Rain sounds for baby sleep

What this sound is

Acoustically, rain is pink noise as nature makes it: countless drops hitting different surfaces at random produce a broadband hiss whose energy falls toward the high frequencies. Drops on the window add fine, irregular taps on top of that bed; that detail is what separates rain from a flat noise and makes it sound natural. The rain in Agubu is, as the card says, rain on a window: calm, and it runs for as long as you need; staying steady matters, because what wakes a baby is usually not the sound itself but a sudden change in it. Of the steady nature sounds it is the most balanced: not as bassy as brown noise, not as bright as white.

Why it may help

Rain does the same two jobs as the noise family: it resembles the continuous hum of the womb and masks sudden household sounds. It also carries a calming association for many adults, and a parent who relaxes may find the baby easier to settle. Because its frequency balance is close to pink noise it does not tire the ear, so it can sit low in the background through the night. On the evidence, we know of no study of rain sounds in babies, and the general evidence for steady sounds is weak and mixed. It will not suit every baby; a few low nights and Agubu's sleep log will tell you.

Safe use

Because rain is soft and familiar it is easy to relax about the level; the rules are the same as for every other sound and are set out in the white noise guide.

• Keep the volume low: the level recommended for hospital nurseries is about 50 decibels. The practical test is simple: if you can talk in a normal voice in the room and still be heard easily, the level is fine; if the sound drowns you out, it is too loud.
• Do not put the phone or speaker in the cot or on its edge. Keep it at least one to two metres away, and avoid headphones, sound toys attached to the cot and any speaker close to the baby's ear.
• Use the timer. Fading the sound out 20 to 30 minutes after your baby has fallen asleep is usually enough. If you leave it on through the night, keep the level genuinely low.
• Turn it down once your baby has settled, and do not let a loud setting become the habit even briefly. Do not leave it running all day while your baby is awake, because it masks the speech they learn from.
• When it is actually raining, do not open the window and play rain from the phone as well; two sources stacked raise the level without you noticing.

How to play it in Agubu

1. Open Agubu, go to the Sounds tab at the bottom and tap the Rain card under Nature. This sound is in the free tier; there is no account to create and nothing to download, it plays on your device offline.
2. Set the volume with your own ears first: if you can speak in a normal voice in the room and still be heard, it is low enough. Place the phone one to two metres from the cot.
3. Tap Timer and pick a duration. When it runs out the sound does not stop abruptly; it fades down slowly. Twenty to thirty minutes after your baby has fallen asleep is enough on most nights.
4. If you like, layer it in the Mixer: a low pink noise under the rain softens the drops, and Brahms' lullaby on top dresses the fall into sleep. The Mixer is a Premium feature and blends up to four sounds at separate levels. Sounds play without ads and the app needs no internet connection.

When to use it

• Through the night, in homes where parents share the room, as a background everyone can live with.
• At the nap transition, when the plain noises felt harsh to your baby, as the more natural alternative.
• In the evening fussy hour, together with a lullaby or after it, as the steady bed underneath.