10 Best Sound Machines for Travel (White Noise for Sleep)

When our daughter was born, we thought about holding off on a sound machine for her sleeping. But that lasted about five minutes before we caved.

Once we got a sound machine for our baby’s sleep, we haven’t looked back. We’re happy that we found a method for soothing at bedtime, and our next step was wondering how we’d manage the same effect while away from home.

For home, you might be looking for a sturdy and long-lasting sound machine. For travel, you want to optimize space and weight. Usually there is no-one-size-fits-all approach.

We embarrassingly traveled on a road trip with our baby and took our Hatch sound machine because we had no other option at the time. After we got back, I did a bunch of research on other small portable sound machines that would work well for us.

Check out the list! (You’ll also see which one we settled on as our top choice.)

Yogasleep Hushh Portable Sound Machine

For almost every list and Reddit post that I researched about the best portable sound machines for babies and kids, the Yogasleep travel sound machine was high on the list. It’s initially a little confusing because Yogasleep changed names at some point in the past. The brand used to be called Marpac.

Either way, this is the sound machine that we have and it’s become one of the best accessories for traveling with a baby. It’s extremely light, and fits in all the travel tech pouches that we own. It easily fits in the bottom of our Nike diaper bag. It can fit and attach to our Minu travel stroller. We love it.

Sound quality was important to me because when a sound machine is on, someones your kid isn’t the only one listening. The first sound machine we got for home had terrible sound quality and I couldn’t stand it! We had to return it to Amazon and we got the Hatch, for home.

I’d give the sound quality on the Yogasleep travel sound machine a solid 8/10. It’s not going to be the best quality white noise because of its size and portable-sized speaker, but it’s good enough.

I think that for where the sound quality falls short, the weight and size pick it up. Becca has even used it while baby-wearing, with the flexible ring clipped onto our baby carrier.

From experience, I can plug it in or I can run it 100% on battery life. The battery life might not last a full 12-hour night of sleep, so keep that in mind! If you want to upgrade to the Hushh+ Travel Sound Machine from Yogasleep, that one has 20 sound choices, plus a night light, and can also be used as a wireless speaker.

Skip Hop Stroll & Go Portable Baby Soother

We have a lot of products from Skip Hop. Their portable sound machine is one of the most affordable options for travel sound machines for babies and kids. It’s a little owl, so it will be a nice addition to your baby travel pack. (It also comes in “Glow with Me Acorn,” a nightlight and sound machine all in one.)

I like that it’s fairly small and can attach to mostly anything with the adjustable strap on the top. Plus, whose child doesn’t love a cute owl now and then?

It stands on its own, and it’s not too top-heavy, so I don’t think you need to worry about it toppling over. For sounds, you have some options to play two melodies or two rain forest sounds. It’s not quite a white noise machine, but it will help your child fall asleep if they are used to some noise.

This product includes a shut-off timer, which I would personally use on the melody setting, because I would go insane if I was listening to the same sound all night. Overall, the price can’t be beat on this one.

Dreamegg D11 Max Portable Sound Machine

We got and tried the Dreamegg D11 Max Portable Sound Machine. I was most impressed with the sound quality: it sounds deep and full, and can fill up a room. There are 21 sounds, and I found the sound machine easy to work even before I read the instruction booklet.

There are lullaby sounds (and they sound nice because somehow this small speaker packs in a bunch of bass), nature sounds and white noise sounds. On the back of the product, there’s a child lock that I noticed. What was funny to me is that the lullabies come from a button that has a baby icon face. I thought it would be like a child mode, but it’s the lullaby option.

For carrying, it comes with a slim round clip, as well as a shoelace, for flexible clipping (just make sure children stay away from this part). As a bonus option, Dreamegg makes this cute and compact carrying case for the D11 that will fit it perfectly so that it stays neat in luggage for a trip.

I think for what you get with this one, it’s a good buy because it’s kind of the baseline minimum price for a travel sound machine, and Dreamegg is a reputable brand that has been making these for more than 8 years.

SNOOZ Go Travel White Noise Sound Machine

If you don’t have an extra phone or if you want something all in one, the SNOOZ Go Travel White Noise Machine is a combination Bluetooth speaker, sound machine and night light for your child.

It has six sounds built in, and if you absolutely hate them, it is also a Bluetooth speaker in itself, so you can always play your own sounds by pairing it with your phone.

The battery lasts 20 hours, as stated on the product page, but I always try to be conservative with those types of estimates. You can do a trial run during the day and see how much battery you actually get. Turn it on in the morning, and when you return home, see if it’s still on!

One unique feature about this sound machine is that it doubles as a little night light. It’s one of those features that you wish you had in the others.

SNOOZE Go is a real company and it got started on Kickstarter. It’s not some random unverified Amazon brand!

SlumberCalm Portable Sound & White Noise Machine

Coming from the well-known children’s “travel sleep” company SlumberPod (known for the best-selling SlumberPod blackout tent for room-sharing during trips), the SlumberCalm travel sound machine is cute! It’s about the size of my hand, and has quite a few buttons on the front interface.

In my experience using it, the sound quality is impressive (not annoying), and we like the sweet choice of lullabies that we can play during storytime with our child. The glowing ring, or “night light,” in an “amber” color is also a nice add to have with us when we’re at a hotel. Believe it or not, Dan and I used it for ourselves (seriously) when we all went to Mexico. See the story in my SlumberCalm Sound Machine review.

Here’s what I think you should know about it:

• It has 10 choices of white noise PLUS 10 nature sounds (birds, rain, running water). Volume is adjusted via a rolly wheel.
• Includes a timer mode, for 30, 60 or 90 minutes.
• It takes 2.5 hours to charge fully, but the battery keeps it powered for 16 hours at 60% of its full volume.
• It’s small enough to fit in pockets, clip onto a stroller or onto a baby carrier.
• Price: It’s only a few dollars more than the Yogasleep sound machine, for example, and it’s a bunch less than a portable sound machine like the SNOOZ Go.
• Weight: My only complaint about this travel sound machine is that it is heavy–heavier than the Yogasleep one by far.

Get an immediate 10% off your purchase with our code halfhalftravel at checkout.

Dreamegg Sleep Lite 1 Portable Sound Machine

The petite size of this little travel sound machine from Dreamegg makes it perfect for taking anywhere. It’s so small that it can be permanently left in our diaper bag, stroller or baby carrier, just so that we’re sure it can be there when we travel away from home. I have it in the creamy white color, and it also comes in pastel pink and green.

I think the size of it is the best part. You can see in these photos how it looks when it’s attached to our diaper bag, by the silicone strap. I can use the strap to attach it to a baby carrier, or to the car seat, or to the stroller. There are lots of options for clipping it onto a spot where our baby is located.

With its small size, it somehow packs in 19 sounds, from white noise to lullabies. I feel like getting this one is a no-brainer, and it’s so affordable! Overall, it makes an awesome gift for travel-savvy moms or dads. I think I would’ve been so happy if I had gotten a sound machine like this one as a gift when I first had my baby and we started taking day trips and longer trips.

Hatch Rest Go Portable Sound Machine

We have the Hatch Rest+ and we use it every day at home. And like I said above. we also have traveled with it, which I don’t recommend!

While our big Hatch Rest+ was extremely helpful in keeping the white noise going when the power went out on our trip to the Catskills, the size it took up was not worth it at all.

Luckily, Hatch makes a little Rest+ called the Rest Go.

It comes in some nice colors and it’s designed very nicely. You can attach it to a bag or stroller and it won’t be an eyesore. In fact, I think it looks great when clipped to a diaper bag, stroller bar, baby carrier or tote bag. It’s also small enough to use in a cramped space, like flying on a plane with a baby, toddler or older child.

It includes 10 nice sounds that you can cycle through.

I like how small it is and that you don’t need anything to make it work, like the Hatch Rest+ or the speaker and phone option. The Rest Go is one of the smallest travel sound machines on this list.

As for price, it’s not the cheapest, which I assume is partly because you are buying into the Hatch brand. You are able to buy the Rest Go with the Rest+. And with its price point, it’s a great gift or product to have on your registry. You can get it on the Hatch website, or Amazon.

WAVE Mini Travel Sound Machine

This travel noise machine has six options (white noise, fan, rain and more) and has a helpful (and optional) auto-sleep timer.

I think one of its best features is the rechargeable lithium battery that holds 48 hours of charge. I say this because when our Airbnb lost power during a storm in the Catskills, our daughter’s sound machine didn’t die. It was probably the only positive thing we experienced during that blackout!

The WAVE Mini is so compact that it fits in tote bags, carry-on luggage or large purses. It’s 3.2 inches tall, weighs 0.3 lbs and comes with an included storage bag. It’s commonly used to help babies and toddlers fall asleep while traveling, but could also be used by parents for calming noises during yoga, meditating or spa treatments.

You can find it on Amazon, or on the Pure Enrichment website.

Your iPhone (or Android)

If you have an iPhone, you already have a built-in sound machine. We’ve used the iPhone sound machine option on car rides or baby-carrying when we want to help drown out some of the noise around us.

This article on the Verge tells you step-by-step how to enable the noise feature on your iPhone.

If you don’t want to mess around with the Bluetooth speaker, you could keep your phone running all night with the noise playing. I’d be a little careful of this because your phone might get a little hot being on and active for so long.

I only use this method of a portable white noise machine for our baby’s naps. Sometimes we’ve left a phone near her car seat in the car.

You could also try any of these white noise apps recommended by the Sleep Foundation.

An old phone plus a Bluetooth speaker

On the train of thought with the lack of audio options from some of the other options, you have an endless list of possibilities if you make your own.

I actually like this option a lot because you can use an existing Bluetooth speaker that you might already have on your trip. All you need is an additional phone. Preload it with white noise from Spotify. You can loop certain sounds that you like, as well.

We found out about “womb sounds” on Spotify when our daughter was a few weeks old. If we needed to travel, this would have been the only option, because I don’t think many sound machines offer that type of audio.

I recommend keeping offline media on a phone. You can download media with Spotify. You can also use iTunes (Apple) or put files directly on your Android phone.

I say that downloading is best because if you lose power or WiFi, you still will have music and it won’t shut off at some point.

You can control the speaker quality, so this might be a great option if you are sharing a room and can’t stand low-quality sound machines like I do.

I searched for sound machines that double as Bluetooth speakers, but the options were surprisingly sparse. It makes sense to use your favorite Bluetooth speaker. If you’re looking for recommendations, we like the Wonderboom speaker and the JBL Flip portable speaker.

Other options for travel-sized white noise machines

You’ve probably realized that most sound machine try to mimic fans or other mechanical sounds. If you are traveling somewhere that has a fan, my preference would be to use that instead of a noise machine.

Fans are generally good because they aren’t too noisy. They naturally loop the constant sound, and have the added benefit of moving some air around.

If you are staying in a hotel with a baby, the AC has a fan mode that you can usually turn on and leave on all night. We do this all the time! The only downside is if the AC turns off in the middle of the night.

If you’re staying somewhere and there is no fan, you can always ask your host or front desk and sometimes they can get one for you. (We’ve done this too, or emailed beforehand.)

One time, we were staying at an Airbnb and had our daughter with us, and the host bought a fan for us! It seemed like a good investment for the property. We both like sleeping with a fan for noise, so it worked out perfectly.