Pink Noise: is it more beneficial than white noise?

If you've ever had difficulty falling asleep, someone may have suggested the concept of white noise to you. White noise is essentially background noise of a particular frequency that helps break up the silence and let your mind settle down so you can get some rest. 

Just to get a little technical for a minute, the rainbow of colors in a sound spectrum reflect the relationship between frequency and amplitude. Frequency is how fast the waveform is vibrating per second (one hertz is one vibration per second), while Amplitude (sometimes measured as “power”) refers to the size of the waves.

Ever wondered why we sleep better with the background hum of an electric fan, compared to dead silence?  If white noise is a background hum that sounds very similar to a loud shhhh sound – well pink noise is a similar background noise except much better!

Pink noise is getting a lot of research attention lately. You might be wondering, what is pink noise, anyway? The good news is that it might help with sleep problems — and, indeed, it might even be more beneficial than white noise. 

It can be a little tricky to differentiate between pink and white noise 

White noise contains all the audible frequencies at equal amplitude, just like white light contains all the frequencies in the visible range.

Pure white noise tends to have a higher pitch and intensity - think hair dryer, a vacuum cleaner, or even the fan buzzing – these are all white noises.

Pink noise contains lower frequencies that create a deeper, gentler sound than that of white noise - like a beating heart, the ocean waves, rainfall or the rustling of leaves on a tree.

Why is pink noise a better option for your little one?

Consider newborns having lived in an environment with constant noises for 9 months – the rumbling of your digestive system and the beating of your heart, these are considered pink noise sounds and therefore makes sense to mimic these sounds once your baby is out.

Many parents endeavor to create a quiet environment to encourage consistent sleep habits. However, the transition outside of the noisy womb to a silent space can sometimes prove problematic.

According to the National Sleep Foundation, the circadian rhythm, or sleep-wake cycle, of newborns begin to develop at about six weeks, and doesn’t regulate until they are three to six months old. Infants also have a more sensitive ear canal than adults at this stage, making them hypersensitive to a variety of noises around the home. When trying to sleep, they often wake due to loud noises disrupting their sleep, or suprisingly from an environment that is too quiet.

Another study found that playing pink noise while sleeping also prolonged deep sleep, which has been linked to our brain’s memory function. 

So if pink noise helps to soothe your baby to sleep and helps them sleep more deeply then just think about all the benefits this brings for your baby.

How to bring pink noise to help your baby’s sleep routine

There are many sleep aid machines and devices including dolls and stuffed animals that have a noise mechanism inside - some advertise to be white noise machines and others claim to have the pink noise. Make sure to get one that plays pink noise.

Choose also a machine that can be used throughout an entire nap and even all night long. Consider something that can be used from the newborn stage right through to toddlerhood. 

While pink noise is safe for your baby, keep in mind the volume of the noise not being any louder than a soft bathroom shower, and to place the sound source at least three feet away from your baby.

We discovered a sleep aid machine that has 3 pink noise sounds and has a multitude of other functions to help babies have deeper sleep. The Aroma Snooze sleep aid is a multi-function device including 3 pink noise sounds, red light therapy, humidifier, vaporizer, air purifier and voice recorder.

The Aroma Snooze sleep aid can be used all night long and is for all ages including newborn all the way through to teens, and benefits adults too.

The good news for us adults is that pink noise produces the same effect also for adults that may be suffering from poor sleep too.

The Aroma Snooze sleep aid is recommended by many baby sleep consultants and sleep specialists.  Take a look at some of the reviews here:

• Aroma Snooze sleep aid review by Sophie Acott, Sleep Play Love
• Aroma Snooze sleep aid review by Rebecca Michi, Children's Sleep Consultant