How to make your child's noisy toy less noisy.

How to make your child’s noisy toy less noisy.

Noisy toys are harmful for their hearing.

My siblings and I competitions for the silliest things while we were younger- we competed for who would finish their foods first; who could jump from the down from the bunk bed unscathed; and who’s toy sounded the loudest.

Birthdays and Christmas were gifting periods and we were always excited. We had no safety precautions when it came to toys and as kids, each of us wished for loud toys to win the competition.

When I became a mother, I realized some of my kids’ toys were quite loud & bothered me a lot. I always imagined what it sounded like to my kids.

Not surprisingly, those noisy toys seemed to be among their favorite toys.

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Did you know that loud noises can damage hearing?

In the United States, hearing loss is the third most common chronic physical condition after high blood pressure and arthritis.

Noise levels above 140 dB are not considered safe for any period of time, however brief. For children, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends no exposure above 120 dB.

In the United States, toys are required to meet the acoustic standard set by the American Society of Testing and Materials (ASTM), which states that the sound-pressure level produced by toys shall not exceed 85 dB at 50 cm from the surface of the toy.

Toy sirens and squeaky toys can be as loud as 85 dB, which is as loud as a lawn mower.

To make it worse, many children make the sound danger even worse by holding the toy near their ear and by doing so, 90 dB sound can grow to be as loud as 120 dB. This is as loud as a jet plane taking off and can be painful and cause hearing loss.

While we should consider noise levels while buying toys for our children, we may not always be able to resist that toy your child really wants or stop them from playing with the toy they received.

However, you can minimise the noise exposure using some home hacks. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒peech & 𝐇earing association 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐞𝐜𝐡‐𝐋𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐠𝐞‐𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐀𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐲’𝐬 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 cello𝐭𝐚𝐩𝐞 or safe glue 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐳𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞.

If you are looking to buy toys, be sure to check the Annual Noisy toys list collated by the United States Sight & Hearing Association before buying one. This Little Baby Bongo Drums by The Learning Journey, for babies was top on the noisy toy list and is NOT recommended for use in them.

Also, this app- NIOSH Sound Level Meter App – was created to help assess noise environments at work but can also be used at home.