I’ve talked a little about this in some of my past posts, but today I wanted to spend some more time talking about Fade Away Sleep Sounds’ very conscious decision to go against the grain, and take a different path than a majority of the other white noise sleep sound companies out there.
That decision was partly influenced by my research and me doing what I thought would be best for my own children, but it was also a business decision… finding that point of difference between me and most of my competition. Now, would I have made this “business decision” even if that point of difference were contrary to my personal beliefs? Absolutely not. Fortunately both aligned and I was able to move forward.
Let me first give you some the background that lead Fade Away Sleep Sounds down this path.
Initially, Fade Away Sleep Sounds was just a white noise baby sleep sound business. So our decisions and direction was based on what would be best for newborn babies and getting them to sleep. Like I explain in greater detail in my past post, “Why Babies Like White Noise,” babies are use to the very loud environment of the womb. So when they enter this world outside of the womb, the silence and quiet of sleep time is not what they’re use to and it can be very stressful to them. They basically need to be taught how to sleep in a world that’s not constantly loud. So by introducing white noise during sleep time, we’re reducing their stress and helping them calm down and sleep.
Among the sleep experts who see the benefits of white noise, there are two camps. One that says white noise should be played the entire time one is sleeping. Then there’s the other that says, white noise shouldn’t be played very long as the person using it could become dependent on it. Camp #1 says that, “no, white noise isn’t something that one can become dependent on, and with a little work they can quickly start sleeping without it. “
To me, needing something the entire time you are doing a particular task seems like, yes, you are indeed dependent on it. Based on that I decided that Fade Away Sleep Sounds should be a product that would help get babies (and now, babies and adults) to sleep, but at the same time help them sleep on their own. So while the other white noise guys were making their epic 10 and 12 hour tracks to be played during the entire sleep period, we were only making one hour tracks. We also decided to make the last ten minutes of that hour would be a very slow, very gradual fade to silence. (Hence, the “fade away” in Fade Away Sleep Sounds) The fade is so slow that we can’t even hear it happening. So in essence, the sounds are calming your baby and getting them to sleep, but then weaning them off of it at the same time. Fade Away Sleep Sounds are teaching your baby how to sleep on their own, unaided.
Sounds great, right? It’s definitely great for the parents of babies who are good sleepers once
they get to sleep… but what about the light sleepers? What about the babies going through sleep regression and waking up after two hours? I can try to spin it in such a way where I make a case for us, but the fact of the matter is, Fade Away Sleep Sounds isn’t going to be right for these people. Being different means knowing who you and what you are, AND knowing what you’re not. The path I chose for the company means, that yes, I’m probably going to lose some business to the people making the very long tracks… or the ones making the very short, loop-able tracks. Just today I exchanged some emails with a mom struggling with her son's sleep regression, and told her that she would probably have better luck using a competitor's product...and honestly, I hated that.
Could I start making longer tracks and targeting the other groups? Probably…it wouldn’t be very hard. But to me, that’s not who we set out to be. Trying to be everything to everybody leads to a very watered down, very bland, nothing special product. That’s not us… we will continue to stay the course, be true to who we are, and continue to stand out from the crowd.