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Sound Machines for Better, More Restful Sleep

November 2, 2011 By Leave a Comment

We just moved flats, aka apartments, and once again, I am so happy we held onto our sound machines.  We’re not bad sleepers, and the kids are getting older, so it was tempting to think we might not want them.  However, now that we live next door to {and share a wall with} college-aged students, we’re pretty glad we held onto them.  Music with a strong bass line starts anywhere between 9pm and 2am.  We live on a busy street, so passers-by and cars contribute noise at any time.  In addition to outside noise, the kids are getting used to their new shared room, and to top it off, are getting over jet lag from our last over-seas trip.  That means they wake up at all kind of weird hours for about a week, and since they’re both going to new schools, sleepless nights are not really an option.  For all these reasons in just the past week, I am so incredibly glad we had some white noise to block all the extra noises so we could all get some semi-normal rest.

Sound machines really are clutch in these situations.  I know some people worry that once they get used to using one for sleep purposes, they won’t be able to sleep without one.  I personally have not had that problem, nor have my children.  We just use them to cover noise.  If there’s not noise to cover, we don’t use it.  It’s as simple as that.  I have found that varying sounds at home, and especially on the road when traveling, really mess up sleep.  I am not a woman who can function on too little sleep.  Thus, I will forever keep a sound machine {or two…or three} around for a while.

While I’m at it, I’d like to recommend a portable sound machine- that way you can travel with it for yourself and for your kids, or just move it around the house or to a friend’s place for kids’ naps, etc.  Having a battery option, as well as adapters is great for home, work, and travel.  Most portable machines are quite small and very lightweight, too, making them an easy addition to a carry-on bag or even a handbag.

Sleep is precious- using a sound machine can preserve your night time rest in spite of ambient noise.

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Tuning Out Noisy Neighbours

September 7, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Flats

We recently moved flats…that’s just a fancy British term for apartment.  The interesting thing is how different “flats” can be.  Our first flat was a traditional apartment- on the “first” floor, called the second floor to Americans, surrounded by numerous other flats with all the traditional noise.  Our second flat was more like a shoe box turned on it side- it had a basement, ground floor, first floor, and loft with neighbours on both sides but no one above or below us.  Our most recent move has brought us to a semi-detached “house” of flats.  It is like a little house with neighbours on one side.

Noisy Neighbours

The common thread through them all is that we have neighbours who share at least one wall with us.  I can’t say what their feelings are on the matter {well, I can tell you about one set’s opinions but I’ll spare you the gory details}, but I know for our part it has been tricky.  Going from owning your own home to renting a place with other renters all around you can  prove quite a disconcerting change, especially with regard to sleep.  It may seem strange to mention sleep, but when you have to factor in other people’s schedules {or lack thereof}, your own schedule gets rocked, and that includes sleep.

For us, a workable solution has been a sound machine {or 2 or 3}.  We moved to  the UK with a 2 year old and a 4 month old…they are 5 and 3 now.  Though they are not as sensitive to noise as they were, they now share a room and are across the hall from the bathroom and down the hall from the living room where we entertain guests and watch movies.  Thus, for the last 3 years we have employed sound machines in their rooms and even in our own to cover neighbour noise, as well as seagulls calling and typical street and night time noise.

If you have noisy neighbours, it’s far better to cover their noise with a sound machine than to develop bad relations that will plague you daily and nightly.

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Noisy Neighbors {& Tuning Them Out!}

July 15, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Neighbor Nuisances

When wondering if I’m the only loud neighbor or have the only loud neighbors in the world, I have only to read my friends’ Facebook statuses to know that, sadly, I am not.

Ugh. Neighbor’s up, again. He must be excited about his flight- it already sounds like we’re on the Tarmac. I won’t be missing him.

It’s not that I try to be loud or even think that I am, but we do have 2 small children who do not hold the same hours as our older neighbors without kids.  In all fairness, one works the night shift and we can hardly be blamed for living during the day when she is trying to sleep…nor can they be blamed for having a yappy dog.  It all evens out I suppose.  However, I don’t want to be the hated neighbor that always makes noise…like these guys or the one below I heard about from other friend on Facebook:

This person living above me is either working out or doing something I don’t care to know what they are doing, but it is now getting to me! I am now mad!

There has to be a better way of tuning people out...

A very pregnant friend of mine and I just chatted the other day about how we wanted to supply a set of complimentary ear plugs or a sound machine {like this free online generator} to each of our neighbors when we have our new babies.  Like the say, good sound masking makes good neighbors…right?

In all seriousness, though, I cannot control what my neighbors do- that includes the noise they makes, as well as how the deal with our noise.  But I can take charge in my own home and how we manage less than ideal distractions, especially when trying to sleep.  We use sound machines.  Not every night and not in every room, but where and when it’s necessary to block noisy nieghbors, we turn those bad boys on and we sleep.  You will never see me complaining about an easily remedied problem on Facebook. ;)

If noisy neighbors are getting you down and keeping you from going to sleep, try a sound machine- it’s easy to turn on and just s easy not to use when not needed.

 

 

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Why I Use a Sound Machine at Home

July 9, 2011 By Leave a Comment

As I was laying my son down for a nap this afternoon, I was reminded of why we love sound machines in our home.  Fortunately, he is a curious and flexible little guy, so the inconsistent, off and on again hammering next door (we live in a town house-type flat that shares walls with 2 neighbors) sparked more curiosity than annoyance- for him anyway.  I am well aware that 1:30pm on a Saturday is a perfectly normal and fair time to have workmen repair something in your home, but it’s less than ideal for those of us who were hoping for a peaceful nap.  I turned my son’s sound machine on a little higher than I usually do and told him they were building something next door.  That did the trick for him- his curiosity was satisfied and much of the noise was off-set by a consistent, familiar noise- white noise.

I did the same for my own nap- I also share that wall with the neighbors, so any chance I had a sleep was through my sound machine.  I have used my sound machine to tune out:

  • neighbor’s barking dog
  • neighbors yelling at barking dog
  • wind, rain, and hail
  • car doors slamming
  • lawn bowlers {not kidding}
  • college students partying
  • my own kids playing

I’ll be honest- a noise as loud as hammering will never be fully drowned out by white noise through a sound machine…I suppose it’s possible, but then the white noise would probably be as loud as an airplane taking off, so what would the point be really?

The way white noise works is to add low-level, soft sound from all over the sound spectrum so that inconsistent sounds {such as nearby conversations, phones ringing, dogs barking, or machines buzzing} fade into the background because the brain can’t focus on them.  That’s why it’s  my go-to for better sleep and even for more focus while I work from home.

Sound Machines are a great resource for sleep {because of the minimization of intrusive sounds}, productivity {because it reduces distractions}, and even tinnitus {because of the effectiveness of sound therapy}.

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A Good Sound Machine for Good Neighbors

April 20, 2011 By Leave a Comment

I am now mad!

Whether you live in an apartment, a flat, a dorm room, or just too close to the next house, noisy neighbors can really be quite a drag.  Take it from a Facebook user:

This person living above me is either working out or doing something I don’t care to know what they are doing, but it is now getting to me! I am now mad!

When you’re trying to study, relax, sleep, or just enjoy your own space, guessing at what the upstairs neighbors are doing is not the most productive, or even healthy, habit.  When it’s your neighbors, you may not get mad, but it sure is frustrating to feel victim to their noise.

3 Options for Tuning Out Noisy Neighbors

Other than sit and fume or even have to leave your place to get some peace and quiet, what can you do?

  1. Speak to your neighbors.  It’s not the popular choice, but it’s the most straight-forward solution to your noise problems.  You don’t have to be a jerk {and I advise not being a jerk}, but just being proactive and working out the noise problems might be your best option.  It’s usually best to ask questions rather than directly confront- just hearing that you have noticed their noise might alert your neighbors to just how loud they’re being.  You may be able to discuss certain quiet hours you both commit to.
  2. Listen.  Notice if there are patterns to the problems- it may be that, as annoying as it is, their noise is at certain times that you can work around by either doing something that needs less quiet or going elsewhere.
  3. Try a sound machine.  I always keep a sound machine handy.  I am not a confrontation person, though I am willing to discuss things if the noise is unreasonable.  However, I find that I like my neighbors a lot more if I am unaware of them in my own home.  Plus, I have small children who go to bed early and even take naps- it’s not fair to ask my neighbors to be quiet at 7:30pm.  Thus, I run a sound machine in each of our bedrooms to cover any problem noise.

Noisy neighbors can kill a good nap or undermine study time- using a sound machine will help cover your neighbor’s midday and midnight shenanigans.

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Dealing with Noisy Neighbors

March 23, 2011 By 2 Comments

Dealing with Noisy Neighbors

Apartment life is no life at all.  Having not shared walls with other people and families since college, I had forgotten how…ahem…fun it could be.  It’s not that I want to be isolated, away from people, it’s just that having the noise of people completely unrelated to me barging in to everyday life is not my cup of tea…in fact. I’d like to have a cup of tea without haring them banging around.  And, in all fairness, I would guess they would say the same.  And therein lies the rub.  neighbors rarely keep the same schedule.  It’s not fair to ask them to.  So, how do you deal with them and they with you?

Below are snippets of two conversations I had today.  I’m not kidding, both are real-life stories.

Situation 1

We have friends, another American family like us doing PhD work in Scotland.  They live down the street and live below a gaggle of students.  I say gaggle because we don;t really know how many there are in that we only hear them partying at night and never see them in day light.  They could be bats for all we know.  Anyway, these friends of mine are having trouble sleeping.  Somewhere around 11p or midnight until about 5am last night, they suffered through the sounds of a night of revelry.  It was a weekday night…not even Friday or Saturday.  My poor friends found that though their kids could sleep through it, they could not.  The father finally threw in the towel at 5 and went in early to work, only to practically fall asleep at his desk a few hours later.  Once the kids were up, the mother made every possible noise she could to torture the now passed out college students.  I’m pretty sure she taught her son how to play the piano off-key.

Situation 2

In this real-life scenario, my friends are the ones accused of making the noise.  This family, yet another American family studying abroad, also has 2 kids, both of whom are potty-trained.  This morning, a very tired, bedraggled neighbor politely asked if they were doing any drilling the previous night.  Unfortunately, it was just the noise of the pipes during and after every flush.

There must be a better way of living, right?  I politely suggested sound machines.  I do love white noise something fierce.  I can’t make my friends’ neighbors or even their old pipes shut up, but I can offer the peace of sweet sleep regardless of intermittent noise.  Once your kids are old enough to sleep in their own bed (and not a crib), they are old enough to come get you if they need something.  So, turn on some peaceful nature sounds and get rested.

The bottom line is that if noisy neighbors, or even pipes, are keeping you awake at night, don’t just bemoan lost sleep and assume conflict is the only response.  Try a sound machine and see how much better you can sleep.

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Noisy Neighbors 101

February 9, 2011 By 1 Comment

Do you have noisy neighbors?

Before you think how cute he is, just remember that pictures don't come with sound files.

We do.  Well, in actuality, we have noisy neighbours.  No, I’m not being snobby by using the British spelling, nor am I showing off.  In fact, I am alerting you to the fact that we live in the UK.  As such, we live in a flat.  As such, we have lots and lots of neighbours- 2 sets on both sides of us to be precise.  And since we’ve always owned our own home before, we find this “cosiness”  a bit much.  Don’t get me wrong- I’m not planning on putting up privacy fences or anything crazy like that, I like having neighbours.  I make them biscuits {aka cookies} and pull in their rubbish bins {aka trash cans} and all that, I just don’t like hearing them…especially at night or during nap time.  Once again, I don’t mean to say that they can’t have the occasional noise, etc., but there are certain things that just shouldn’t persist.  I am referring to one small, white West Highland terrier who feels it is his god-given right to whine when left indoors alone and bark incessantly when left outdoors.  Lord knows that car passing by is an imminent threat, as is that cat that walks by several time a day- I mean, who knows?  It could pounce at any minute!  {never mind that it never has.}

Yesterday the dog was barking so much that my good friend asked how we sleep and deal with him on a daily basis.  I had two answers:

  1. The most important answer: sound machines.  We keep one in every bedroom (3) so that no one’s sleep is interrupted by anything, including that rascal of a dog.  This is essential for day time naps, as well.
  2. We have kids.  They also make noise.  Sometimes a lot.  And while we try to be considerate, I console myself that my neighbours can’t complain since they also have a little one that makes noise.  It balances out in the long run.  {I hope they have sound machines, too.}

How do you deal with noise?  Any tips?

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White Noise makes good neighbors

April 8, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Stupid Neighbors

Noisy neighbors are the worst...until it's you!

People often complain about noisy neighbors.  Whether it’s squeaky floorboards, slamming doors, domestic disputes, incessant barking or whining, an overly loud TV, or a crying baby, neighbors can be the kiss of death for a good night’s sleep or just simple relaxation.

What if I am that neighbor?

It suddenly hit me today that I am that neighbor.  Since moving overseas, we have parted with our incessantly barking Boxer (we were told Boxers did not bark.  Ha.) and, thank the Lord, we are not yellers (there are more civil ways to fight and get in the last word), but other than those two examples, we are guilty of all the rest.  We didn’t used to be.  We were the picture of model neighbors, even going so far as to collect mail and trim a few extra bushes.  Then, about 5 years in, we had a baby.  And just when she started to settle down, we had another…who still hasn’t fully settled down.  I’m not sure I knew just how loud babies and toddlers could be.  They don’t even try to be loud, they just are.  As infants, they cry for no reason at all (well, they would disagree- they think they have every reason in the world), as older babies, they learn the beauty of music with a pots and pans, and as toddlers, they embrace their new-found freedom of slamming opening and closing doors and jumping off furniture.

And, so I find that I am that dreaded neighbor- the one you don’t want.  I think I forget until we have guests.  You see, my mom flew in yesterday from the States to spend 3 weeks hanging with us and the kids.  I was explaining how most of our neighbors don’t even make eye contact and how they “hate us,” I jokingly quipped.  I really was kidding- who could not like us?  ;) So, this morning, as my jet-lagged mom was dragging out at 8am, she commented she knows why our neighbors hate us: our son screaming at 5:30am.  Yea…that might be it.

So, I should say we live in a  flat, which is a glorified way of saying apartment.  So, we share walls on both sides.  Honestly, I don’t feel bad at all for one set of neighbors- they may be old enough to be my parents, but one works nights (therefore is gone for middle of the night and early morning cries) and her partner parties at all hours to the tune of Johnny Cash (yes, even in Scotland, Johnny has a home).  But, the other neighbors, I do feel bad for- they have done nothing to deserve this.  Neither have any of the poor souls who have flown overseas next to us, for that matter.

Taking a collection for my neighbors

And, so, I am taking up a collection for our neighbors (and others in need).  Since I drown them out with white noise, I would like to return the favor.  For my neighbors, a good white noise generator with lots of options so they can tune us out in diverse and therapeutic ways, dependent upon their moods.  For fellow travel mates on a plane, some ear plugs- not the best acoustic solution, but they will work in a pinch.  And, lastly, for my mom, a portable travel sound machine that aides in recovering from jet lag.

….because an unheard neighbor is a good neighbor.

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Living in a flat

January 4, 2010 By 1 Comment

This many windows in a row is not a quiet affair.

Life in the UK

My family of 4 lives in a flat in the UK.  This is our 5th place to live.  You see, each time we have changed careers or started a new grad school or had a baby (twice), we have moved.  We have owned 3 houses, 1 condo, and now we live in a flat that we let by the year until my husband completes his PhD.  Each place has had its own challenges, but this last move really got to me.  We were able to enjoy the symphony of flat life: crying babies, angst-ridden teenagers, domestic disputes that inevitably ended in raised voices and slamming doors, and hungry seagulls…not to mention our own noises.  Good grief.  Hubby needed to study, kids needed to sleep, and  I needed to work.  Noisy seagulls and angry teenagers skipping class outside my window were not exactly my idea of a peaceful nap time or a productive work environment.

So how did I reclaim my peace of mind?

White noise.  I’ll say it again- I love white noise.  I wish we had a better word in English to explain my admiration for this phenomenal invention.  Simply put, white noise adds just enough low-level background sound to cover intruding sounds.  I can turn it up or down as I need, and there are even units that self-adjust to cover varying levels of distracting noise. There are lots of options- some for the kids while they rest, some for better focus while we work or study, etc.  Here is a free one you can try out to see for yourself.  I think you’ll agree- white noise is fabulous.  :)

Good-bye seagulls.  Hello peace.

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