White noise does not send a baby to sleep — it masks the sudden sounds that wake them. Tymi generates sound on the device itself, in white, pink and brown, and lets it drift through the night instead of looping one file. Nothing to download, nothing to stream, and it keeps playing with the screen off.
| Sound | How the energy is spread | What it sounds like |
|---|---|---|
| White noise | the same energy across every frequency | a hiss, close to an untuned radio |
| Pink noise | energy drops as the frequency rises | steady rain, wind through trees |
| Brown noise | the low end dominates further still | a distant waterfall, a low rumble |
| Age | Total sleep per 24 hours (NHS) | What Tymi shows |
|---|---|---|
| Newborn | often around 18 hours in total, in short stretches, day and night | the sleeps you log, with no daily target |
| 3 to 6 months | some babies sleep 5 to 8 hours at night or longer — but not all | the longest night of the week, and awake time by age |
| 6 to 12 months | some sleep around 15 hours, most of it at night | the day / night split over seven days |
| From 12 months | around 12 to 15 hours in total | naps and night on the same day |
| 2 years | about 12 to 14 hours, naps included | the full history, with no sleep method imposed |
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between white, pink and brown noise?
White noise spreads energy evenly across all frequencies, so it hisses. Pink noise softens the highs and sounds like rain or wind. Brown noise pushes further into the low end and resembles a distant waterfall. Many parents find pink and brown gentler at night.
Does white noise help babies sleep?
A steady sound can cover household noise and act as a bedtime cue. It replaces neither tiredness nor a consistent routine. No health authority publishes a volume limit for these devices; what is published is safer sleep guidance, which asks for an empty cot — so the phone stays across the room, never in it or against it — and the volume stays low.
How loud, and for how long?
Stay below the level of a quiet conversation, and keep the phone away from the cot — never inside it or attached to it. A timer avoids leaving sound running all night; Tymi includes one and keeps playing with the screen off to save battery.
Where should the phone sit at night?
Never in the cot or against it. Safer sleep guidance asks for an empty cot: no objects, no devices, no cables. Put the phone across the room, on a surface, and keep the volume low.
Should the sound run all night?
Many families use it only for settling. Tymi includes a timer for exactly that, and keeps playing with the screen off to save battery.
White noise or pink noise: which is better for a baby?
None of the health sources cited on this page recommends one colour of noise over another. The difference is acoustic: pink noise has less treble and sounds like rain, brown noise is lower still. Pick the one you can bear yourself for a whole evening, at the lowest volume that covers the household noise, with the phone well away from the cot.
Can a white noise app work without internet?
Yes, if the sound is produced on the phone rather than streamed. In Tymi, white, pink and brown noise are synthesised on the device: they work in airplane mode, with no account and no ads, keep playing with the screen locked and stop on their own with the timer.
Why synthesise the sound instead of playing a file?
A loop eventually gives itself away: it returns to the same point and catches the ear. Tymi generates the sound continuously on the device, which avoids the loop, uses no data, and works on a plane as well as on a postnatal ward.
Is there an official wake window chart?
No, and it is worth knowing. Awake time between sleeps is a marker circulated by pediatric sleep specialists, not guidance published by the NHS or the WHO — what those publish is total sleep per 24 hours, naps included. Tymi does show “awake time by age” and a “next nap” range, but for what they are: general information to weigh against your own baby’s tired cues, never a time to obey.
How many naps a day, at what age?
The NHS publishes no number of naps by age: what it gives is a total of sleep per 24 hours, naps included, noting that many children aged 3 to 5 still nap. So Tymi sets no nap schedule: it shows the day’s sleeps and lets a pattern appear, if there is one.
My baby sleeps less than the table says — should I worry?
The table gives averages, and the NHS is explicit that some babies need more or less sleep than others, from birth. A growth spurt, teething or an illness all change the rhythm. Tracking concludes nothing: if your baby’s sleep worries you, the NHS suggests speaking to whoever looks after your child.
This page gives general information. Tymi is not a medical device and does not replace advice from a midwife, doctor or pediatrician.
Sources
- The Lullaby Trust — Safer sleep advice
- NHS — Helping your baby to sleep (how much sleep by age)
- American Academy of Pediatrics — How many hours of sleep by age (AASM guidelines)
Sources checked on 2026-09-27.