Toronto, March 4 (IANS): Do you use a sound machine for your baby's good night's sleep? Beware! The noise machines designed to help a baby sleep could cause hearing loss after prolonged exposure, a new study claims.

If a white noise machine, also known as sleep machine, is kept at full volume in a room with a sleeping baby, it may be potentially hazardous to the child's hearing.

These machines produce sounds to soothe infants to sleep and help cover other noises.

According to researchers, some of these machines are even capable of creating noise levels similar to a blender being run three feet away!

To prove their point, researchers bought 14 different types of white noise machines.

The machines produced a total of 65 different sounds that included white noise and nature, mechanical and heartbeat sounds.

"The study cannot say exposure to the machines' noises is actually impairing children's hearing -- just that the devices may be capable of creating sounds loud enough to cause hearing loss after prolonged exposure," explained lead researcher Blake Papsin from Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto.

Researchers warn that noise machines could also stunt a child's development as they do not hear natural sounds.

Parents should not overuse these machines and frequently use automatic on/off switch, said the study published in the journal Pediatrics.