So.... Now We're "Those" People.

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

My husband used to tell a story about a guy he was in Residency with, who was so addicted to his noise machine that he absolutely could not sleep without it. One night when he was sleeping in the call room, the thing broke, and his mother had to bring him another at 3 am (let's overlook the fact that the dude was married with two kids, and it was his "mommy" he needed to save the day) so he could sleep.

We would all have a laugh about it, and would question how someone could be so crazy that he couldn't sleep without the sound of running water, chirping birds, or a rain forest somewhere in the background.

... and then we became one of "those" people.

You know. The sound machine people. Oh, and it's not just us... it's our kids too. I don't know exactly how or when it happened, but a few years back we became hooked on this, and last night when the one in our room broke, and within about 5 seconds I was on amazon overnighting a new one, while also purchasing a "back up" I realized that while there some things I can live without; a noise machine is not one of them. I also discovered that I am not alone in this addiction, when my husband spent 15 minutes with the noise machine app on our phone trying to get the right "tone" of white noise before he could go to sleep.

Yes, we are crazy.

It's just not us.

My kids, and my Sister all cannot sleep without this thing. When we travel together we bring three of them with us, one for each room. For someone who hasn't tried one it's hard to explain just what it is that is so awesome about them. It's not like they help you to fall asleep faster, and living on a busy street, you still hear noise in the background, but your actual quality of sleep is just SO MUCH BETTER. I swear this thing just lulls you from one sleep cycle to another. I am fully convinced this little humming machine is why my LM is such an awesome sleeper, and why baby Gray (despite the fact that he still wakes up once a night for feedings) as equally as awesome when it comes to napping, and going to bed.

The downside is, of course, that they can break. Which is why you need a back up. Or a mommy who can bring you one. Or amazon express delivery, which made my day by bringing us a new one, just in time for nappy (I seriously considered sleeping with the LM just to share his.)



I actually feel like I should bury the old one, I loved it so much. Look at it, all sad and alone in the recycling. RIP Sleep Mate.... you were a great companion.

7 comments :

Angela said...

I'm with you! We never travel without them, and when our power was out for 3 hours this summer, my main concern was the noise machines.

sofa said...

HI
I'm quite pleased with the ifonrmation in this post.nice and useful!
thank you!

jnp said...

TOTALLY with you on this one! We have the exact same machine for our daughter and we carry it with us everywhere. My SIL is the one who turned us on to it and she has two herself.

Unknown said...

There are some great apps on the iphone/ipad for noise machines. Plus it's portable!

Anonymous said...

We use this too but always wonder if we should use it on the loudest setting for our VERY light sleeping baby or keep it on a medium setting (we tend to crank it). What do you do?

Robin M Anderson said...

I am so glad we are not alone! Oh, and the power going out... that is my first thought too!

We crank our baby on high... especially in the kid's rooms. I think it help block out any noise, thus helping a light sleeper (Gray) not wake so often!

DMMOM said...

Brilliance and practicality. Living in an old house (alas, not in Paris, not covered in vines, and without 12 little girls in two straight lines) with creaky floors, this was a necessity. The phone can ring. We can flush the toilet, walk around regularly; basically, live normally, after the children go to sleep. Which model is your preferred? We use an air purifier that is not exactly portable.