During Mabel’s newborn days, whilst desperate for some sleep, I tried playing white noise through You Tube in the hope that it would help her fall and stay asleep. The video’s were irritating and would always come on at the wrong volume or they’d play an ad beforehand which would have the opposite effect and startle Mabel. I took to Twitter to see which white noise toys, designed for babies, were popular and that’s when the team at Whisbear asked if I’d like to give Whisbear – The Humming Bear a go.
We’ve been using Whisbear – The Humming Bear for about two months now which I feel is a good duration to test its effectiveness.
The bear has a couple of other functions besides being a white noise generator. It has sensory elements, such as colourful and crinkly sounding legs and ears, to encourage development and play as well as magnetic legs which enable it to be attached to pushchairs, bouncy chairs, cots and cribs; wherever you like really! The design is cute and it’s very soft to cuddle and hold.
The noise created by Whisbear is as I was expecting; a low humming sound. However, I have found it a little difficult to understand and master the level of the sound and how it turns on and off. I was expecting Whisbear to gradually begin to hum when the Mabel cries however it seems to just turn on at a pre-set level and can sometimes startle Mabel.
As well as this I have also found it to suddenly stop after a certain period of time. I assumed the sound would gradually fade. When I squeeze Whisbear’s head to restart it again it doesn’t always work first time. This can be a little frustrating – especially in the middle of the night when you’re exhausted. This isn’t always the case, perhaps I’ve just got a temperamental one. I thought there might be some form of switch or something inside the velcro pouch on the back of Whisbear’s head but there’s just one button to turn the sound on and off.
I contacted Whisbear and they stated that the sound should turn on and off gradually and that they’ve never received comments about the button not working correctly.
Having said all this, I do like Whisbear and I would recommend it. Mabel sleeps well to the sound of it, it looks cute, feels lovely and whats more is that my husband’s a very light sleeper but it doesn’t seem to bother him. I’ve found some night time toys which play lullabies can be very distracting to adults when trying to fall asleep. I do think the price tag is a little steep though at £39.99 and with all the other expense parents need to outlay for the essentials I can imagine many parents trying to get by without out.
