11 Best Sound Machines & Nightlights – Help Your Child Sleep Through the Night

Looking for good quality bedtime “tools” that you can rely on to get your kids to sleep and help them stay asleep?

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No matter what your bedtime routine or evening habits look like there are basic tools that we all rely on to help our children fall asleep. Whether we are up nursing a newborn or trying coax our busy school aged children to sleep, basics like white noise and soft lighting go a long way in helping them fall asleep, and stay asleep through the night.

Like with most things, I am looking to simplify sleep products as much as possible. The last thing I want is to have a ton of machines running, cords everywhere and me having to sneak in and out of bedrooms to turn things off or restart them, while trying to get my kids to fall asleep. When I look for sleep products I am looking for things that serve multiple purposes if possible, will meet my child’s needs, and most importantly add value to our lives (in this case, better sleep).

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Hatch Baby Rest

This product is hands down our favourite all-in-one product for sleep. I am all about making things simple, and this product rolls everything I need into one. While the cost is higher than some, when taking into consideration that I am reducing multiple products, it actually saves me money in the long run.

The Hatch Baby is also a product that grows with my kids, from a simple night light that allows for easy night time feedings and diaper changes, to programmable time to wake functions that help create schedules and independence for “older” children.

As an added bonus (which is actually a pretty important feature) it operates remotely, so there is no trying to sneak into their room to restart music, turn a night light off, etc. It also utilizes colours that support melatonin production and healthy circadian rhythms, which go a long way in helping your little one get into a great schedule.

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Little Hippo Mella

This clock is both child and adult friendly! We love that the facial expressions change along with the colour of the clock, adding an extra layer of indication for children, and helping them to better understand their sleep and wake times.

There is also a “play time” light and smile on this clock, which is a great idea. It let’s kids know that it is time to play quietly. This like could be tweaked a bit, it would be great to be able to set it before a sleep time, not just at wake time, so that older kids could easily tell when it was time to put their quiet activity away and go to sleep.

The one thing I wish this clock had was the ability to be operated remotely. I recognize that most clocks can’t be, but it is a feature that is important to me! It doesn’t always seem necessary to people, but I spent so many nights crawling into my child’s room so she couldn’t see me and adjusting the music or nightlight, that I now understand just how valuable this feature is.

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skip hop baby sound machine

This is the sweetest little elephant nightlight and sound machine. It comes in various other “forms” as well, including an owl in both a nursery and portable option. This machine covers all of your basics if you are looking at products to help support better sleep.

It has eight sound options, including four nature sounds and four melodies. The elephant has a moon and stars projection and the Tummy acts as a sweet little nightlight that has a “dim-able” feature, which isn’t always common on these sorts of machine.

The Skip Hop Baby Sound Machine allows you to set up any combination of lights and sounds that you like, and it has automated timers for 15, 30 and 60 minutes or a continuous play option.

While this sound machine and nightlight doesn’t have all of the bells and whistles, it covers all of your basics for a very reasonable price point.

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THE GRO–CLOCK

If you are looking for a sleep trainer (without a sound machine option), this is hands down our favorite one. The success stories with this clock are numerous, in our personal lives and in online reviews.

The clock communicates with children with glowing stars and sun. The stars darken one by one to show the passing of night and the approaching of morning, which is ingenious.

The clock comes with a book, “Sleepy Farm,” which helps familiarize children with the concept of looking at the stars as indication of what to do.

All in all this is our go-to for sleep trainers. Our kids have loved it and so have we! This may have also encouraged my son’s love for the moon and the stars and our journey to finding more books about them!

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Lectrofan kinder

The Lectrofan Kinder is an amazing grab-and-go option that is also an all-in-one. Given we spend a lot of weekends at grandparents and travelling we are huge fans of the Lectrofan Kinder. This little plug-in gives a whole lot of comfort and security for children falling asleep in various environments.

Obviously one of the most appealing features of LectroFan kinder is the huge amount of sound options. There are lullabies, nature sounds and ambient noises to choose from so there is bound to be a noise that will work for your child. There are also a variety of light and brightness options.

Given how much I love remote operation, the LectroFan Kinder being app based is also a huge selling point for me.

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Lumipets

Lumipets are cute. There is no way around that. They are essentially glowing night light pets and kids love them. My children really enjoyed these through their primary school years.

Lumipets do not have a sound machine, however, they do operate both by touch and remote control. It is really important to me that I am able to control night lights from outside my child’s room, so I am a big fan of this night when they are in the years that they want something cute and to have a “friend” with them at bedtime to help them sleep.

Lumipets come in a variety of forms, so if this little guy doesn’t speak to you check out the various options (including the bunny, owl, and unicorn) here. They also have a bluetooth and “stuffy” option.

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lectrofan evo

If you are looking solely for a sound machine, this would be it. This steps a bit outside the box for most of the products in this post, but is definitely worth a mention because it can help all of us with sleep.

The LectroFan Evo has a sleep timer to help with sleep training for little ones and the option of utilizing headphones if it is for a teen (or yourself!). It also allows for speaker connectivity.

The reviews on this machine speak for themselves, if someone in your house is struggling to fall asleep, focus on homework, if you have older “kids” in noisy university residences, or have people in your home with noise sensitives, it is worth taking a look at this machine.

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Dohm Classic

The Dohm Classic is as simple as they come. From the company that established fan-based white noise in 1962, there is a lot of experience and knowledge behind this product.

The company offers a “101 Night” trial which provides peace of mind for parents who have experienced a lot of product dissapointment.

There are no bells and whistles here, but for those looking for a simple sound machine, that is actually fan based, this is a go to.

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Bubzi Co soothing sleep owl

The Buzbi Co Soothing Owl may be the cutest on our list! This nightlight is definitley little one approved, covers your sound machine and your night light, and offers an automatic off. If you are looking for a cuddly option that your child will love, this is a good option. However, if you are looking for a feature rich product that will grow with your child, this likely won’t be your choice.

The sound machine includes 10 lullabies, mommy’s heartbeat (which we love) and a gentle bird song. The tummy lights offer a sweet rotating starlight style night light that is both colorful and peaceful.

The Busbi Co Soothing Owl is easy to wash, which is great given it is likely to be toted around by your child. It also makes a beautiful baby keepsake to store away when your child is done with it. Also check out the penguin, unicorn, and elephant options.

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Cloud b twilight turtle

The Cloud b classics were loved by my kiddos. They offer a pretty projector option and my kids loved to keep them right in their beds.

While they are very pretty they offer only the projection (night light) and not a sound option. While this is totally fine if you are just looking for a projection to help them fall asleep, it doesn’t eliminate the need for a sound machine, and I really prefer products that have more than one function.

The added bonus of this sweet turtle is that he is actually helping to educate your kids! His projections include 8 real constellations so there is some room for learning while you lay with your little at night and stare up at their ceiling (before their eyelids get heavy of course!).

If you are looking for something similar, but not completely in love with this sweet turtle, you can check out his friends (ladybug, unicorn, turtle, and my favorite, the ocean waves turtle here).

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Munchkin Light My Way Nightlight

I couldn’t go without listing this sweet little play light. While it is absolutely not a bells and whistles kind of product, it is only a nightlight. However, my nearly ten-year-old still totes this thing around at night.

My daughter takes this light to sleepovers, she takes it to grandparents, she takes it to the washroom when it’s dark, and she plays with it. This product has probably got more miles on it than any other on this list, so it had to be mentioned!

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