Kids love noisy toys. Parents may hate them but kids love anything that bangs, squeals or makes an annoying sound. Naturally, loving kids we like to see them happy so we buy noisy toys for them. This may not be such a good idea.
Sounds travel as pressure waves. Our Secondary School physics taught us that as you compress a pressure wave it actually becomes magnified.
You may be asking what this has to do with hearing. Well, children’s ears are much smaller than ours. This is especially true of the ear canal that funnels sound to the eardrum. That means what is loud to us as adults, is very loud to a young ear.
Noise-induced hearing loss is accumulative in nature. Rather than coming on suddenly it slowly gets worse as throughout our lives damage is done a little at a time. Each time the mechanisms are impacted by a loud noise a little more damage occurs. It may be minute in nature but like drops of water in a bucket they add up over time.
Sound is measured in decibels (dB). Normal conversations are usually in the 60-70 dB range and anything over 85dB is considered to be damaging. Many of the most popular toys on the market far exceed this level reaching decibel levels in excess of 110 dB. In that rang they would only be safe for an adult ear for less than a minute. Think of their effect on a child’s hearing.
Normally, here at ‘Falls of Sound’, we try to bring you good news and keep things upbeat. Sometimes though, the truth isn’t nice and our first duty is to keep you well informed. By keeping in mind the potential danger that loud children’s toys can present to a child’s hearing, we are arming you with information that can help you protect their future hearing.
For more information on this or any other hearing concerns, you might have, contact us. We are always here to help you.