Votes for white noise machine?

[momma.bear]

My DS is 4.5 months old and a terrible sleeper. He's been a 40 minute napper for months, and only recently I've been getting him to go sometimes 1 hour or more. He has NWings - I'm up at least 5 times a night with him, 2 times to feed him, and numerous times to resettle him. He is swaddled and has a pacifier. He is a light sleeper. I'm not convinced that he's waking up at night because of noise though. However, I'm wondering if anyone else has success stories with white noise. I've tried going without the swaddle, and even just one arm out with no success. I've tried taking away the pacifier but couldn't take the screams.
My husband doesn't want a white noise machine because he's afraid DS will get addicted and not be able to sleep without it. Anyone with some wisdom for me?

[~inbalance~]

White noise is great!  And neither of my boys are addicted to it even though they've always had it in their rooms.  We just use a basic fan in spring/summer and humidfier in fall/winter.  Nothing expensive or fancy.

[ZacsMumme]

I use it for both my boys. Z has had one since 3 mths and T since 6 weeks! Though I don't know if they 'help LO sleep better' as such I do believe two things
- outside noise and kitchen clanging in this house would definitely prevent them sleeping as soundly
- babies in particular like the hum of background noise, it is soothing - as shh ing is

Give it a go.

[anna*]

It's definitely worth a try. Also you could get one for Mia's room and reduce any anxiety about her waking.

[mycatmonet]

white noise is great! We use a track free from the internet (sounds like synthetic ocean waves with a heartbeat on the top) burnt on cd and on repeat on the stereo. For all naps and sleep since 3.5months or so..... And DD is nearly 15mths now. DD can sleep at daycare without it (!!) but i have been too scared to leave it off for naps at her grandparents' house. I say who cares if they use it as a prop, it would be easy to wean off it, just turn the volume down gradually over time until it is gone.  White noise was a lifesaver for us, it is a sleep assoication for DD and blocks out household noise that would wake DD up - even the chink of a spoon on a teacup would wake her up! White noise blocks some of that out.
I'm happy with the cd we made. You can search free white noise on the internet and there are tracks available.... And I like that the stereo can go loud too,  i have heard some white noise machines are a little low in volume.

[scruffymax]

We use it for the same reasons mentioned above.  I have a stereo in DD's room and just play radio static.  When we're at other people's houses I play a white noise app on my phone (hairdryer sound!).  Often when her grandmother puts her down for a sleep she doesn't put it on and she still sleeps fine :-)

[CCCmom27]

There have been quite a few times in the at least 4.5 years C has had white noise to sleep that we've forgotten to put it on repeat and he stays asleep after it's turned off.  I on the other hand think the monitor is turned off or broken since I don't hear anything  Like PPs I like that it blocks out some of the general noises in the house....

[mimi1017]

I couldn't have survived without it, especially to drown out noise to get them more restful sleep.

[lily_layne]

White noise works great for my DD - it helps her fall asleep and stay asleep.  We started it at about 2 months and it helped her sleep longer stretches at night.  Now it's a great sleep cue for her - she knows it's time to sleep as soon as she hears which is really helpful when we're away from home and we're out of routine.  We just use an app we downloaded on our iPod called White Noise Baby.  It has lots of different sounds you can use.