Sound machines might be making your sleep worse

Sound machines may not be the sleep saviors many believe. Researchers found that pink noise significantly reduced REM sleep, while simple earplugs did a better job protecting deep, restorative sleep from traffic noise. When pink noise was combined with outside noise, sleep quality dropped even further. The results suggest that popular “sleep sounds” could be doing more harm than good—particularly for kids.

source https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/02/260203030529.htm