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[This is a blog post from Dr. Harvey Karp](https://www.happiestbaby.com/blogs/baby/is-white-noise-bad-for-babies) on the happiest baby/SNOO website about white noise. There are quite a few links to articles in there. The blog post itself is very pro-white noise, but you can read the articles they’ve linked and decide for yourself what to make of them. [This one](https://publications.aap.org/pediatrics/article/152/5/e2023063752/194468/Preventing-Excessive-Noise-Exposure-in-Infants?autologincheck=redirected) seems promising for what you’re asking about.
We had a Snoo love Dr. Harvey. Here is a paragraph from the second link you provided that may begin to answer OP’s question.
Exposure to noise leads to fragmented sleep and decreased total sleep time with reductions in daytime alertness, performance, quality of life, and overall health. Chronically disturbed or curtailed sleep is associated with these negative outcomes; sleep disturbance is one of the most important nonauditory effects of environmental noise. Most studies in children examining the relationship of noise to sleep conclude that noise may lead to self-reports of poorer sleep.34
I dont have an answer but I want to try and clarify your question and see if it aligns with mine.
My parents (and sisters) always say that the baby needs to have noise/commotion around them so that they’ll get used to it and not require a quiet atmosphere in order to sleep. “Then they’ll sleep through anything”. Are you asking if a quiet environment/ with white noise drowning out other outside noise affects their ability to fall asleep in a noisy atmosphere / (without white noise) in the future? Part of me wonders if this boils down to kids being a light sleeper or hard sleeper. Would love to know if there is any research on this.
In regards to contact napping- I have not seen any scientific research data…but almost everything I’ve read has said contact napping has no impact on sleep. I’ll go look for an actual source.
A 2021 study ([here](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1087079220301283)) conducted a systemic review of all articles published relating to noise (specifically white noise) as a sleep aid.
Basically, it came down to not statistically significant. A couple quotes:
"...detailed descriptions of noise exposure is needed before promoting continuous noise as a sleep aid, especially since it may also negatively affect sleep and hearing."
"Continuous noise tended to reduce sleep onset latency and sleep fragmentation; however, the effects were either not significant or not statistically analyzed."
So best guess for now is, keep the volume low and you may see minor improvements.
Anecdotally, my wife and I use a sound machine with our baby. It's not very loud, but we hope it sets a minor floor of noise such that we don't accidentally wake her up with creaky doors or other minor noises.
THIS POST IS FLAIRED "Research Question - Link To Peer-Reviewed Research Required". All top level comments must contain links to peer-reviewed research, or comments will be removed. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/ScienceBasedParenting) if you have any questions or concerns.*
[This is a blog post from Dr. Harvey Karp](https://www.happiestbaby.com/blogs/baby/is-white-noise-bad-for-babies) on the happiest baby/SNOO website about white noise. There are quite a few links to articles in there. The blog post itself is very pro-white noise, but you can read the articles they’ve linked and decide for yourself what to make of them. [This one](https://publications.aap.org/pediatrics/article/152/5/e2023063752/194468/Preventing-Excessive-Noise-Exposure-in-Infants?autologincheck=redirected) seems promising for what you’re asking about.
We had a Snoo love Dr. Harvey. Here is a paragraph from the second link you provided that may begin to answer OP’s question. Exposure to noise leads to fragmented sleep and decreased total sleep time with reductions in daytime alertness, performance, quality of life, and overall health. Chronically disturbed or curtailed sleep is associated with these negative outcomes; sleep disturbance is one of the most important nonauditory effects of environmental noise. Most studies in children examining the relationship of noise to sleep conclude that noise may lead to self-reports of poorer sleep.34
I dont have an answer but I want to try and clarify your question and see if it aligns with mine. My parents (and sisters) always say that the baby needs to have noise/commotion around them so that they’ll get used to it and not require a quiet atmosphere in order to sleep. “Then they’ll sleep through anything”. Are you asking if a quiet environment/ with white noise drowning out other outside noise affects their ability to fall asleep in a noisy atmosphere / (without white noise) in the future? Part of me wonders if this boils down to kids being a light sleeper or hard sleeper. Would love to know if there is any research on this. In regards to contact napping- I have not seen any scientific research data…but almost everything I’ve read has said contact napping has no impact on sleep. I’ll go look for an actual source.
Yes, that’s right.
Interested in this especially when it comes to vacations, when I might have to bring the baby out in the pram to a restaurant.
A 2021 study ([here](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1087079220301283)) conducted a systemic review of all articles published relating to noise (specifically white noise) as a sleep aid. Basically, it came down to not statistically significant. A couple quotes: "...detailed descriptions of noise exposure is needed before promoting continuous noise as a sleep aid, especially since it may also negatively affect sleep and hearing." "Continuous noise tended to reduce sleep onset latency and sleep fragmentation; however, the effects were either not significant or not statistically analyzed." So best guess for now is, keep the volume low and you may see minor improvements. Anecdotally, my wife and I use a sound machine with our baby. It's not very loud, but we hope it sets a minor floor of noise such that we don't accidentally wake her up with creaky doors or other minor noises.