Media

Sounds to soothe a crying baby

Kalamazoo Gazette, Wednesday, March 15, 2000

By Maureen Coyle

For parents at their wits' end in dealing with colicky infants, relief may be found in letting the child listen to a CD. But forget Mozart or Brahms. Bonnie Everdeen has put together a CD that quiets a child to the tune of a vacuum cleaner.

Everdeen, a Kalamazoo mother of three, recently released a CD, "The Big Z," created specifically to help calm babies with colic.

The recordings have very special significance to Everdeen, who personally experienced the trials of dealing with a colicky infant, son Tyler, now 4.

Although a typical infant usually outgrows colic within 4 months, Tyler was colicky well into his first year. "He was so bad, we tried absolutely everything pediatricians recommended--from formula changes, gas drops, mild sedatives to every pacifier on the market," Everdeen says. "Nothing worked. One day, I turned on my vacuum cleaner, and it was like, Vhoom! Tyler was instantly quiet," Everdeen says.

After hearing a friend describe the calming effects a taped recording of a vacuum cleaner had on her colicky infant, Everdeen was inspired. "I thought, shoot, if a tape works, why can't we put this on a CD?"

The CD is a compilation of seven sound songs, each 10 minutes in length. They are recorded "white noise," sounds that have been proven to soothe a colicky infant, according to Everdeen. Record from basic household appliances, the tracks on the CD include "Hair Dryer Hustle" and "Washer Waltz."

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