Another reason why white noise promotes sleep lies in the nature of our brain: it thrives on stimulation. Nightly noises tend to activate our brain, disrupting our rest. A consistent white noise serves as a satisfying stimulus, preventing overexcitement when sudden sounds occur at night. White noise can help to calm racing thoughts. Blocks loud noises. The constant "shhh" sound of white noise helps to block environmental noises that may prevent sleep, such as cars, neighbors, and sirens. Easy to use. Sleep apps like BetterSleep make it easy to have white noise at your fingertips, even when you travel. Dangers of White Noise. The long-term safety of white noise is subject to debate. The American Tinnitus Association, for instance, states that noise exposure below 80 to 85 decibels is likely safe. Other experts say that white noise may harm the brain and central auditory system over time. Just for your information, noise at 70 dB level is similar to the sound of a moving car 10 meters away. Noise at this level was reported to be just soothing enough to calm our minds and keep ambient sounds away, with itself not being too overwhelming to distract us from our tasks . I recommend between 50-60 decibels to my clients or about as loud as a running shower. You can use and app like decibelx to measure the sound. Place your phone in the crib where the baby's head would go and adjust the volume. Fielder [11] has shown that white noise at 4dB SPL is just audible for people in either a home listening or professional monitoring environment, even with environmental noise levels of 50dB SPL. This compares with maximum sound levels between 105dB and 112dB SPL (corresponding to digital full scale) for listening levels in domestic or review .

what db should white noise be