white noise CDs for 5 week old

[LeilahB]

My 5 week old struggles to get back to sleep after feeding at night and we're finding the lack of sleep difficult to cope with! She sleeps pretty soundly till the first feed (2/3am) but then doesn't seem to settle after that. A friend suggested playing a white noise CD when we put her down after the feed - has anyone else found that this helps? And if so, does anyone have any suggestions for specific CDs (there seem to be quite a lot out there). Many thanks! L

[newcomer]

'Organic White Noise for Babies' is good, especially the track 'where the wild things are'. Bird song, falling rain, stuff like that. Although, to be honest, when baby newcomer was very young he didn't really pay any attention to it but it was soothing for me anyway!

If you want to save yourself the price of a CD, I've heard that Classic FM works just as well.

[Lochie]

we used to put the kettle on and that would get our new baby off to sleep - not very environmentally friendly though! There is a white noise sheep thing you can buy from mothercare - we never purchased but it might be worth a look:

http://www.mothercare.com/Easidream-Ewan-Dream-Sheep-Comforter/dp/B004FJA9TO/sr=1-1/qid=1291897635/ref=sr_1_1/277-2851638-9654611?_encoding=UTF8&m=A2LBKNDJ2KZUGQ&n=42764041&mcb=core

[bumpy]

I found it helped a lot - I don't use it anymore but he's now 11 months old! I bought this one and played on repeat - http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/help-your-baby-sleep-through/id292705464

[newcomer]

I know it's not quite answering your question, and I'm sure you're already doing all of this, but just in case it might be worth running through a 'checklist' of things that might be keeping your little one awake after the first feed: ?

- possible sensory stimulation from light/noise, etc etc. In other words, ?are you keeping the lights off/very low and?things as quiet and 'boring' ?as possible when you give the baby the first feed? Is the?temperature as consistent as possible (eg, warm water for the nappy change rather than cold, etc). Is there any sudden noise from traffic, your other children (if any), etc etc that might be disturbing her??

- possible social stimulation? even talking or looking at the baby might stimulate her to 'wake up' instead of allowing her to drift back to sleep, especially if she's got a sociable personality and doesn't want to miss the party!?It's probably better if only one parent does the night feeds and nappy changes (so if you're breastfeeding I'm afraid the task falls to you!).?

- Do you re- swaddle her after the feed? That might help.?

- is her bed cold by the time you put her back down? If so, a fleecy cotton ?sheet might be better than plain cotton. I was born in a house with no central heating and my mum used to put a lukewarm hot water bottle in my cot when I was having my feed, then took it out again before she laid me down. I guess that's not a good idea anymore because of SIDS risk but maybe you could lie your pillow in the cot while she's feeding to minimize heat loss, then remove it just before you set her down.?

- finally, is there any chance she might be having problems with trapped wind after the feed? If so, a spoonful of gripe water after the feed might help get the wind up.??

Anyhow, youve probably already thought of all this and, if so, my apologies and please ignore the post!?

[Norfolkvillas]

My son used to fall instantly asleep when I switched my hairdryer on - obviously, I couldn't leave a hairdryer on in his room, so I positioned a radio under his cot and set the dial right at the end of the fm scale, where there's some lovely soothing white noise, and it worked a treat, right through until about 5 months if I remember correctly.

If you want a less DIY option, the Prince Lion Heart Slumber bear has a box inside him which is motion and noise triggered and will play your choice of white noise, whale noises, and a couple of other options. The bear is a bit twee looking (and expensive), but all you really need is the sound box which fits inside him, and I bet you could pick one of these up on ebay....

Hope this helps!

[LeilahB]

Thanks for all the tips everyone. Newcomer - I've been doing the night feeds in bed lying down, practically in the dark (illuminated only by the light of my blackberry!) so I don't think it's stimulation, and I've been unswaddling her, doing one side, and then re-swaddling her and sometimes she takes the other boob as well. It is quite cold in our room, so I might try putting my hot water bottle in her moses basket to warm it before putting her down (by that time of night, it's lukewarm rather than hot), and I haven't been very good at winding her (she doesn't seem to need it during the day) as I haven't wanted to wake her up any more than necessary, but maybe I should do that as well? Love the radio idea, but given that she's in our room at the moment, it might drive us mad (although perhaps not as much as the current lack of sleep!)

[Mellors]

Hairdryer worked a treat for us too, but better for daytime sleeps! Vacuum also worked.

[LeilahB]

Not sure about vacuum at 3am!! But suspect that if it continues like this, then in a week or so's time, I'll be willing to try anything. Needless to say, right now she's sound asleep (and has been for an hour and a half) to the noise of R4 and the dishwasher, having slept through a rather noisy lunch with my in-laws and toddler!

[Mellors]

This may be the reason why No 1 child lastest about a week in my bedroom, and No 2 didn't make it in there at all, and was dispatched to the farthest room in the house lol.

[buggie]

We got this: sound machine on the recommendation of a friend and it worked wonders.

Especially the heartbeat/ocean sounds.

The timer is really useful, and found it helped me and hubbie get back to sleep too!! :)

[nylonmeals]

White noise is amazing for babies we've found. I know that you don't have an iPod LeilahB but you can get a basic one for about ?150 (xmas present??), there are loads of brilliant free baby apps to download. We use a white noise app that has waves crashing on beaches or rain storms. My biggest problem is that they are so relaxing that they send me to sleep to! They're great though because you can put them on timers so that you don't have to be in the room to switch them off.

good luck!!