Every time we take a family trip we inevitably leave one thing behind. Often it's something easily replaceable like a sippy cup, but this Christmas we forgot the iPod dock/speakers we use as a noise machine for our son. I began to panic - travel throws off sleep routines enough as it is. Then I realized we could just use our iPhone - it was definitely a "duh, why didn't we think of this before" moment.
I've always advised friends not to buy a dedicated noise machine and instead load up an MP3 player (in our case a first generation Nano that no longer held a charge) with music as well as white noise tracks to use with a speaker dock. Juke box by day. Noise machine by night. At the time we set this up neither my husband nor I had iPhones so until the recent packing mishap it hadn't occurred to us to simply use an iPhone in the same way.
All you need is:
• an iPhone (or a Touch or any other phone/MP3 with built-in speakers)
• a USB cable
• a USB power adaptor
• white noise track(s) (I purchased two tracks by Mute Button) or a noise machine app (Unplggd links to some here)
Simply plug your phone into a wall outlet with your cable and adapter so it is powered to run all night and play your white noise tracks on repeat (or your app). If you haven't used repeat before, simply tap on the album cover once the track has begun to play and tap once on the repeat icon - it will turn blue to indicate you've chosen repeat.
Also - turn off your ringer so your child isn't disturbed by incoming calls or texts.
I know, this isn't rocket science and many of you are probably already doing this (am I the last one?), but I'm thrilled to have one less thing to pack when we travel.
(Images: Carrie McBride)
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Great idea and no I never thought to try this either.
It's a good idea, if you don't mind missing any incoming calls or don't have a need for your phone after your child goes to bed.
There is a great white noise app for your phone, and I believe its free. Not sure what its called, but it would be easy to find. Then there is no repeat button, just start the app and it will play all night!
There is actually a free app "Sleep Machine Lite" for the iphone that features wind, rain, and even crickets...
We use our spare phone this way using Sleep Machine but I'd recommend getting a dedicated noise machine. Much better sound quality and no conflict of use.
This is a good suggestion in a pinch, say when you're travelling. I've used our iPod as a noise machine on trips but I'd never use one every day for my son. He's too into gadgets and would change the settings in a heartbeat!
Yep. My daughter has had our old ipod (an original!) in her room since she was 3 months old. She sleeps to "Bubbling Creek." which my husband downloaded off of itunes. It's connected to a speaker and there is no problem with sound quality. It has worked like a charm for the past 5 years. Of course, she's gone without it when we've forgotten it during travels but prefers to fall asleep to her "U-zic."
i used simplynoise.com for a free download, but never needed it or the sleep sheep. Co-sleeping worked for us. It's not for everyone, but we've slept soundly from day one.
This is a great idea for traveling or even extended play dates. My kids don't normally use white noise but I've found it helps in a new environment - esp. if we're at a friend's house and they have a baby that may be crying in the next room :).
Adding this to my pinterest page for future reference!
I used an app by TMSoft called, appropriately, White Noise. Lots of different sounds, from nature to static. I use Brown Noise. You can set it to a timer. I love it. Only $1.99!
I bought a white noise track on iTunes when our baby was small, popped it in the iPod dock in his room, and hit play. It was a very long track, but apparently at the end it faded out, and then when it repeated it went loud again! Ugh... I should check on some of the apps. We have been taking our small air filter on trips for background noise.
We were so glad to think of this, too. Our daughter sleeps best with white noise, so she, too, has had my old ipod on a speaker dock in her room since day 1. we downloaded a white noise album from itunes and have it on repeat. but, when we travel, it was such a burden to bring the speaker with us. so, we opted to use my husband's ipod touch, which has a built in speaker like the iphone, but didn't have a conflict of use. Thank you, Apple!
It was a life saver for us when we had our infant...rain was her favorite sound.
Great idea! I love that blanket and would love to make one. Do you know the pattern or source?