Tuesday, September 19, 2006

Teething: Parent Hearing Protection

My last post recommended music to help soothe baby while teething. How naive.

When baby won't be soothed and has the wail of a fire engine, you might be interested in

Baby geek seems to be getting all his teeth at once, including molars, and it has been a painful experience for us all. When I realized that holding him and rocking him to sleep results in my right ear ringing for a few hours I resorted to those little foam-insert ear plugs for use with small power tools.

The foam plugs could take the edge off the shriek, but lacked the oomph to bring the banshee wail down to a reasonable decible level. Plus, they get lost easily, are choking hazards for infants, and have a slightly tacky texture that bonds permanently with pocket lint (just in case you thought there was an easy solution to the first two complaints on this list). If you really want, you could continue to use the foam plugs under the muffs for increased noise reduction.

Anyway, these aren't magic; you will still hear your baby cry, but they extend my own patience and ability to hold him close when he's deafeningly loud. They are easy to locate with their flashy yellow color, they hang over a chair back or doorknob, and cannot easily be swallowed by infants.

They're also versatile and useful after the baby outgrows wailing (about age 24). You can also use them to muffle power tool noises and your teenager's choice of music.

$9.99 at my local Rural King.

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