Research made by AIMS public health in 2019 says that small eustachian tubes in infants or toddlers tend to bend or be damaged due to the acute and chronic sound of airplanes. This damage leads to the discomfort of the middle ears. Even a little rash in the middle ear can be responsible for permanent membranous damage in the future.
Do babies need headphones on airplanes? Believe us, they need it. For the sake of their safe hearing and smooth traveling, they need headphones. While packing a lot of things when traveling with babies, don’t forget to pack one pair of the best baby headphones for air travel.
What is the Difference With or Without Headphones During Air Travel?
A massive pressure change can be seen inside the cabin and the outside world during the take-off and landing of airplanes. This is due to the rapid elevation changes. Infants and toddlers who don’t have much knowledge of balancing pressures experience acute and lingering ear pain.
During taking off and landing, it is recommended to give babies something to suck. This helps in balancing the pressures. Apart from this, hearing protection headphones made for canceling outside noise are a must-have if your child is under 48 months old.
How Do Hearing Protection Headphones Work?
During the take-off and landing of airplanes, 110 decibels of sound are expected to emerge. This can cause severe damage to the hearing capability of infants or babies. Concerning this, the headphone market decided to put their efforts into making headphones, especially for hearing protection.
These hearing protection devices are often called HPD. HPD has a whole different mechanism than ordinary headphones. Different types of HPD have different efficiency and comforts but they all work on the same principle. Which is reducing the outside noises.
Types of hearing protection devices (HPD):
Following are the different types of hearing protection devices.
1. Earmuffs:
Earmuffs are more like ordinary headphones but just by their looks not functioning. There are two on-ear earcups with a headband. The earcups are padded with sound-absorbing material like soft foam or stuffy linings.
The paddings embedded in earcups are structured symmetric to the case of the outside ear or pinna. This helps in covering the ear completely with no spaces left. And they have active noise cancellation too. Most earmuffs have 90 Db of noise reduction. Therefore, considered as the most recommended HPD device to use while traveling.
2. Earplugs:
Ear plugs are another HPD device that works wonders in hearing protection. If you are thinking about which HPD device works best, the answer would be earplugs.
However, they are not highly recommended for infants because of their tight fit. The ears of newly born babies are soft and sensitive; we can’t insert tight earplugs in their ears for too long. If you have a toddler, you can go with them. There are some kinds of earplugs.
i. Pre-molded earplugs:
They have already made structure and are ready to wear. But it is not always the size you want.
ii. Formable earplugs:
These types of earplugs have detachable foams to ensure complete isolation according to the size and case of your outside ear.
iii. Custom earplugs:
Custom earplugs can be purchased from the audiology clinic and customized to the exact shape of your ears. If you are a frequent traveler and have to deal with loud noises, this one-time investment will serve you the best.
FAQs:
i. How do I protect my babies’ ears when flying?
To stabilize the in and out pressure, give them something to suck. For hearing protection, earmuffs or earplugs are recommended.
ii. Do babies’ ears hurt on planes?
Yes, they hurt. The main cause is the rapid changes of pressure in or out of the cabin.
iii. What age do babies need headphones?
Children ranging from 6 months to teenagers require earmuffs for the protection of ears during traveling.
Conclusion:
Traveling with an infant or toddler is not an easy task. You need to deal with every small detail to make your trip easy and comfortable. While packing stuff, most people leave the care of hearing loss with the thought that do babies need earmuffs for flying. They think that it is not that mandatory.
But unfortunately, they are wrong. The acute and scorching noise of taking off and landing of aeroplane is enough to damage the hearing of babies in just 90 seconds. Several pieces of research made by experts emphasize the need for hearing protection devices during traveling, especially for babies.
