How was the idea for ‘Einschlafwunder’ sounds created?

Before my first son was born, a good friend told me that a hairdryer can work magic. I tried this right after his birth and it worked! My baby son, and later my daughter as well, have both reacted brilliantly to these constant soothing sounds and fell asleep a lot quicker than without these sounds. I would however often fall asleep with a hairdryer in my bed.” Furthermore the hairdryer can be very dangerous if the baby isn’t wearing diapers, as the baby could get electrocuted when accidently ‘wetting’ the hairdryer. You can also not use a hairdryer when in a car. This lead to the idea of simply recording these sounds as mp3 and on CD.

How many copies may I make?

You may make as many copies as you like, providing it is for use in the same household (copies for mp3 players, mobile phones, CDs for the car or the stereo...) If you want to give the ‘Einschlafwunder’ to someone else, you must buy an extra license.

Why is the hairdryer sound the ‘original’?

The first recording was the hairdryer and worked excellently with the baby. However parents have reported that this sound irritates them. Therefore experiments were made with other sounds as well (e.g. waves). This also helped the parents to sleep, which was advantageous. The steady heartbeat in the background has a soothing effect on both the babyren and the parents. This is why the other two versions were created as well.

Why not record the sounds yourself?

Of course you can record the sound of a hairdryer and burn it to a CD. However waves and heartbeats are harder to come by. When you also then consider the amount of time you need to make this recording using an hourly wage of 20€ – then the 1.99€ for the hairdryer sounds would mean you have 6 minutes to do the following tasks:

- record the hairdryer sound
- copy the sounds to your pc
- edit the recording (length and apply fade out)

The production of waves and heartbeats are even more complex so it is really a lot easier and more economical to buy online, especially when it only costs 1€ more as the original version.

Can I order a CD with all the sound recordings?

We are currently working on providing CDs, however at present, the ‘Einschlafwunder’ is only available online as a download.

Will additional sounds be created in the future?

Possibly – however, as mentioned before, the baby just needs the sound of the hairdryer. The waves, rain and heartbeat are mainly for the parents. On special request, it may be possible to mix further sounds with heartbeat sounds.

There are products with similar functionality - do they give a good return?

You may calculate yourself whether it makes sense to buy a device such as this one which has already 8 different sounds preinstalled. Personally, I would prefer buying a MP3-Stick with external speakers (costs about 10€) or a MP3-Stick with integrated speakers (costs about 60€) and save all the Einschlaf-Wunder sounds on it.
By the way: The Einschlaf-Wunder is a good reason to finally get yourself an iPod.

You can also save additional sounds, music or even your kids favourite podcast onto the MP3 stick for the older kids.
If you have downloaded one or more Einschlaf-Wunder sounds, you can copy them legally for your own use (same household) multiple times and have them at different locations. For example if you happen to have forgotten your MP3-Stick because you are e.g. at friends, you can easily get the CD from the car or play it from your mobile.
Attention: Please switch your mobile phone to flight mode. If you want to pass the CD to your friends, you have to buy a new license.

Wie kamen Sie auf Dr.Harvey-Karp – haben Sie das Buch von ihm gelesen?

Ehrlich gesagt: nein. Ein Freund hat es mir empfohlen, hat mir aber die Methode im Grunde schon ganz erzählt und dies hat ausgereicht, um es auszuprobieren. Ich kann nur sagen: es wirkt meistens, nicht immer sofort. Aber selbst, wenn die Kinder nicht einschlafen sollten, sind sie wesentlich ruhiger. 

Does it really work as quickly as shown in the video examples?

Every baby is naturally unique and different. Often when a baby is very tired or already crying, it can take longer for them to fall asleep. On the videos, you don’t see when the baby became upset and started to cry, only when they became calm again and stopped crying. It is important that the parents remain calm. When the parents are agitated, this can affect the baby as well. It is always better when the parents stay calm when putting their baby to sleep and when they have more time to comfort the baby (e.g. swinging).

What is the biggest mistake you can make when using the ‘Einschlafwunder’?

The biggest mistake is to abruptly switch off the sound as this can cause the baby to wake up (that is the main problem when using a real hairdryer). This is why the ‘Einschlafwunder’ is the solution for you! The volume can always be reduced sooner or after 15 minutes, there is a 5 minute fade away of the sounds. This means you do not necessarily have to return to the baby’s room.

Why only 20 minutes - isn’t 50 or 60 minutes better?

The idea of a longer version has been considered. However 15 minutes is usually sufficient for most babies to become calmer. Often when they are not calm after this time, it is worth considering other factors that may be upsetting the baby. For example:
- the baby is hungry
- should their diaper be changed
- the baby is not tired
- the baby is ill (and a doctor may need to be consulted).

Do you have a list for whom the Einschlafwunder already helped well?

Yes. I could name a few of my friends here, who were very successful with the help of the Einschlafwunder. But to be honst: There are also persons with little children in my circle of friend for whom the Einschlafwonder didn't help at all. A little baby was massively afraid of the hairdryer and he started to cry as soon as he saw it, so that the parents when they were trying to calm him down with a hairdryer had no success at all. The waves and rain sounds were not produced at that time so that I can't say whether this would have helped.

Is the loud noise dangerous for the baby?

According to Dr. Harvey Karp, the noise a baby experiences in the mother’s womb is similar to a vacuum cleaner. When apply this theory to practice, we have noticed that the volume needs to be as loud as a vacuum cleaner or hairdryer to really work. The ‘Einschlafwunder’ fades automatically after 15 minutes. It is important that a turned-up loud speaker should never be placed directly next to the baby’s ear.