Having issues getting #1 (aged 9) to settle; she says there’s no particular reason.

People say white noise can help. Anyone any experience? Works or nonsense?

I’m assuming that you’ve already looked at things like what she eats and when, screen time, routine etc?

Yes, no screens for an hour before bed for either of them.

Works on babies-no experience with 9 yr olds. Would imagine there is a lot going through the head of a 9yr old and maybe at that age some meditation techniques might be better to calm the mind.

Aye, that thought had occurred. Certainly have used them myself a bit when I did night shifts, however not sure I could teach them…

Is it possible she’s just going to bed a bit too early, so she isn’t tired enough? Maybe move bedtime back half an hour – or get her up half an hour earlier – just to readjust her body clock? Having to be up at 6.15 every morning for a paper round certainly helps my lad 😄

As you’ve probably gathered, I have no experience relevant to your actual question, so I’ll leave now….

She’s never been a great sleeper; often up at 0630, but the evenings are… difficult at the moment.

She’s just struggled through U9s netball but even then I’m not confident she’ll settle this evening.

It doesn’t have to be white noise, R4/World Service would do it played at a low level. It can help cut out ‘interference’/low level cortical activity and enable you to snooze.

I’ve always gone to sleep listening to audio books from a young age. I started when having to stay weekends at my step mum’s who i didn’t like and they comforted me i now fall asleep listening to radio 4 most nights. If you start out listening to a story your mind is relaxed rather than thinking about stuff and then you naturally drift off normally fall asleep after 10 or 15mins as i set the sleep timer and don’t remember it going off.

Moby has done 2 albums of long ambient sounds, (LA1 & LAyouguessedit) they work on me. (I’m not 9 though).

Free dl (officially) – https://moby.com/la/

From quite a young age I listened/went to sleep to Radio 4 every night on a low volume. This had 3 benefits:

1.It helped me drift off
2.I listened to some amazing books on A Book at Bedtime.
3.I think it helped me be a well informed young person

Occasionally I listened to Alan Robson’s Night Owls on local radio…especially the bank holiday Monday Bladerunner Supequiz haha guilty pleasure 🤣
I’m now 46 and have recently gone back to listening to R4 at bedtime.

It certainly works on adults. I sleep way better in the summer when we’ve got our air con unit running. Some of it will be the temperature for sure but I’m also convinced that the noise of it running is a big factor.
I also sleep much better in the motorhome, and I’ve got the gentle hum of the battery charger/power supply right under my head so get a similar if slightly lower volume noise.

I’ll have a look at those Moby things – thanks.

Used to work for me at sea, gentle hum of the engines (plus the rocking motion) made for a good sleep.

Seems a screaming (steam) turbine works for some as well if people I have worked with are anything to go by.

We had similar sleep problems with our oldest, she’s now 12. We stop all devices after school, apart from laptops if needed for homework. The girls got into a routine of going to bed 30 minutes before lights out time, they then read in bed for 30 mins. This then helps get them ready for sleep, also works for me.

We’ve a 5 month old and we had she has been in her own room for around 6 weeks now and she has a “Ewan the sheep” white noise thing.
When she was in our room me and the Mrs were sound asleep very quickly with the aid of Ewan, so much so we’re missing him ourselves and are tempted to get one just for us.

@w00dster That’s pretty much what we do now, except iPads are barred within an hour of bed rather than completely.

@stu170 That sounds tremendous!

If you have an iPad or iPhone – there are some great Brian Eno apps that play almost endlessly varying sounds. Very calming…

@jamj1974 Aye, but I am not leaving an interactive device in her room, as I think that’ll backfire.

Bluetooth connection to a speaker inside her room…?

I often fall asleep to r4. Problem is i pick up random facts that I can never remember how I learnt them, then I hear a repeat later on and hear the program.

Q spooky really, but some really interesting programs on late at night.

I’m too old to be really revelant to your Q OP but we use a white noise app every night and find it helps. There’s also sleeping mindfulness type relaxation recordings too, or audio books. My son (10) listens to Harry Potter audiobooks when he can’t sleep, works a treat. Good luck!