New white noise album turns parenting advice into a sleep aid
A new album transforms unsolicited parenting advice into white noise to help ease stress and promote sleep.
New research shows that nearly all new parents are facing daily floods of unsolicited parenting advice – and now, in an unexpected twist, that noise has been turned into something designed to help rather than hinder: a white noise album.
According to a new survey commissioned by JOHNSON'S® Baby, 93% of new parents say they receive unsolicited advice every day, with some receiving up to 25 conflicting suggestions per week. The pressure doesn’t stop at face-to-face conversations either – social media is also playing a role, with more than six million videos offering parenting tips on Instagram and TikTok.
Researchers estimate that if a parent attempted to watch all the online parenting content currently available, it would take them until their child’s eighth birthday.
The result is a generation of parents feeling stressed, confused, and overwhelmed during what is already a challenging stage of life.
A creative response to modern parenting stress
In response to these findings, JOHNSON'S® Baby has released an unusual intervention: a white noise album titled Soothing Sounds, designed to support parents and babies alike.
The album takes snippets of real parenting advice — from blogs, social media posts and spoken word — and manipulates them into ambient soundscapes. These tracks are then layered with white noise, melody, and rhythm to create calming audio designed to help soothe babies to sleep and give parents a mental break.
Only half of the advice parents receive is considered helpful
The survey of 1,000 new parents also found that only 59% of the advice they received was considered useful. A fifth of it was described as entirely unsolicited, and some of the most commonly cited — and often frustrating — pieces of advice included:
- “Sleep when the baby sleeps”
- “You’re not holding the baby correctly”
- “Babies should be left to cry it out”
- “You must have another baby, or your first will be spoilt”
The topics parents were most frequently advised on included feeding (44%), baby product recommendations (38%) and sleep training techniques (38%) — all areas where opinions can vary significantly and often conflict.
While the concept might sound light-hearted, it reflects a very real issue for new parents – the expectation to constantly absorb, evaluate, and implement advice during an already demanding life stage.
Sahila Chandihok, Marketing Manager at JOHNSON'S® Baby, said the aim of the project is to “help parents tune out the noise and tune into what truly matters: connecting with their baby.”
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Authors
Ruairidh is the Digital Lead on MadeForMums. He works with a team of fantastically talented content creators and subject-matter experts on MadeForMums.