It’s not the cheapest gadget, but with a ten hour battery life on a full charge, a child lock, a design that looks like it belongs on In The Night Garden and lovely lullabies to match, the Dreamegg is a really nice piece of kit. Before you reach for the melatonin or something even harder, you might want to consider a sound machine. It’s touch sensitive, the app is kind and encouraging and it looks and feels sophisticated and expensive. Placed in or near your baby’s crib, these machines aim to make your child feel comfortable and safe.

On the other hand, while mains-powered white noise machines aren’t as easy to move around, they can be plugged in and left to play all night long without worrying about batteries. Featuring seven different soothing sounds, including white and pink noise as well as gentle nature sounds like lapping water or heartbeats, the Sleepy night light allows you to select the perfect sound that will help your baby drift off to sleep. The most basic models act as “white noise” machines to drown out ambient noise (think snoring partners and passing subway trains) in your apartment or home. The main drawback of Ewan the Dream Sheep is that the white noise only plays for 20 minutes, with no option to play for longer (unless you manually restart the noise every 20 minutes), and no continuous play setting. Parents often find that the best white noise machines can not only help their little ones to fall asleep more quickly, but actually help them sleep through the night.

It’s a super-portable machine, though, and because it doesn’t stay on for hours at a time, the batteries last a decent while.

The best feature is the gradual sunset, which lets little ones know it’s time for sleep – simply press a button and the light will start to slowly dim over 15 minutes, using a special mix of LED lights designed to mimic a real sunset and proven to encourage a natural sleep response. Prior to WIRED, she was an assistant editor at Wirecutter and an assistant in the newsroom of The New York Times. Small enough to fit easily on a bedside table or on the side of a changing table, and with a handy strap to carry it around from room to room, the soft yellow glow emitted is the most soothing we’ve found, with very low blue light levels. If you’re a light sleeper who can’t sleep, even on vacation, or a road warrior who needs a little snooze assistance while traveling for business, having an ultra-portable sound machine can be a game-changer.The warm red light allows the production of melatonin, while the rhythmical pulses have been designed to mimic a baby’s relaxed breathing rate to help them drift off. You can also choose from white noise, pink noise, brown noise, vacuum cleaner, noisy fan, hairdryer, rainy car ride, train journey and washing ma

Babies develop at different rates, so there’s no fixed time period, although after around 12 months your child should be sleeping easier through the night. It is a game changer to overcome sleep regression in babies and help them get enough sleep to stick to a healthy sleep schedule. Well, the Rockit could have saved you quite a few of those laps, having been designed to simulate the gentle hand rocking of a pram – which means your days of jiggling it back and forth with your foot for hours on end in the hope of getting your little one to drift off are over. If you’re looking for a top of the range white noise machine with all the mod cons, myHummy Mini is the machine for you.Senior reviews editor Adrienne So's 7-year-old loves the stories, which take kids on meditative journeys with an animal companion.

Most parents of a newborn know about Ewan the sheep – he’s one of the most popular baby shower gifts, and with good reason. We also considered several well-reviewed models with at least 200 positive ratings on the etailer sites we trust most. However babies can become reliant on them which may prove problematic if you end up staying away from home overnight. Just remember that soft toys are not recommended for use in a baby’s cot until they are at least 12 months old, so soft white noise machines like Ewan the Dream Sheep should not be placed in the cot until this age. It can also be used for younger babies but must never be placed in a cot or pram for babies less than 12 months old, as this can put infants at greater risk of SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome).But if you’ve tried traditional sound machines and white noise generators and were left feeling wanting, this is a great, out-of-the-box alternative that’s worth trying. Not only does it serve as a white noise machine, but also as a soft toy for your child to cuddle with. Our toddler tends to shout as soon as the white noise goes off, so being able to stay on the sofa and switch it back on in their room upstairs was a game changer.