Sleeping in daylight
What sound helps you sleep during the day after a night shift?
To sleep during the day after a night shift, use a sound that stays the same for hours. Our steadiest mix, a stream and night woods, swings just 0.6 LU, and its loudest moment sits 1.6 dB above average. Start a similar sound below on a long timer, then darken the room.
Play it now
Pink noise, −3 dB per octave
Made live in your browser: no download, no account, nothing tracked.
Stops in
180:00
A link that opens this page with your sound and timer picked.
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In the app each room layers its own sounds (rain on the roof with distant thunder, waves with a sea breeze), each at its own volume. Free gives you the Rain and Beach rooms with 3 sounds each and plays while the app is open; Plus adds all 30 sounds, saved mixes and play with the screen locked, on iPhone and iPad. A browser tab can also stop when your phone locks. Free vs Plus →
The player makes a similar sound live in your browser. The exact recipe below uses the real recordings in the Fall Asleep app.
The recipe
Each mix uses one room of the app, because the app mixes one room at a time. Levels are the app's sliders, from 0 to 100; set everything else in the room to 0. Timer: 3 hours (Plus), then restart if you wake.
Steady day sleep: Forest room
| Sound | Level | On its own |
|---|---|---|
| Stream | 80 | steady, centre 2,200 Hz |
| Night woods | 60 | steady, centre 3,100 Hz |
Measured mix: 2% of its energy below 250 Hz, 48% from 500 Hz to 2 kHz, 50% above · swings 0.6 LU · loudest moment 1.6 dB above average · Plus, or the Forest room
Free version: Rain room
| Sound | Level | On its own |
|---|---|---|
| Rain on the roof | 80 | gently varying, centre 2,000 Hz |
| Rain on the window | 80 | gently varying, centre 850 Hz |
Measured mix: 18% of its energy below 250 Hz, 56% from 500 Hz to 2 kHz, 26% above · swings 2.6 LU · loudest moment 3.9 dB above average · Free
Each mix was played from the app's own files at these levels for 3 minutes and measured as a whole. Measured by DozeClock from the app's own audio files (AAC, 48 kHz): spectral slope = straight-line fit of octave-band levels from 63 Hz to 8 kHz, converted to dB per octave per hertz (white 0 · pink −3 · brown −6); loudness swing = EBU R128 loudness range (LU); loudest moment = highest 400 ms loudness above the file's average (dB). Checked against reference white, pink and brown noise we generated (made for the app's next version, not in the current App Store version), which measure +0.1, −2.8 and −5.3. Measured October 30, 2026. These numbers describe the sound of the mix. We did not test how much noise it hides or how anyone sleeps with it.
Set the levels once and the app remembers them. Plus keeps it playing with the screen locked and saves up to 5 named mixes; a browser tab usually stops when the phone locks.
Why steadiness comes first
A short sound only has to last until you drift off. Daytime sleep is different: deliveries, voices and lawn mowers keep coming for hours while your body would rather be awake. So we looked for the flattest mix we could build from the app rather than the prettiest. A stream with night woods from the Forest room came out steadiest of the mixes on this site, with a swing of 0.6 LU, against 2.6 LU for the two free rain layers. It is a bright, even hush with almost nothing below 250 Hz, so a phone speaker can play it.
How long the timer can run
This is where the free version falls short, and it is better to know now. The free app has a 15-minute timer and stops when the screen goes dark, so it will not carry a day's sleep, and the Forest room is not free. Plus, or the Forest room bought on its own, keeps playing with the screen locked; Plus also has every timer up to 3 hours. This page's player runs longer, but your phone may pause it when the screen locks, so leave it plugged in with the screen on, or use a computer.
Sound is the smaller half
A NIOSH training module for nurses puts light first: blackout shades or drapes on bedroom and bathroom windows. For noise it suggests earplugs or a white noise machine, and silencing the phone so calls do not wake you. Ask the people at home not to disturb you, too. The timing matters as much as the room: our night shift sleep schedule sets when to sleep around your shifts.
Sounds to leave off
Leave these off during the day: birds and gulls can blend into what is really outside, and these all come and go.
- Seagulls (beach): swings 12.2 LU, loudest moment 8.1 dB above its average
- Distant birds (forest): swings 8.6 LU, loudest moment 12.7 dB above its average
- Distant thunder (rain): swings 7.1 LU, loudest moment 7.1 dB above its average
- Wind in the chimney (fire): swings 15.7 LU, loudest moment 9.4 dB above its average
Questions people ask
- Should I play sound for my whole sleep after a night shift?
- That is the one case where a long timer makes sense, because the noise outside lasts for hours. Keep it low. If you sleep through the first 3 hours fine, you may not need more.
- What if the mix sounds too bright?
- Turn the stream down or try the two rain layers, which have more of their energy in the middle of the range. The steady part matters more than the exact sound, so use what you can stand for hours.
- Can I use earplugs and sound together?
- Yes. NIOSH suggests earplugs or a white noise machine, and many people use both. Check you can still hear your alarm.
Sources
- NIOSH Training for Nurses on Shift Work and Long Work Hours, Module 9 — CDC / NIOSH
- Noise as a sleep aid: A systematic review — Sleep Medicine Reviews 55:101385, 2021 (Riedy S.M. et al.)
General information from population studies (NIH, CDC, NSF, AASM). It is not medical advice and does not replace a clinician who knows you.