The arrival of a baby requires preparation and involves numerous purchases, between essential things such as a bed, clothes or even diapers (washable or disposable, it’s up to you) and things that are not necessarily essential but still important like a security blanket. It is not It’s not always easy to know in advance what you will really need and we often rely on the advice of those around us to make purchases for babies. or establish a birth list.
Among the items often recommended are noise-canceling headphones for babies. We asked Dr. Julie Salomon, pediatrician at Necker Hospital and Medical Director at Qare*, to explain to us the benefits of noise canceling headphones and recommendations for choosing them wisely.
The dangers of exposure to noise for babies
We don’t always realize it, but exposure to noise can be very dangerous. According to Dr. Salomon, “30,000 to 50,000 children and adolescents suffer from severe or profound lesions affecting their hearing aid and 1 child in 1,000 becomes deaf before 18 months“. To prevent certain damage to the sensory cells of the ears, it is therefore essential to “protect yourself from loud noises, especially if they are chronic or violent, which can cause hearing loss”.
Attenuating the perceived sound is precisely the mission of noise canceling headphones, whether for adults or babies. In situations with loud sounds like a concert or party with sound amplification, Noise canceling headphones are therefore very useful for protecting toddlers’ ears..
When are noise canceling headphones recommended?
For the pediatrician, it is preferable to protect the ears, especially those of children, once we reach 80 decibels (knowing that speech is emitted between 30 and 70 dB). The surrounding volume can be assessed using free smartphone applications, but it is also necessary observe baby’s behavior : “if he touches his ears, tries to turn his head in his stroller, to bury it, becomes agitated, or even cry or does not seem to hear you, the sound environment may be difficult for him to bear”explains Dr. Salomon.
In any case, she insists thata baby should never be exposed for a long time to noises exceeding 90-95 dB, even if he/she wears headphones. If you are in a situation of loud noise with your child, particularly during a wedding for example, make sure to keep them as far away as possible from the source of the noise and take quiet breaks regularly.
How to choose noise canceling headphones for babies?
The first criterion of choice for noise canceling headphones for babies is the noise reduction level, generally between 23 and 31 dB. The pediatrician, however, warns that it is “prudent to divide by two the value of the noise reduction index put forward by the manufacturer, because the recovery of ears can vary significantly from one child to another, not to mention that he/she will not necessarily agree to wear it all the time”. Other technical criteria must be taken into account: the size of the helmet, which must be adapted to the height of the child, his weight, which must be as light as possiblethe possibility of adjusting it to best adapt to the child’s head, the presence of comfortable shells so that the child accepts wearing it for a long time and the fact that the helmet is easily transportable so that you have with you in case of need.
Good to know: if using noise-cancelling headphones for adults on children’s ears is “better than nothing”, Dr. Salomon insists on the fact that certain so-called “noise attenuators” models use waves to counter noisy waves and are therefore not neutral for toddlers (although we do not yet know what consequences their use may have). Furthermore, she specifies that Conventional headphones are not made to attenuate sounds and are therefore ineffective in protecting children’s ears.
* Qare.fr is a medical teleconsultation platform accessible every day from 6 a.m. to midnight.