not even flinch. but somewhere along the way she turned into a lighter sleeper.... sometimes she can sleep through noises but other times all she has to hear is someone shutting a door downstairs and she will wake up!

inamra · January 2011

mrspresley:
thanks for the advice. i have not tried drowning out the noise w/music but i was worried she would become dependent on it to sleep?

I'm late to the post but this is also the reason why we don't use sound machines/white noise. We used it when he was younger but stopped as he got older, especially since we read that sleeping with noise or motion (like in the car seat while driving) isn't really restful sleep, so we try really hard to let B sleep in his crib at home (or pnp when we're out) as much as possible. Or if he's asleep in the Ergo, I will just sit wherever I am until he wakes up, before I head back home =P

But I think because of that, B is also a super light sleeper. He wakes up when we open/close the fridge downstairs or when I open the front door when coming home from work. IMO though, he's really only sensitive to it when he's in the phase of sleep where he's not sleeping deeply (REM or what-not) so it's sort of a hit-and-miss as to when he'll wake up to something or not. If he's in the Ergo, however, he seems to be more tolerant of noise (like if I'm in a store/restaurant/social setting/etc). I don't really have any suggestions as to how to "fix" the light sleeping issue--I just let it be because I feel like people are meant to sleep in peaceful settings? So we just keep quiet when he's sleeping. I don't know...both MH and I are pretty light sleepers ourselves, so I feel like our kids will probably end up being the same regardless =P

mrspresley · January 2011

inamra:
We used it when he was younger but stopped as he got older, especially since we read that sleeping with noise or motion (like in the car seat while driving) isn't really restful sleep
But I think because of that, B is also a super light sleeper. He wakes up when we open/close the fridge downstairs or when I open the front door when coming home from work. IMO though, he's really only sensitive to it when he's in the phase of sleep where he's not sleeping deeply (REM or what-not) so it's sort of a hit-and-miss as to when he'll wake up to something or not. If he's in the Ergo, however, he seems to be more tolerant of noise (like if I'm in a store/restaurant/social setting/etc).

oh I had heard that sleeping in the car, stroller etc wasn't restful sleep but had not heard that about sleeping to sound! good to know

oh and i can't believe he wakes when you close the fridge! wow! but i agree that it is totally dependent on where she is in her sleep cycle... sometimes the dog can bark and she won't wake up and other times she wakes immediately.

inamra:

I don't really have any suggestions as to how to "fix" the light sleeping issue--I just let it be because I feel like people are meant to sleep in peaceful settings?

good point

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