I wouldn’t be at all surprised to hear that this has caused at least a few parents, who are of course extremely concerned about protecting their babies, to throw away a great product that helps their little one get the sleep they need just because of some inflammatory headline with a bit of fine print. I try not to let it get to me, but it really does drive me absolutely crazy when media outlets take a perfectly rational study like this one-whose only conclusion is to suggest that the machines should ship with some kind of instructions on how to use them safely-and try to cause a panic in order to draw “numbers” to their website. Warning parents about the potential harm of white noise machines can be done in a calm, non-panic-inducing manner. I would think that common sense would prevent parents from cranking these things to level 11 and leaving them next to baby’s head overnight. Let’s be honest about how many of us can sleep well-if at all-next to a lawnmower or when your husband is making his morning smoothie. If you turn on a blender-level noise machine on maximum volume in your baby’s room and expect them to sleep, I think you need to try that little experiment on yourself first. I’ll admit, that’s worth letting parents know about. So, it sounds like there is potential for hearing damage should you put one of these three sound machines on at full blast and place it right next to your baby’s crib. That’s closer to the level of a garbage disposal or blender and is the point where North American occupational health and safety associations recommends that people wear hearing protection if they’re exposed to it for a full work day. It was found that three of the noise machines tested were capable of putting out more than 85 decibels of white noise. The lull of a quiet conversation is definitely not enough to do any type of hearing damage! I think we all can agree on that! But My Sound Machine Goes Up To Over 85 Decibels! So, using a bit of logic, it would seem that the reason pediatric nurseries are suggested to keep the noise below 50 decibels has more to do with creating a sleep-friendly environment than preventing hearing loss. And a quiet conversation at home is around 50 decibels.
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