I bought this item for my infant sons nursery, he slept with us for 6 months and was quite used to our sound conditioner. My Mom purchased one for her house and it worked really well. We used ours for about a month before it started making an annoying clanking noise. The only way I can stop this noise is by turning the unit on its side or placing a towel under it so it is at an angle. When I have it on its side it is very slow to start up and sometimes will only work in the faster mode. I am sure it is not designed to work on its side but the clanking noise is horrible. The idea is to cancel out noise and create a calming white noise- so disappointed in this product. I would have returned it but it was already out of its return period by the time the problem occurred.