Babies are cute and all, but they sure do cry a lot. It’s also really hard to get them to sleep in their own bed by themselves. One thing that helped us to get our babies to stop crying and sleep well was using a sound machine by Munchkin.
NOTE: This generation of this sound machine no longer available. All links point to the newer available version.
My first two kids had this insane ability to stay awake FOREVER. When my second was born, I kept meticulous track one day of how much she slept. Do you know how long she slept in 24 hours?
9 hours. In the whole day and night combined.
Which means I had 9 hours a day in which to get a full night’s rest (funny joke), manage a home, spend quality time with my older daughter, and feed, bath, and clothe myself.
Actually it wasn’t even that long, because she spent some of those 9 hours sleeping in my arms.
The rest of the time, she was crying. I pretty much lost my mind for a good three months there until she grew out of the all-crying-no-sleeping stage.
It was the same way with my older daughter as well.
In hindsight, I probably should have considered some sort of sleep training to help them get more rest. But I didn’t know at the time.
The one thing that did help was white noise.
White noise is my secret weapon as a mother. It shuts those babies up and puts them right to sleep.
Interestingly, it’s quite noisy inside the womb, so that’s what babies are used to. It’s actually hard for them to sleep in total silence!
So, along with these other baby soothing techniques, white noise reminds babies of being snuggly and cozy in the womb.which helps them feel better and stop crying.
It also helps block out other random sounds from other parts of the house, which helps them stay asleep for longer periods of time!
When we had our first baby, we just used an old radio tuned to static for white noise. We were poor.
In a pinch, you could also download a white noise app on your phone, or set up a Youtube video that plays white noise for 10 hours. Watch out for the ads, though. They might totally wake your baby up if they interrupt the white noise.
But this time around, we decided to spring for a dedicated sound machine.
(This article contains some affiliate links, which means I make a small commission from products purchased through these links.)
After meticulous research and careful consideration of all of our many options, we decided to go with the Munchkin Nursery Projector and Sound Machine.
(Actually, it was the only machine in stock at Walmart when I ran there in sleep-deprived desperation, but whatever.)
This sound machine has some features that I love, others that I’m not crazy about. But it’s served us pretty well, all things considered.
Features of the Munchkin Sound Machine with Projector
1. Sound Options
So many sounds to choose from! You can go with White Noise, Heartbeat, Ocean, Rain, Lullabies, or Mozart! We usually do White Noise, because it does the best job of blocking out sound from the rest of the house.
As a warning, the Munchkin sound machine does a really good job of blocking out other noises in the house. There were a couple of times we accidentally left the sound machine on all night when the baby was in our room. It totally drowned out the sound of our older kids calling for us in the night which was very sad.
2. Projector
I LOVE the projection feature. This wasn’t even something that I was looking for in a sound machine, but now that I have it I don’t think I would ever go back. Sometimes babies cry because they’re just BORED.
The projection feature solves that problem by giving them something to look at while they put themselves to sleep, and saves you from the trouble of having to deal with a crib mobile!
The machine comes with three super cute project options: Soothing Sea, Calming Rainforest, or Sleepy Sky. So you can change it up and keep the kiddo interested.
3. Auto-Shut Off Timer
You can set the machine to silence automatically after 15, 30 or 60 minutes. This is a cool feature that I imagine will help keep your baby from getting addicted to the noise. They use it to fall asleep, and then it turns off by itself after a bit!
After the incident of not being able to hear the other kids, I made sure to set it to turn off after an hour. That way we could be aware of what else was going on in the house during the night.
4. Voice Activation
This is one of my favorite features of the Munchkin sound machine! If you use the auto shut-off feature to turn off after your baby goes to sleep, it will turn on again automatically if they wake up and start crying.
I was a little concerned about this feature at first since we had the baby in our room and I was worried the sound machine would hear us sneaking into bed at night and wake her up when it turned on.
But it turns out that the baby crying actually has to be fairly loud before the music or noise turns on again, and it hasn’t been an issue. You can turn this feature on or off with the button on the back, depending on what you prefer.
Cons of the Munchkin Sound Machine with projector
There were a few things I didn’t like about this white noise machine:
- There is a blue light that is on ALL the time that I haven’t found a way to turn off. So if you want total darkness in the room, this might not work for you.
- Doesn’t feel the best quality, but it’s not terrible for the price point.
- Sound quality is not the greatest. There is a slight pulsing sound in the background of the music/noise. It’s not enough to bother a baby who doesn’t know any different, but it irritated me and my husband for awhile until we finally got used to it.
Should you get this Munchkin sound machine?
Is this the best sound machine out there?
No.
There are lots of choices that might serve you better, but they also come with higher price tags. If you’re looking for something that will do the job at a more reasonable price, the Munchkin sound machine with projector might be the right choice for you!
UPDATE: Our daughter never wanted to stop using her Munchkin sound machine, so it’s definitely seen some heavy usage! It’s basically run for at least 12 hours a day for the past 3 years. It’s still functioning just as well as it did the day we bought it. So this sound machine does stand the test of time!
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Melinda worked with children for years in a professional setting before becoming a full-time stay at home mom. She currently has three young children, and enjoys sharing tips and ideas about parenting and how to manage a home with excellence. She’s been featured on Heathline and Her View From Home.
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