This blog post will help you learn, “How to soundproof nursery?” and elaborates the topics like tools and materials needed to soundproof the nursery, ways to soundproof the nursery, soundproofing curtains and home decor, and soundproofing gadgets.
How to Soundproof a Nursery?
You can soundproof a nursery easily through these simple 7 ways;
- Install a Solid Soundproof Door
- Use Carpets or Rugs
- Use Soundproofing Gadgets
- Hang Soundproof Curtains
- Seal the Cracks or Use Wallpapers
- Add a Double Wall
- Use Fiberglass Insulation
What Materials Do You Need To Soundproof the Nursery?
These materials come in handy when you go about soundproofing a nursery. These materials are often simple stuff we find in our home, yet we are unaware of their good insulation properties. Here is a list of a few good soundproofing materials:
- Rugs and Carpets
- Soundproofing Acoustic Panels
- Soundproofing Blankets
- Noise-reduction Curtains
- Acrylic Sealant Caulking
- Spongy Wallpapers
- White Noise Machine
You don’t necessarily need all the above-mentioned tools and materials to soundproof a nursery as even the addition of only a few can have amazing effects in reducing the noise level in the room.
Nevertheless, the more the merrier as every little element contributes to making the nursery a relaxing room for babies.
Why Should You Soundproof Nursery?
You should soundproof the nursery as it is the most effective way to ensure your baby gets a good relaxing sleep. Improvement in sleep quality helps the baby develop and grow productively.
A badly insulated nursery makes the child uncomfortable and restless. This restlessness is apparent in the baby’s attitude and makes them grumpier. That’s why you should always have a soundproof nursery.
7 Ways to Soundproof Nursery
Soundproofing the baby’s room or nursery can be made easy if you know the right things and use the right materials. There is certainly a periodic way to go about soundproofing and it is best to start with the big stuff and cut away the big sounds. These are 7 ways to soundproof nursery:
Installing a Solid Soundproof Door
Installing a solid door is the best thing you can do to soundproof your baby’s room. Mostly, interior doors are hollow, and this means their sound insulation properties are relatively poor.
Ditching the hollow doors to get a solid core door cut down the majority of the sound on its own. If you are not sure if your door is solid or hollow just try the old knock-knock trick.
If it sounds like the front door it is probably a solid core door otherwise it is a hollow-core door. A solid door acts as an effective barricade against the noises from the neighboring rooms.
Using Carpets or Rugs for Sound Deadening
A simple addition of a carpet or wool rug can significantly help in making the nursery soundproof. Our homes are fitted with hardwood flooring by default and these are solid, strong, and resilient, yet provide zero sound insulation.
In truth, this flooring worsens the problem by projecting the sounds back into the room. Replacing these floorings with warm and cozy rugs and carpets restricts sound reverberation.
This is a simple hack that goes a long way in achieving complete insulation in a room. If you plan on transforming a pre-existing room into a nursery, this is perhaps the best low-budget way to do so.
This is the main reason why rooms with carpets create less echo than rooms with hardwood flooring.
Using Soundproofing Gadgets
Do you know some gadgets and devices can balance the sound levels by drowning the unwanted noises? They are called white noise machines and project a relaxing sound in the room.
Popularly known as Sound Dohm, there are many amazing types of white noise devices and some are even officially proven to be effective by the national sleep foundation.
The positive effects of white noise machines have been proven through many researches and studies. A research conducted by NCBI deduced that white noise makes babies sleep better.
This research dates back to the 1990s and forms the basis of many scholarly studies done on the topic of white noise machines.
Soundproofing Curtains and Walls
Soundproof curtains are one such material that can have a positive effect on sound deadening, yet are used wrongly.
Many people use these curtains to barricade the sound coming from the outdoors. However, that’s not the right use of these curtains.
The soundproofing curtain’s main purpose is to stop the reverberation of the sound from the walls. That’s why these curtains are often used in nurseries to cover the walls and make the room well-insulated.
If you don’t want to buy a curtain try hanging a decorative quilt on the wall. You will be amazed to see how it can help you soundproof the nursery.
Sealing the Cracks and Using Wallpapers
It may sound simple but never doubt its effectiveness. Using a siliconized acrylic sealant to seal cracks and crevices is an effective way to soundproof a room.
Besides sealing the cracks, you can also try using some cool wallpapers to add another sound barricade to the walls. These wallpapers function the same way as curtains and help in noise deadening.
Spongy wallpapers are often the best for this purpose and you can easily find them on Amazon.
Adding a Double Wall
Adding a double wall is never a bad option when the room on the other side of the nursery is noisy. Double-layering the wall is a viable option in some cases.
An extra wall makes it impossible for the sound to penetrate through the dual surface and enter the nursery. This technique is also a great way to insulate an existing wall effectively.
Interestingly, you can also try adding a double wall on the wall next to the toilet. Flushing noises can’t be ignored and often wakes up the baby.
Green glue is also a good add-on when using this technique as it provides an extra layer of soundproofing. Green glue is a soundproofing compound used to insulate hard walls.
Using Fiberglass Insulation
Fiberglass is a highly effective sound insulator used in building modern homes. So, if you are planning to remodel or build a home, this could help you insulate the nursery effectively.
Fiberglass is available in numerous different densities and can be used to achieve the desired level of insulation. Lightweight fiberglass is often the best to insulate a baby’s room as it is designed explicitly for acoustics.
Fiberglass hasn’t yet been proven to be a good heat insulator and it is solely used for sound insulation. That’s why it is cheaper than other dual-purpose insulators. Fiberglass is effective in soundproofing walls, ceilings, and floors.
How Furniture Can Help You Soundproof Nursery?
Have you ever thought about the role furniture plays in sound deadening? We usually ignore furniture when it comes to soundproofing.
People often think about taking drastic measures such as adding double drywall. However, there is a better way to double insulate the walls simply by resting a heavy drawer or wardrobe on it.
Lesser the furniture the greater space for sounds to echo and reverberate. Adding heavy furniture closes this space and significantly reduces the sound as every material plays its part in absorbing sounds.
Adding Dressers, Armories, and Bookcase
It is always a good idea to add dressers, armories, and bookcases in the baby’s room to make it more soundproof. Besides this, you can also try jamming these up with colorful toys and appealing stuff.
Other than these, there are tons of awesome options to rearrange or decorate the nursery with furniture such as a rocking chair, sofa, and a crib.
Many parents often think that it is better to keep the nursery clutter-free. However, that’s furthest from the truth. The emptier the room, the more noise it will echo and reflect.
So, don’t mind adding in an extra drawer or two to make your baby’s room soundproof.
What are ‘Bad Noise’ and ‘Good Noise’?
Many of us believe that every noise is bad for our baby. That’s not true! In simple words, there are two kinds of noise: Good noise and bad noise.
Bad noise is what causes disturbance and it is the unwanted noise that discomforts the baby. On the other hand, good noise is the one that soothes and relaxes the baby. These sounds contain frequencies of similar intensities. The best example of good noise is the noise of a fan or an air conditioner.
Nowadays, you can also use white noise machines to generate good noise in the nursery and help the baby sleep peacefully.
Conclusion
In this blog post, we explored the basic tools and materials needed to soundproof a nursery. We further discussed the ways to effectively soundproof the baby’s room and learned the value of simple hacks such as adding heavy furniture and leveraging white noise.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs): How to Soundproof Nursery?
How do I block out baby noises?
The best way to block out bad noises is to add good noises or white noises in the room. The static noise of the radio or fan is a good way to block the outside noise from disturbing your baby. These noises also block out sudden shocking bad noises like the sound of the traffic.
Other than this, closed windows and thicker curtains also help in blocking unwanted bad noises. You can also try sealing the cracks and adding heavy furniture.
How do you insulate a baby’s room?
The best ways to insulate or soundproof a baby’s room are described below:
- Replacing hollow core doors with solid core doors
- Adding heavy furniture and decorating the walls
- Using bookshelves, drawers, & sofas to barricade bad noise.
- Adding wool rugs to stop sound projection
- Using acoustic panels on doors and windows to soundproof
- Adding a new drywall
- Using sound-absorbing thick curtains
What materials can block out sound?
Some materials are simply better at blocking sounds than others. These include foam mats, RC channel, green flue, panels, vibration pads, and acoustic panels.
Acting as the barricade, these materials block the unwanted bad noise from entering the baby’s room and disturbing their sleep. Most of these materials can be bought economically and adds great value to the home.
How do you soundproof walls?
The best way to soundproof nursery walls is by adding acoustic sound insulation or acoustic panels. A stud and solid wall is simply a hard place projecting the sound back into the room. This creates echo and causes a disturbance.
To effectively soundproof walls, you need to first inspect the wall for cracks and crevices. An acoustic sealant can be used to seal these cracks before adding insulation. Afterward, you can start by adding panels to your wall to absorb the sound.
Are there soundproof curtains?
The blackout curtains are thick and massive and often called soundproof curtains. Their composition makes them perfect for restricting the projection of noise from walls, doors, and windows. Often advertised as blackout curtains, you can find these curtains easily in local decor shops.
References
https://soundproofcentral.com/soundproof-nursery-baby-room/
https://soundproofcentral.com/stop-white-noise-baby/
