When building your sleep environment, you cannot forget about noise. It may be suggested that sleeping in what is considered "black noise", or complete silence is the best option. However, that isn't true for everyone. Silence can be anxiety provoking for some and leave too much space for thinking. Falling asleep with the TV or loud music may not be productive either as these sounds can activate your brain and disrupt sleep. There are studies that have supported various types of noises. Read more to find out about the best background noise for falling asleep. 

White Noise 

White noise is the most researched background noise for falling asleep. White noise is any noise that is audible in equal amounts. This means that the sound is the same across and eventually sounds like a steady hum. This hum is effective at tuning out other noises that could be disruptive to sleep. Noises like TV static, the air conditioner, fan and even a humidifier that emits a steady sound are considered white noises. Research has shown that white noise is effective at helping individuals fall and stay asleep. 

Pink Noise 

Pink noise is at a deeper frequency than white noise, meaning that the sounds seem to be lower. Pink noise is relatively new, but people seem to be enjoying pink noise because it doesn't sound as high pitched as white noise. New research also thinks that pink noise may be better for quality sleep because the low frequency waves of pink noise may sink up with the slow brain waves associated with deeper sleep. However, more research is needed on pink noise to see its effect level. Examples of pink noise include: 

• rustling leaves 
• rain or thunder 
• wind 
• heartbeats 
• fireplace crackling 

Brown Noise

Brown noise operates at a frequency lower than both white and pink noise, so it is much deeper than both of them. These noises include deep roars, waterfalls, loud thunder. Once again, this is fairly new so more research is needed to see how this can help with sleep. However, preliminary information is showing that it may be helpful for inducing deep sleep. 

Music 

Music is a great background noise for falling asleep, however, not just any type of music. This music needs to be something that relaxes you and calms your brain. Classical music is traditional, but even smooth jazz, soft R&B, or instrumentals could help you fall asleep. As long as it's music that is soothing to you and doesn't overstimulate your brain such as rock, rap, pop, or any other extremely upbeat forms of music. 

Try out these different types of calming sounds to see which one is best to help you go to sleep. Background noise is great for falling asleep because it doesn't have any light that comes with TV. Blue light can interrupt your sleep because it blocks melatonin production. But being in a dark room with music playing can be a very calming mechanism to help you go to sleep.

If you find you're still having trouble sleeping, please click below to take the online free sleep test! 

[Sources]:

https://www.sleep.org/sounds-bedroom/

https://www.healthline.com/health/pink-noise-sleep#how-to-try