According to the American Hearing Research Foundation, when noise is too loud, it begins to kill cells in the inner ear. As the exposure over time to loud noise increases, more and more hair cells are destroyed and as the number of hair cells decreases, so does your hearing. There is no way to restore life to dead hair cells; the damage is permanent.
We all love listening and jamming to our favorite music stations in our cars. Our children have no choice but, to listen and especially those at the tender ages (newborn - five years). Next time you turn on the radio or go to kick up the volume ... remember this ... constant exposure to loud noise in an enclosed environment is harmful to your child and increases over time. Hearing loss is invisible, and the signs of a hearing loss are subtle especially in babies and young toddlers. The following are developmental guidelines for children with normal hearing; if your child is not reaching these milestones, they should see their physician or audiologist to have their hearing tested.
Birth to four months:
-Most babies are startled by sudden loud sounds
-When sleeping in a quiet room, the baby moves or wakes up at the sound of voices or noises
-Babies seem to calm down when they are crying-even for a moment-at the sound of mother's voice
-Babies seem to recognize their mother's voice better than other voices
-At three to four months, babies will turn their head toward a sound
4 to 8 months:
- Babies will turn their head and eyes toward a sound when the sound is coming from outside the child's
peripheral vision
-Babies begin to enjoy the sound of musical toys (rattles, bells, etc.)
-At approximately six months of age, babies begin babbling in response to someone talking to them
8 to 12 months:
-Babies' voices go up and down in intonation when vocalizing
-Babies turn directly toward a soft noisemaker, or to the calling of their name
-Babies seem to enjoy music and respond by listening, bouncing, or "singing" along
12 to 16 months:
- Children understand many words, and speak about 25 single words
18-24 months:
- Children undergo a "name explosion", they begin to understand that everything has a word that goes with
it, and they begin speaking two word sentences. Children know about 100-200 words.
24-36 months:
- Children begin speaking more fully in sentences, and usually know about 200-400 words
NOW ... what about our older children? Over five million kids ages 6-19 show signs of hearing loss. Consider that when they're sitting in front of the TV playing their video games. Instead of telling your child to turn their iPod down because you can still hear the music even with their earplugs in ... hook them up with headphones or earbuds designed to block out background noise. Believe it or not, your child will automatically lower the volume on their own, say researchers who tested four styles.
"Kids using in-ear noise-blocking headphones/earbuds kept their listening levels as low as if they were sitting in a quiet room," says specialists at Children's Hospital in Boston.
And don't worry ... earbuds price between $25 - $40 ... well worth the price of saving your child's hearing and those on the market today are ones they won't refuse to wear. You can check out Sony's MDR-EX55 shown below ... comes in blue, white, pink and black.
We all love listening and jamming to our favorite music stations in our cars. Our children have no choice but, to listen and especially those at the tender ages (newborn - five years). Next time you turn on the radio or go to kick up the volume ... remember this ... constant exposure to loud noise in an enclosed environment is harmful to your child and increases over time. Hearing loss is invisible, and the signs of a hearing loss are subtle especially in babies and young toddlers. The following are developmental guidelines for children with normal hearing; if your child is not reaching these milestones, they should see their physician or audiologist to have their hearing tested.
Birth to four months:
-Most babies are startled by sudden loud sounds
-When sleeping in a quiet room, the baby moves or wakes up at the sound of voices or noises
-Babies seem to calm down when they are crying-even for a moment-at the sound of mother's voice
-Babies seem to recognize their mother's voice better than other voices
-At three to four months, babies will turn their head toward a sound
4 to 8 months:
- Babies will turn their head and eyes toward a sound when the sound is coming from outside the child's
peripheral vision
-Babies begin to enjoy the sound of musical toys (rattles, bells, etc.)
-At approximately six months of age, babies begin babbling in response to someone talking to them
8 to 12 months:
-Babies' voices go up and down in intonation when vocalizing
-Babies turn directly toward a soft noisemaker, or to the calling of their name
-Babies seem to enjoy music and respond by listening, bouncing, or "singing" along
12 to 16 months:
- Children understand many words, and speak about 25 single words
18-24 months:
- Children undergo a "name explosion", they begin to understand that everything has a word that goes with
it, and they begin speaking two word sentences. Children know about 100-200 words.
24-36 months:
- Children begin speaking more fully in sentences, and usually know about 200-400 words
NOW ... what about our older children? Over five million kids ages 6-19 show signs of hearing loss. Consider that when they're sitting in front of the TV playing their video games. Instead of telling your child to turn their iPod down because you can still hear the music even with their earplugs in ... hook them up with headphones or earbuds designed to block out background noise. Believe it or not, your child will automatically lower the volume on their own, say researchers who tested four styles.
"Kids using in-ear noise-blocking headphones/earbuds kept their listening levels as low as if they were sitting in a quiet room," says specialists at Children's Hospital in Boston.
And don't worry ... earbuds price between $25 - $40 ... well worth the price of saving your child's hearing and those on the market today are ones they won't refuse to wear. You can check out Sony's MDR-EX55 shown below ... comes in blue, white, pink and black.
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