When it comes to parenting, most of us will take just about any reasonable step we can to make things like bedtime easier. At this point, you may have tried about a million things to get your infant to fall asleep more easily, including, possibly, warm lavender baths, lullabies, swaddling, and walking the floors for endless hours. If this is the case, you're probably either about to give up on ever getting a full night's sleep again, or you're probably looking for something else that might work.

Well, one thing that you should try is a sound machine. It sounds a little silly, but it does, in fact, work.

Sound machines that are made specifically for babies will fill your infant's room with white noise, but it won't just be any white noise; these machines mimic ocean-like noises and heartbeats, like your infant once heard in the womb. These noises are innately soothing to infants, and they are scientifically proven to help infants fall asleep and stay asleep.

For this reason, a sound machine can make your life just a little bit easier by making bedtime a whole lot easier.

Incorporating this type of machine into your nightly bedtime routine is simple; all you have to do is switch it on while you're swaddling, rocking, bathing, or singing, and watch as you baby drifts to sleep more easily than ever before.

This trick can work particularly well for babies who are habitually fussy or who wake up and seem unable to get back to sleep without someone to help soothe them. If this is a problem you're experiencing, you might try to leave the sound machine on all night, and it could be just the soothing influence your baby needs to help himself get back to sleep when he wakes up in the night. If you're skeptical, well, you probably have a right to be.

You should know, though, that this particular sleep soother has been backed up by scientific research that says many babies respond to it positively. Besides, these machines aren't an expensive solution, and you can get a nice one for less than sixty bucks. Even if it's just one more thing to try, it's probably worthwhile if it ends up being the one thing that works for your baby. After all, with everything you've got on your plate right now, even one small thing to make your life easier can be very, very helpful.