How To Silence Noisy Toys?

emberswift — Tue, 22 Dec 2015 07:00:00 +0000

Lately, my kids have been given too many toys that make noise. They love them, of course. My son’s favourite is a swirling plastic glowworms on wheels that sings eardrum-piercing Chinese songs. My daughter favours the fuzzy fake puppy dog that wiggles his mechanical bum and moves forward all while barking a supposedly cute melody.

Late at night when they’re asleep, I have been known to remove batteries.

The problem is that my nearly four-year-old now knows that these toys require batteries. I can no longer tell her that the toy is broken without her first removing the battery casing and proclaiming that “It just needs batteries, Mommy!” Recently, she actually asked me this question: “Did you take them out again, Mommy?”

Another tactic has been to take them over to my mother-in-law’s apartment where the kids sometimes spend time. I tuck them into the bag I’m carrying and then pull them out when we arrive, proclaiming that they really wanted to play with them and so they just had to come with us.

The problem with this approach is how attached the kids get to the rationale, which means that they just have to bring them home again because they’re so fun, mommy!

Another friend suggested simply “leaving” them outside for other kids in the complex to “discover” but I worry that my kids will look at me with big watery eyes and ask me what happened to their little glowworm or puppy dog. Then I’ll be forced to admit that I heartlessly abandoned these toys for the sake of my aching eardrums and general sanity.

What do the good parents do?

(Comments greatly appreciated!)

Photos: Ember Swift

What Did You Say?

Wed, 25 Aug 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Boston.com lately reported that as many as one in five teenagers are suffering hearing loss characteristic of a 50 of 60 year old.

After testing teenagers on ability to hear a range of quiet whispers, researchers found the resulting ratio to be a third more in comparison to teens in the early 1990s. Though the hearing loss observed relatively slight in contrast to hearing in our everyday lives, Director of Diagnostic Audiology of Children’s Hospital Boston Brian Fligor says that their hearing will only steadily worsen. By the time the teenagers tested are in their 40s, their hearing may have progressed to causing troubles listening in conference calls, he says.

Though the direct reasons as to why the number of teens suffering from hard of hearing is increasing are unknown, researches are looking into ever omnipresent cell phones and music listening devices in today’s world for a link.

Nevertheless, Fligor recommends teens to become aware of ear protection and wear ear plugs around loud noises. They don’t necessarily have to put away the iPod but should keep the volume to a minimum and limit listening times. He suggests parents to take their children to an audiologist in order to learn if there is already damage to their hearing early on. Parents should educate themselves and their children on how to prevent further damage.

In a New York Times report, Head of Audiology at Hofstra University Levi Reiter, wants everyone to know that the dangers of hearing loss applies (if not more severely) to infants and toddlers as well. Because the ear canals of young children are smaller than that of adults, sounds heard by them are up to 20 decibels louder. She warns that because of this, infants hear dangerous noise levels at an even higher frequency which may affect language development. Earplugs are not recommended for young children as they are small enough to be put in the mouth and pose a risk of choking. Instead, protective ear muffs especially made for young children, like these from Baby Banz, can be worn. Nancy Nadler from the Center of Hearing and Communication adds that when going to a noisy environment, it may be best to leave the baby at home.

Details of the study on teenagers published in the Journal of American Medical Association are available here.

Photo by woodleywonderworks of Flickr.

hearing – Beijing Kids

How To Silence Noisy Toys?

What Did You Say?