I am a ridiculously light sleeper. I know a lot of people probably say that, but I think I might actually be in the running for one of the most delicate sleepers in the world. Trust me — it’s not something I’m happy about. 

A short list of things that wake me up from a deep slumber: pillows falling to the floor, air conditioner kicking on, a light squeak from an overhead fan, and a singular bird chirping in the morning. I even have a monthly recurring subscription for earplugs via Amazon because I use them so frequently.

It’s not that I need things to be absolutely silent, but rather, a small, inconsistent noise has the ability to completely disrupt my sleep. This has become exacerbated amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Cue the decision to pick up a white noise machine. I’ve used them when staying in big cities and they always work like a charm, but for some reason I didn’t think about getting one for my own home until the pandemic royally started messing with my zzzs. Long story short, I opted for the Letsfit White Noise Machine because it has excellent reviews on Amazon, 14 sounds, a handy nightlight, and it only costs $20. 

I’m happy to report that it’s lived up to the reviews and is absolutely worth every penny of that $20. I was worried the sounds would be super artificial or cloying, but they’re pretty legit. Some definitely don’t work for me (ahem: birds, clothes dryer, and crickets), but the traditional sounds including white noise, brown noise, and thunderstorm are all winners. There are also three traditional lullaby sounds which are quite soothing. (Protip: if you’re unsure about the sounds, you can actually listen to them on the Amazon listing or the Letsfit website).

In addition to the night light — which can be turned on and off just by touching the machine — I like that you can set a timer (up to two hours) for the noise to turn off.

Perhaps the biggest drawback is that it’s not super intuitive when trying to figure out how to get the thing to work when you first start using it. There are three buttons total: +, — , and T. To turn on the sound, though, you have to touch the metal speaker and keep touching until it initiates sounds. To navigate through the sounds, you hit the + or —, and to increase or decrease volume you have to hold those buttons down. The T button controls the timer. So yeah, a little tricky but once you get the hang of it you’re good. 

Bottom line: if you’re struggling to fall asleep and stay asleep then a white noise machine could honestly help you out. And for a one-time $20 it’s definitely less than medications or even supplements. The device is also a good option for a nursery.

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