Hair Dryer Sound
The bright rush of a hair dryer, built from a filtered noise bed, a motor whine and a hiss on top. Some babies settle to it faster than to plain white noise.
This sound is generated in your browser as it plays. It is not a recording, so nothing streams and nothing is downloaded.
The sound keeps playing with the screen off or locked wherever the browser allows it, and your lock screen gets a play and pause control. Some phones stop background audio anyway, so try it on your own device before you count on it for a whole night.
Everything runs in your browser. Nothing is uploaded, nothing is stored on a server.
Sound fades in when you press Play and fades out when you stop.
Audio starts on your first tap on Play, as required by your browser.
Playing sound near a baby
Sound machines are common and the evidence behind them is thin. These are the precautions the published guidance supports.
- Keep the sound near 50 dB at the baby's ear. That is about as loud as a quiet conversation.
- Put the device at least 2 m (7 ft) from the crib, and never inside it.
- Use the lowest volume that settles your baby. Louder is not better.
- Use the sleep timer instead of playing all night, and turn the sound off once your baby is asleep.
- Phone and tablet speakers vary, so the volume slider on this page is not a level meter. A free sound level meter app gives you a rough check at the crib.
A 2014 study in Pediatrics measured 14 infant sleep machines and found every one could exceed 50 dBA at 30 cm at maximum volume, which is why the precautions above are about distance, level and playing time. The American Academy of Pediatrics does not endorse white noise for babies and asks for caution, and the one small trial people cite in its favor covered only 40 newborns; all three sources are below.
This page is not medical advice and these tools treat nothing. They mask other sound, and many parents find that soothing. Ask your pediatrician about your own baby.
Sources
How it is made
Three layers. A noise bed with its energy pushed into the 1 kHz to 4 kHz band. Two detuned sawtooth oscillators near 265 Hz through resonant peaks, which is the motor. A hiss above 3.8 kHz for the air leaving the nozzle. A slow random drift keeps the bed from sitting perfectly still.
How to use it
Parents use dryer noise the way they use a vacuum: something bright and constant while a baby cries. Keep the device at least 2 m (7 ft) away, turn settle mode on so it starts louder and steps down, and let the sleep timer end it.
Why not the real dryer
A real hair dryer is loud at close range, gets hot, and is not something to leave running near a baby. This plays at whatever level you set, from across the room, and stops on a timer.
Frequently asked questions
Why do some babies settle to a hair dryer?
Nobody really knows. The usual explanation is that a broad, constant sound masks the room and leaves a baby less to react to. The evidence is limited to small studies of white noise in general, so treat it as something to try.
Is this a recording of a hair dryer?
No. It is synthesised: filtered noise plus a motor tone, generated in your browser as it plays. Nothing streams and nothing is downloaded.
Why does dryer noise feel louder than it measures?
Because it is bright. Most of its energy sits high in the range, where hearing is sharpest, so it lands harder than a soft hush at the same reading on a meter. Trust the number rather than the feeling: keep it near the 50 dB the guidance asks for at the baby's ear, with the device at least 2 m (7 ft) from the crib, and use the muffle control if the top edge is the part that bothers you. The safety note above carries the sources.
Will this drain the phone?
Audio costs far less power than the display does, so dim the screen if you leave the page open. Use the sleep timer so nothing runs longer than you meant it to.