What to Know
We have to give some props to the parents who refuse to slow down in any way just because they have a baby or toddler at home. They’re the parents that you see running in the park pushing a jogging stroller or eating out with their partner and their baby on a crowded patio in the summer. Apparently, they’re also the parents you see with their babies attending the World Cup!
If you’ve been on social media lately, you’ve likely seen some of the super cute photos of babies and toddlers taking in the World Cup games with their families while wearing headphones or earmuffs to help block out the noise. Some health experts have recently spoken up about the serious risks involved when take your little one to events in such loud environments.
Lots of parents want to experience exciting sporting events alongside their baby, but is a super loud stadium truly safe for their hearing?
Some experts weigh in.
So many parents love the idea of being able to show their kids photos of themselves when they were little at a really exciting sports event, like a World Cup soccer game, but should it be done at the potential cost of their hearing due to the super loud crowds and booming announcements over the speakers?
Bored Panda spoke to two health experts about the potential risks loud environments pose to a baby’s hearing. A pediatric audiologist, Dr. Brian Filgor, explained that “ears can be damaged by high level sound that lasts for too long. Hearing is damaged not just by the loudness, but by how loud for how long.”
The doctor also warned that “noise-induced hearing loss is cumulative through one’s lifetime,” so that damage can start at a super young age and just continue to accumulate as they develop.
Is it helpful to put noise-canceling headphones or earmuffs on your baby during loud events?
According to the pediatric health experts who spoke to Bored Panda, it is beneficial to put some noise-canceling headphones on your baby while you’re in loud environments or stadium settings to help alleviate some of that potential hearing damage.
Dr. Elizabeth Walker, a hearing loss expert in young children, told the website that children in this younger age demographic are “more at risk from exposure to loud sounds than adults.” Babies have smaller ear canals than adults, so the sound pressure is greater at the ear drum.
She recommends putting protective earwear on your child “any time noise levels exceed 75 – 85 dB SPL,” which is roughly the sound equivalent of a vacuum cleaner or a lawn mower. Keeping that in mind, it’s kind of alarming to think about how much louder a stadium can be than those two familiar household sounds!
Dr. Fligor noted to Bored Panda that if you’re noticing that you need to shout to be able to understand the person next to you, “everyone (including infants) need hearing protection.”
Some parents divulge their honest opinions on whether they would bring a baby to these kinds of events.
Even though you may be desperate to join in on the fun, there are a number of important details to consider when you’re thinking about making plans to head to a loud sports event with your baby.
In this Reddit thread, a parent asks for advice about possibly taking their 7-month-old son along with them to a “big ticket game” they won through a work raffle. It appears that lots of people in the thread are pretty against the idea.
One person shared their thoughts by commenting, “Can you not have someone babysit your baby? The level of noise in those stadiums reach over 125 dB that’s likely to cause permanent hearing damage to a child of that age if sustained over a long period of time which a 90 minute match most definitely will do. If you ignore all of this though at least bring extra milk for your baby and noise cancelling headphones made for small children.”
Another individual couldn’t hide their shock when answering this random question on the internet. They wrote, “Are you serious?? I’m not even a parent and wouldn’t dream of taking a baby to a game. The heat, the noise, the intensity of the people. Why would you do that to your tiny baby?”
Another person simply pointed out the importance of protective hearing wear for kids during times like this. “Those baby noise cancelling headphones,” they wrote.
What are your thoughts on this? Are these kinds of events simply not baby-friendly in the slightest and most should hold off until your child is a little older? Or should parents not be shamed for wanting to live their lives and bring their baby along as long as they have protective headphones for them?
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