We’re taking the Dudeling to his first P-Funk concert this weekend. Since he’s only three, we want to protect his hearing for a lifetime of concert and sound enjoyment—so we’d like to get him earmuffs/hearing protection.
I figure with all the parents and shooters on the Board, someone must have had a good or recommendable experience with hearing protection for his small-sized noggin. I’ve done a rudimentary search on Amazon and come up with things like this, but figured it would be a good idea to ask the community about fit and any other concerns that I may have overlooked.
Nice–that’s actually the one that sent me to the Dope asking opinions. Amazon’s page says “The headband conveniently adjusts for maximum comfort for juniors age 13 and up”, while the page you linked to says “fits infants, children, and small adults.” Actually, it looks like they are two distinct items, so that clears things up nicely.
When I was at Lollapalooza in 2008, I was walking near the Kiddie Stage and saw this little girl – couldn’t have been more than 2 or 3 – sitting in her stroller, eyes squinched shut, hands clapped over her ears. The music wasn’t really that loud, but I’m guessing little kids’ ears are more sensitive than mine, which have been damaged from years of going to concerts and races. I tapped the dad on his shoulder and offered a clean, unused pair of those spongy ear plugs – the kind you get at the drugstore for a couple bucks. He looked at me all :eek: and then looked at his kid and said to her, “Honey, do your ears hurt?” She nodded with an adorable little, “Yeth, Daddy.” He thanked me and took the earplugs, rolled 'em up in his fingers and stuck 'em in her ears. “How did you know?” he asked me. “Well, I spotted this little girl with her hands clamped over her ears and I didn’t want her to suffer the same hearing damage I have – she should be able to grow up to enjoy lots and lots of concerts throughout her life.” And then I wandered off to see some other band.
Short answer: I think the cheap spongy things would work just fine, but that link has all manner of earplug you can possibly imagine.
I bought pair of Remington Shooting Muffs for kids when we started taking my son to the race track. They work very well. Any outdoor store that sells shooting equipment should carry them, I got them from Gander Mountain.
Well, sure, but then he’d miss his chance to have seen George Clinton. I’m sure he’ll someday move on to his own musical pastures (and hopefully take us with him), but in the meantime, it’s our responsibility as parents to protect his hearing and expose him to as much musical genius as possible. Plus, given that he was born to Flashlight, it’s pretty much a given that he’s on the Mothership. (It’s not all rock and funk–in the spring we’re taking him to the Kodo Drummers).
I wear those at home all the time (home office; they help concentrate) and love them. Our hesitation is that the Dudeling dances like only a toddler can, so there’s a good chance of them popping out or being more interesting to play with than wear. He’s worn headphones in the past, so we figure they’ve got a good chance.
Had called our local Gander but they were out of stock. It’s what brought my thought to mention gun enthusiasts–probably more of them than there are concert-goers.
…brb…deliveryman at the door…
…yep, they’re here! Took the searches above and ended up with Baby Banz Hearing Protector Earmuffs. That they were Amazon Prime meant we could easily/cheaply get them next day (today) and still have time to look for a replacement if necessary (concert is Saturday).
First response: he loves them and totally gets that they’re for the concert. They seem to fit very well, and expand enough so that they fit on me (albeit pretty tightly). They deaden sound excellently, so as long as they remain comfy we shoudl be good to go!
It seems to me that the spongy in-ear ones are going to be much harder for a toddler to remove than earmuffs, but I guess you know what the Dudeling is capable of and what he’d put up with and what he wouldn’t.
But I do think the spongy in-ear ones would stay in through pretty serious dancing, as long as they come in toddler size. I can’t imagine that earmuffs would stay on any better.
