The Baby Shusher was one of the first recommendations in my Google search.
It has already been hailed as “The Miracle Lollipop”.
1. The Baby Shusher is not suitable for traveling.
A common criticism you will see on Google and Amazon about the Baby Shusher is its weirdly shaped design. For reasons unknown to the users, the speaker is located right at the bottom, so you can’t hold it upright, or the sound is muffled.
The rest of the body is round. So it’s constantly rolling around in the crib, especially when the baby is moving. The ovoid shape also makes it difficult to hook or unhook anything.
During the few weeks I owned it, I never really knew how to get it and take it with me in the car and baby carriage.
2. For the price you pay, the functions of the Baby Shusher are not enough.
To put it bluntly, the Baby Shusher is a falling machine. No nightlights, soothing music, or clocks.
I immediately knew that once my newborn baby is grown, in a few months (the shusher method is not as effective on babies over 6 months old), he will be reduced to a chew toy or thrown away by my two boys.
Many other sound machines are multifunctional for the same price and can be used for other purposes once the baby is older. As far as its long-term value for money is concerned, the Baby Shusher has an extremely short lifespan.
3. Finally, the Baby Shusher has only TWO timer settings.
The Baby Shusher only works for 15 or 30 minutes at a time, after which it stops automatically. You must manually click on the power button to restart it.
This seems to be a fairly common complaint from other buyers as well. You can’t get it to run continuously is highly frustrating. It doesn’t even fade away. It just shuts down. Sometimes it takes longer for the baby to calm down, and soon after falling asleep, the falls stop abruptly, and the deadly silence that follows shocks the baby when it wakes up.
I wish this would have been part of the warning on the product before I bought it, but it was a complete puzzle as soon as I opened it and realized there was no option for continuous sound.
In about 90% of the e-books and sleep training courses I’ve read, the recommendation for using sound as an aid to sleep training – whether it’s music, white noise, or shushing – is to keep the duration of that sound throughout the baby’s sleep.
Imagine falling asleep to a beautiful lullaby and waking up in complete deathly silence. It’s like the end of the world. That’s probably how your baby will feel waking up for nothing.
Since I only had 30 minutes at the most, I anxiously kept an eye on the clock and rushed into the room before the time was up to reset the Baby Shusher to keep it running.
A few other critics also mentioned that the power button clicked very hard. I can attest to the fact that this is indeed true. If you have a baby sensitive to sound, the mere sound of a click will be enough to wake him up.
To this day, I’m still puzzled as to why this product doesn’t have a continuous operation option. Maybe because it can only hold two AA batteries? If that’s the case, why not make it a rechargeable model so you can plug it into the wall and let it run?
An alternative to Baby Shusher that solves all problems
I’m currently pregnant with my third baby, so I’ve been searching the internet again to find something that will work for the baby and me this time.
I’m amazed at how hard it is to find a white noise machine that ticks all the boxes, but I think I’ve finally found The One: The Soundbubs by Wavhello.
The Soundbubs, by Wavhello
- Reasonable cost (only slightly more expensive than Baby Shusher)
- Continuous play option
- 3 tracks of white noise and 11 soothing tracks (this is an essential feature because some babies don’t like falls or white noise and prefer music instead)
- Easy to take with you – The clip also reverses to function as a stand!
- Rechargeable lithium battery
Works as a Bluetooth speakerphone – You can play music and other digital content through their free VoiceShare application.
There are sound machines such as the very popular Ewan the dream sheep and Beanie the bear, designed like stuffed animals. Babies chew and drool MUCH. Cuddly toys are essentially a breeding ground for mold and other bad things.
Adorable and baby-friendly design – I think it is crucial that the baby recognizes and accepts its sound machine as a sleep signal. A design that babies like means they will be more successful at being loved.
The Soundbub is designed and patented in the United States, so it’s a relatively new product in Australia. As far as I know, it is only available on Amazon Australia if you want to get it locally.
Even though it’s a new product in Australia, it is already ranked #3 in the Sleep Soothers bestsellers on Amazon AU.
Here is an official demonstration video from the founder of Wavehello and the Soundbub designer himself :
I’m looking forward to having a Soundbub for baby #3, but I’ll wait until the due date because I’m pretty sure that even if it’s made of steel, my two boys will be able to destroy it if I let them.