Recommendations on ear protection for the little ones

[gran racing]

Without getting into the crazy expensive Bose noise reduction headphones but something better than rubber ear plugs, anyone have any suggestions on ear protection for very young children while at the track?

[shwah]

We bought some small adjustable shooting muffs from Wal-Mart for our little ones.

[titanium]

I purchased these from Harbor Freight for my daughter last season when she was 3 years old.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=94256

She wont leave the motorhome without them now.:D

[dickita15]

I remember Darrel Waltrip saying back when his daughter was young they used silly putty.
Does kind of sound like a “you might be a redneck if” joke.:)

[JoshS]

I'll have to ask my wife exactly where we got these, but she did a ton of research.
EDIT: Here's where we got them: http://www.envirosafetyproducts.com/category/peltor-kids-ear-muffs-children-ear-muffs.html

Here's our son at 3-1/2 months old at his first race weekend:

http://www.godoggoracing.org/files/hearing.jpg

[gran racing]

Too f-n cute!! Awesome picture Josh. What happened? Did you not finish first? (I know, he most likely pooped, LOL.)

Thanks guys, this really helps. An order will be on its way shortly. :D

[Kolin Aspegren]

Sweet photo Josh, I believe his first race resulted in victory right. 24 hours of Lemons no less.
Man what fun we had that weekend.


k

[JoshS]

Hey Kolin,

His first race did result in victory, but this was a couple months before LeMons. He'd already seen daddy go 5-0 by LeMons! But none of them was quite as much fun as that was.

But I'm glad we (I) didn't do any of the other LeMons races. They all sounded like they weren't nearly as much fun.

For those wondering, this is what Kolin is talking about (http://www.lemonlappers.com):
http://www.lemonlappers.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/victory331.jpg

[x-ring]

Silencio used to make a muff type for kid-size heads. If not anymore, Peltor would be my next choice as their design is kid-friendly.

[Greg Amy]

Look into aviation-related products. There's a lot of folks that take their children up in small airplanes, and I've seen several things for kids.

[JamesB]

Over the ear is the only way to go. Out of my two nieces only one could handle the kids size foam ones. They are not that hard to find, you just have to look at shooting supplies. These are ear muffs for kids like the remington NRR 22.

[MMiskoe]

Over the ear type for sure. We tried different types of plugs, including 'silly putty' like stuff for swimmers, but it didn't work. Adult sized over the ear type work fine for my two kids. Its kind of like the bike helmet - train them to wear them from the get go and they will do so w/o complaint.


Remember its as much a duration as it is volume for what we do (really loud stuff is just loud regardless of how long you are exposed to it). If it is only a short duration at 95 db, there is not much risk of problems.

[67ITB]

Dave,

I got a set for my daughter last year from Hoffman's on the Berlin Tpk. just after Ruth's Chris, and before Dunkin Donuts.

they are the over the ear type, child size, and I think they were like 10-15 bucks.

I often wear the foam ones at work because they fit under a kevlar helmet, and I don't like them, so I cant imagine a kid keeping them in for any length of time. I have some of the Bose noise canceling ones and they are AWESOME, But I would not let my 2year old anywhere near them. But those things work great. total silence like I have never experienced

Matt Bal

[gran racing]

Matt, sounds like I should get a set of those Bose ones for my evening naps. What hunny, I didn't hear him crying? LOL

[cooleyjb]

Over the ear is nice however there are often 2 problems with them for little ones.

1. They don't fit the child and don't seal around the air and nothing.

2. The kid pulls them off all day long.

AOSafety makes some child sized over the ear that fit decently well on kids 12 months and older. Much smaller and they don't get a very good seal. A google search on "Child Ear Protection" is how I found them before.

Kids Swimming ear plugs have worked great for my son last season. They did a great job reducing the noise, fit great and he couldn't get them out. They can be found at Walgreens.