FEBRUARY 2024
Neuroscience in the Nursery – 4th Time’s a Charm
In this, the 4th edition of our newsletter, we are calling out (again) some bad advice we see popping up in way too many places online. As our concerns about white noise are becoming more well-known (our thanks to all of you who are alerting your friends and family about its risks!), parents are naturally turning to traditional sources of advice to see how they’re responding. One of these is the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), which recently released a new policy statement on noise. But what the AAP statement says about white noise is not at all what many are presenting in the Wild West show of the internet.
Today’s Topic: What the AAP Says – and Doesn’t Say – About White Noise
Why Are People Confused?
In November 2023, the AAP released a new policy statement on noise, “Preventing Excessive Noise Exposure in Infants, Children, and Adolescents,” reflecting its long-held concerns about the negative – and often underappreciated – impacts of excess noise on children.
Unfortunately, some comments on social media reflect a misinterpretation or mischaracterization of the AAP statement to suggest that the AAP has brushed away all concerns with white noise, including risks to language development. That is absolutely NOT the case.
Rather, as the title suggests, the policy statement focuses on the decibel levels of environments or devices, including sound machines, to which children are exposed with potentially negative consequences. Anyone suggesting that the AAP has made any sort of recommendation on white noise as it otherwise pertains to language development is simply wrong.
We provide links to the policy statement and its accompanying technical report below so you can read them at your leisure. However, until then, we’ll cover the white noise part of their statement below.
What Does the Policy Statement Say About White Noise
First, it’s important to understand what “noise “ is. As the term is used in the policy statement, it is sound, either excessive or unwanted, based on its intensity or volume (measured in dBA) and duration. The statement’s authors do not discuss other qualities of sound that are specifically relevant to early language development, including prelinguistic “acoustic timing cues” (variations in interspersed gaps, interstimulus intervals, or other transitions similar to the rapid temporal changes that occur in the phonemes that make up language) that help the brain identify language. That’s not their brief here.
Second, although the policy statement mentions white noise, it doesn’t distinguish it from other “noises” that can come out of a sound machine, at least for the purposes of the statement’s recommendations. In fact, the statement authors use the terms “infant sleep machines,” “ISMs,” and ”white noise machines” interchangeably, likely because they are not concerned about the specific sound that comes out of the machine – whether it’s music or nature or white noise – but simply how loud it is. In fact, the entire discussion of ISMs in the 6-page policy statement only takes up a paragraph, repeated here in its entirety:
Infant “sleep machines” (ISMs or “white noise” machines) produce sound in the location where the infant sleeps to soothe the infant and mask other noises. Several studies show potential benefits in ease in falling asleep, decreasing crying, and increasing pain threshold. One study of 14 ISMs, however, raised concern that sound levels of 3 machines exceeded occupational limits and that hearing damage could occur if machines were played for >8 hours. If ISMs are used, it may be safer to locate them as far away as possible from the infant, set the volume as low as possible, and limit duration of use. (bolded for emphasis).
That’s it . . . the sum total of their recommendation – which covers but does not specifically focus on white noise machines – is to watch the volume. Excellent advice, but there is certainly nothing in those words to suggest that the authors have taken a view on how white noise, in particular, presents a risk to language development.
We note that, in the accompanying technical report, the authors have a few additional paragraphs on white noise describing a few small studies examining different aspects of white noise, e.g., could it help quiet colicky babies or distract babies from pain. While none of those studies reported any adverse effects experienced by the babies exposed to white noise, they weren’t set up or intended to examine the risks of white noise on language development, so they can’t be used to eliminate that concern.
What Doesn’t the Policy Statement Say
The statement does not say that white noise is safe for infant/child language development. As we said, it is simply not an issue the authors examined.
Interestingly, one of the research studies they cite in their accompanying technical report does discuss the ability of external sound to positively or negatively reshape the brain, citing many of the same papers we reference in our own white paper on the risks of white noise. Unfortunately, that aspect of white noise was not what the AAP authors were looking at in this policy statement – and to suggest they have in any way looked at the issue, or worse, affirmatively said it’s not an issue – is seriously misleading to parents.
What We’re Doing About This
We’ve reached out to some of the contributors to the AAP Policy Statement, including its lead author, and they were both responsive to our concerns and extremely interested in learning about the issue we raise with respect to white noise and language development – an issue that is new to them (not being neuroscientists, that’s not surprising). Additionally, they are understandably chagrined that their message about excessive noise is being distorted to suggest they’re saying something that they’re not. We are continuing these discussions and are gratified that they are treating what for them is a new development with the gravity it deserves.
The Parenting Takeaway
This is kind of like in high school when your history teacher tortured you about using primary sources for your research – sometimes, you have to read the original document rather than relying on someone else’s interpretation.
In this case, by all means, read the AAP policy statement; it’s short. You’ll find that its recommendation on white noise machines – and sound machines in general – only pertains to volume. That’s a fine message. Be careful with the volume levels of any sound machine you use, as you should be with all of the sounds your child may find themselves exposed to during the day.
As to white noise and its potential risks to the development of language networks, please take a look at our white paper (link below). We cite more than 100 studies (some by our Chief Scientist) that speak to the process of early language development, how sounds shape the brain to develop language, how sleep fits into that process, and why white noise could be an impediment. And if you have any questions – any at all – please reach out to us. We are passionate about educating parents about this risk so they have the best information to make decisions on behalf of their children.
A Source for More: #1
As we said above, sometimes it’s helpful to go right to the source, in this case, AAP’s Policy Statement and Technical Report on noise.
A Source for More: #2
Our white paper provides a pretty extensive look at the research on how white noise might impede language development.
RAPTbaby Recommendation: The RealClearScience Webpage
Debate about science, including the one we’re trying to further with our efforts on white noise, is healthy – even essential – for the progress of science. One of our favorite websites to find out about new issues and views across a wide range of scientific fields is RealClearScience.com. Its editors curate a really interesting selection of articles every day and provide a free newsletter which makes it easy to scan article titles to see what you might want to dive into.