Music for Young Ears

Portable music players have advanced so much in recent years that we are listening to them a lot more frequently and for longer periods of time. Improved battery life, rechargeable batteries and increased storage space allow us to listen for hours on end. This can lead to irreversible hearing loss if the listening volume is set too high.

This is especially important for children to realize as they may not understand the damage that can happen. As well, they are listening to music in noisier atmospheres which leads to increased listening levels to overcome the background noise.

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has adapted the government standards for workplace noise to say that the safe listening levels is 90 decibels for 8 hours a day. If the listening level is raised by 3 decibels, the safe exposure time drops by half. By contrast, research has found that an iPod at peak levels is 115 decibels which is equivalent to sandblasting or a loud rock concert.

Apple provides a volume limit control on their iPod product line to allow you to set the maximum volume for your child’s iPod and lock it with a combination so they cannot change it. Also, Apple has applied for a patent that will further help control the volume level on their iPods by reducing the volume over time during a listening session.

Noise canceling headphones will help offset the need to increase the volume while listening in noisy surroundings. Combined with setting the max listening volume, you can help protect the young ears in your household.

Cold Medication and Kids

It is estimated that over 7,000 children are admitted to the emergency room each year due to overdose or adverse reactions to over-the-counter cold medication according to the CDC. According to this Reuters article two thirds of the cases involved children that took the medication without supervision.

Strangely, the article describes that these medications have not been proven to benefit young children:

Evidence suggests parents want to give these drugs, including cough suppressants, antihistamines and decongestants, to their children, even though they have never been shown to benefit young children.

The fear is that even if these medication are taken off the market, that parents may try to substitute adult medications in their place according to the CDC. The issue, then, is with the packaging. The article goes on to say:

Companies that make the drugs might consider changes to packaging to keep small children from getting into the medications, which are often flavored and colored to make them more appealing, Schaefer’s team said.

Another measure is that parents should not encourage their children to take the medication by describing it as tasting like candy. This may lead to children taking the medication unsupervised. And, obviously, you should keep all of your medication out of the reach of children.

Pets and your Newborn

As we are expecting our first child we began wondering how our two cats, Nikki and Dakota, will take to having a new addition to the family. Nikki is a crotchety old lady and Dakota is blind and curious, but we were mostly concerned that Nikki would use the crib as her new bed. So that got us to do some research.

Here are some good tips I found:

• Keep your pets nails trimmed (if applicable, obviously!)
• Introduce your pets to your newborn gradually. Perhaps greeting your pets without the baby first. Then acclimating the pets to their new friend over the next few days.
• Be sure to spend quality time with your pets, make sure they don’t feel neglected.

And to keep the cat out of your baby’s crib you can place tinfoil over the mattress to teach your cats prior to bringing home the baby. Or BabyCenter.com readers recommend using a crib tent.