Ear Muffs For Babies
It is important to think about your babies hearing and the best advice is to protect them from potential dangers before they happen, ear muffs for babies are a great hearing and ear protection items that could answer this question.
You have just brought a beautiful new born baby in to the world, there are many many things going through your mind, their hearing, one of their main senses will be somewhere on that list of thoughts. You'll find out that all babies born in the UK are offered a newborn hearing screening test before they are 4-5 weeks old with an audiologist who specialises with babies and children.
As your baby grows you want them to explore the world around them while still being able to look after them. This applies to their hearing too, there will be lots of sounds for them to explore and soon enough, they'll want to know what they mean. There are however lots of sounds out there that are very loud and will be particularly noisy to your little ones ears.
How To Protect Your Babies Hearing
What can you do about it? Can how you treat ear protection for your baby the same way you would protect your own? The simple answer is No. Noise exposure effects all people young and old.
There are a few difficulties when it comes to protecting your babies ears over your own. As an adult you have a multitude of options. Firstly it comes down to choice. You as an adult can make the decision to enter a noisy place or to stay a little further back, as a baby they can't make this decision this is up to you whether you are going to take them into that environment or not.
As adults we have the option to use custom made ear plugs specially designed for noise exposure. Babies ears are minute and the entrance to their ear canal is too small for ear buds. There would be very little point trying to have custom made ear moulds created for a baby as their ears, very much like the rest of their body grows very rapidly. For babies who wear hearing aids, they require ear moulds to be re-made weekly, in comparison to adults who need new ear moulds just every few years.
What you also need to remember is that babies heads are still quite soft, infact there are soft spots on the top of their head called the fontanelles that help with childbirth and brain growth. At 2-3 months old the first parts start to close. At 6 months the second and third fontanelle start to close. With the last to close, the anterior fontanelle closing between 10 and 24 months old. This all means that for a baby to wear head phones they cannot be tight, they need to be soft and they need to be headphones specifically designed for babies.
Headphones & Ear Muff For Babies
There are a few head phones or 'ear muffs' out there now designed for babies. It is important to look for the ones that have been certified. Below we look at a couple of earmuff options that we would highly recommend for your children and baby.
The Banz Baby Hearing Protection Earmuffs we can highly recommend. They have very soft cushioing on the ear muffs and all around the head band. They are cushioned with foam and are gentle to put on but feel secure. They are not tight which is the main thing which also means they are comfortable and your little one is more likely to keep them on.
They have a noise reduction rating of 31dB. They weigh around 191g, making them very light but not the lightest baby headphones on the market. There are two different size ear cups, infant size being a smaller size than the children ear cups. The head band is adjustable and provides great size adjustment for little heads.
The materials used in the ear muffs are durable and easy to wipe down. There are no toxic chemicals used and are safe for children to use. In the pictures they do look a little large in size and even a little bulky but in person they are not that large and come in an array of different colour options. They even fold up small for easy carrying and if you're after ear muffs that go over the top, the Banz are the best ear muffs for your baby.
The Alpine Muffy Baby Hearing Protection Ear Muffs are a slightly different design. You still have the ear cups and these are very soft padded foam but instead of a fixed headband, the band is also soft and is elasticated.The headband is easily adjusted to fit your baby's head correctly without sitting tightly. The ear cups can be slid along the band to fit exactly in the right place. This can be a little tricky to get them on a little wriggly baby but once they are in the right place they can be locked to stay placed there.
The attenuation levels are not as much as that of the Banz headphones but these can be worn whilst sleeping.
I would say that if your baby is quite the wriggler these will stay on their head for longer than headphones with a band over the head will. These are suitable for babies up to 3 months of age and weighing just under 100g it is a lightweight set of headphones. These earmuffs have a CE rating and they also comes with a small white carry bag to safely and hygienically transport them. The elastic head band can also be popped in the washing machine to be throughly cleaned when they get them messy and dirty, which they will. The pack also comes with two colour options making it an item that can be bought before a baby arrives too.
When To Put Ear Muffs On Your Baby
It's hard for us as adults to work out what is loud or not as we have gotten use to louder and noisier environments as we grow up, so what you may think might be ok, might be too loud for your child. Here are a few areas and places we would reccomend your baby wears ear muffs and headphones to help with sound dampening and hearing protection.
Loud Cafes and Restaurants
Some cafes and restaurants can be extremely loud, whilst others can be almost silent, when a place is full and has a lot of customers and they're all talking, noise can quickly and easily go up.
Parties, Gatherings and Events
If you're heading to a family gathering or birthday event, they can be particularly loud, especially if their is live music.
Fireworks Displays
Fireworks can be still a beautiful spectacle by sight alone, protecting your babies hearing during a fireworks event is a good idea.
Live Music and Festivals
If you're going to take your baby to a family friendly festival this summer, headphones and ear muffs are a fantastic idea and will keep their hearing safe and give you peace of mind.