Tuesday, October 20, 2009

C'mon Feel the Noise

White Noise that is. Without it, we would get no sleep.

They say some kids are comforted by the hum of a vacuum or a shhhing sound.. Well, cloudy's certainly one of those kids. It's like an "off switch" for his fussiness... If he's fussy (which he often is), and there's no apparent reason (hunger/diaper/temp); simply turning on some static will usually instantly calm and quiet him.

One day while driving in the car, he started complaining, and would not stop. So just for the heck of it, I turned the stereo to AM, de-tuned it, and switched all the sound to the rear speakers. Sure enough, he soon calmed down.. The next day, when he refused to sleep at night, I turned the (old analog) TV in our bedroom on to an empty channel, and sure enough, it soothed him instantly...

So now.. rather than putting up with the static screen lighting up our room, I burned a CD of White Noise. I know this sounds pathetic, but there are so many radio signals around, that it's almost impossible to find consistent static on the radio.. So I burned a CD from http://whitenoisemp3s.com/free-white-noise and put it on my trusty Sony. ( I still have the same one I bought in high school, and amazingly it still works..)



I think he might be outgrowing it now though; a week ago the noise was much more soothing than Mom or Dad's voice.  The last few days I think he may actually prefer us to the sound of static...


Hello cloudy, my new friend.
Ya know it's sleepy time again.
Because you're often softly weeping,
When you know you should be sleeping.
And no matter how we try to calm your brain.
You still complain.
Until the sound... of static.