When Fiona from Sleepytot NZ asked me to review this product with the new-born babies we see each week at in home visits and coffee groups I was hopeful this would be the end to that dry mouth you get when you have to loudly shush a baby for 10/15 minutes as they get them selves off to sleep.

What I didn’t expect was a magic wand, but to be honest when you turn on the baby shusher baby’s are mesmerised by the sound, it almost appears to be magic!

The babies I tried it on almost instantly stop crying and fussing and start listening to the shusher, the constant shhhh shhhh shhhh has been proven effective and endorsed by Dr Harvey Karp (Author of happiest baby on the block) and Tracey Hogg (Original American baby whisperer and Author of “The Baby Whisperer solves all your problems”) for many years so it shouldn’t be a surprise, but when a product works as well as this one does, it is a little surprising still!

The shusher does not appear that loud but the shape of the speaker means if it is not facing towards you it is quite a manageable sound level, but once the speaker is facing you or the baby it is very loud and intense.

We all know babies love loud white noise (50-60 decibels) and it is the volume and intensity which mimics the level of noise in the womb and stops them crying. But a word of warning, test it on yourself, face it towards yourself and you will see just how loud it is. It is with this in mind that I think you could place the shusher on a dressing table or shelf near the cot and facing the cot on full volume but I wouldn’t place it in the cot facing the baby on full volume.

Thankfully it has volume control, and it is able to be moved very easily, so when I wanted it quieter as baby began to settle, I would simple turn it slightly away from baby and this would quickly and effortlessly lower the volume.

I would then periodically, if I felt baby was almost asleep, turn the volume down again, so when the shusher stops, baby is asleep and baby hadn’t needed the full volume.

This isn’t white noise, it doesn’t play continuously but it does play for 30 minutes which is plenty of time for a baby to get to sleep. I believe near the top of the hierarchy of self soothing is a child who easily settles with voice alone, and the shusher is encouraging parents to allow their child to settle using voice - and this is the thing I love the most .

Now I am not expecting your new born to only need voice to settle, but with a good swaddle like the miracle blanket (also sold by Sleepytot NZ) and some loud shushing you're well on the way to having a child who doesn’t rely on rocking, feeding or holding all the time which is creating healthy sleep habits and leading your baby towards the process of self settling.