Sleep, baby and study sound guides
Short, practical guides from the dad and daughter behind Hit The Hay – an ad-free sleep sounds app and white noise machine for your phone, with no paywall and no interruptions mid-sleep. Each one starts with a quick answer, then tips and a button to play the sound.
- White noise for babies and newborns
White noise is a steady “shhh” that many parents use to help a baby or newborn settle. It is close to the whooshing a baby heard in the womb and it softens sudden household noises. Keep it quiet, keep the phone well away from the cot, and use a sleep timer if you can. - Is white noise safe for babies?
White noise is widely used for babies, and the main things to get right are volume and distance. Keep it quiet – about as loud as a soft shower – place the phone or white noise machine at least 2 metres from the cot, never inside it, and use a timer. Follow your health visitor’s or doctor’s advice. - Brown vs pink vs white noise
White noise has equal energy at every frequency, so it sounds bright, like a hiss. Pink noise rolls off the treble and sounds softer, like steady rain. Brown noise is deeper still – a low rumble, like a distant waterfall. Many people prefer pink or brown for sleep; white masks sharp sounds best. - Brown noise for sleep
Brown noise is like white noise with the treble turned right down: a deep, soft rumble, a bit like a distant waterfall or an aeroplane cabin. Many people find it more relaxing than white noise for sleep, and it is good at softening low sounds such as traffic, snoring or noisy neighbours. - Rain sounds for sleep
Rain sounds are one of the most popular sleep sounds because they are steady and gentle, with no tune to follow. Hit The Hay has real rain recordings – light rain, heavy rain, rain on a window, a car roof, a tin roof and a tent – looped seamlessly, with no ads and offline play. - Ocean sounds for sleep
Ocean sounds have a slow, natural rhythm – a wave rolls in, then draws back – that many people find calming at bedtime. Hit The Hay has real recordings of small waves on a beach, the open ocean, a pebble beach and a lake shore, looped seamlessly with no ads and no sudden crashes. - Fan sounds for sleep
Lots of people can only sleep with a fan running. Its steady whoosh works like a natural white noise machine. Hit The Hay has real recordings of an oscillating fan, a box fan, an air purifier and air conditioning, chosen for a smooth sound with no whine or rattle, and looped seamlessly. - Ticking clock sounds for sleep
A slow ticking clock is a simple, steady rhythm that some people find soothing at bedtime or while reading. Our Grandfather clock is a real recording of a longcase clock: a deep, even tick-tock about once a second, with no chimes or alarms, looped on whole beats so the rhythm never stumbles. - Lo-fi music for studying
Lo-fi beats give you just enough to listen to without pulling you away from your work, which is why they are the soundtrack of so many study-with-me sessions. Hit The Hay has nine calm lo-fi tracks, looped seamlessly, plus café, rain and library ambience – and no adverts cutting in mid-revision. - Study ambience and cosy café sounds
Study ambience is a soft background of real-world sound – a coffee shop, a quiet library, rain on the window – that many people find easier to work to than silence. Hit The Hay has a cosy café with soft music, a coffee shop, a library, typing and pencil sounds, all ad-free and offline. - Focus sounds and background noise
Focus sounds are steady, low-key backgrounds – brown, pink or green noise, rain, a fan or café ambience – that soften distractions while you work. Some people with ringing in their ears (tinnitus) also like gentle background sound. It is not a treatment; if your ears ring, please speak to a GP or audiologist.