Headphone / Noise cancelling for Toddler

[Amby123]

Hi everyone,
I believe my 3 year old son would benefit form noise cancelling headphone or even just headphones that play music. He LOVES music but he covers his ears often at certain sounds (Door shutting, high pitch sounds.. certain voices). I've tried the Muffy noise cancelling headphone but he won't put them on and just screams if I try to put them on him. I've tried AirPods but he won't put them close to his ears. Any suggestions on ways of helping this? Or a type of headphone that might work for him? I was looking at the toque ones.. he does wear toques just fine. He gets very unregulated when his baby sister cries.. he screams, covers his ears and cries as soon as she does to the point it's difficult for me to take care of them together so I was really hoping there might be something to help him.

For some background, he is ASD level 2. He's quite a happy fellow but does get upset easily with things like transitions, noises or if he does not get his way (well of course! lol). Just trying to help my little man as much as I can. We do see an OT therapist but honestly... she's not the greatest at making suggestions. She did suggest the headphones but did not have other suggestions when I explained how upset he gets with these sounds.

He also screams and tries to slap when transitioning or if someone takes his toys away. Again, not much help from OT. Right now I physically just stop him from hitting (gently of course) and say It's ok... hug hug hug and he hugs himself. That does seem to be helping, sometimes I see him hugging himself but now he sometimes hits himself too my poor little man. I'm not sure if there's a more proper way to handle this.

Thanks in advance

 

[Judge]

May be an impractical notion presently given the market for children's (let alone toddlers) headphones. A market that hopefully incorporates an elevated amount of wear and tear on potentially fragile devices to begin with.

Note the list of such products, in which none of them offer noise-cancelling features. Leaving only the most effective- and expensive ones on the market, dominated by Bose and Sony. ($300-$400)

7 Kids' Headphones That Will Make Long Flights & Holiday Break So Much Easier

With a toddler in mind, I'd be looking at anything without any wires or connections at all. (They've always been the weak, most fragile point of most earphones and some headphones).

That said, you might investigate into the possibility of manufacturers of ear protectors for children, which have no electronics, but effectively block out most (but not all) sounds. Usually with noise reduction ratings (NRR) that are hopefully beyond -30 dB. And not expensive in comparison..

Yet much of that equation lies with a very tight, sometimes uncomfortable fit, which may not work for some if not most kids. Unlike headphones given their strength and durability, you can often bend- even "manhandle" them to loosen their fit. Though any time you loosen them too much, you're letting sound in as well. It requires a bit of tweaking, but I can't imagine getting helpful feedback from a three-year old.

(I wear them whenever there are very loud and sustained noises directly outside my apartment building, such as the landscapers using leaf blowers. And of course, at any firing range.)

 

[the_tortoise]

Sometimes active noise-cancelling headphones (they create soundwaves matching ambient noise to cancel them out - are always electronic) ctually create more noise (horribly horribly painful noise), in my experience.

But it sounds like you are talking about one of these (which are passive noise-reduction hearing protection like @Judge suggested)?

Some thoughts:

1. The two styles of Alpine Muffy ear defenders above...which does he hate? It may be that he would tolerate one style but not the other, as each one would feel quite different on the head...so maybe try the style you haven't tried yet, if it would fit his head?

2. He may dislike the squeezing feeling -- I own a pair of Walkers ear defenders that are very much like the top-of-head-headband style of Alpine Muffy ear defenders, like this:

They are all meant to squeeze/squish inwards to create a tight seal against the wearer's head to most effectively block out noise -- but that sensation is quite intense, and it may be why your son hates them....

You might try buying him ear defenders made for bigger kids or even adults, as they would block noise somewhat still would not squeeze against his head so much

3. Despite his sound sensitivity, it might seriously freak him out to be unable to hear normally....Also, he may be overwhelmed by how much louder all the inside-his-body and especially inside-his-head sounds become when the ambient noise around his is blocked out and the inner body sounds are kind of blocked in, and seem louder because of the reduction in outside-self noise

4. If you can get him headphones (ideally colorful soft bluetooth ones made for kids -- and maybe if possible let him choose them and if possible even see if you can find a store where they would let him try them on, so you'd know if hates them before buying and also so that he could feel in control of what goes on his head -- could be very important to a sensory defensive child (I say this is as a sensory defensive adult who was like your son when I was a toddler -- have extreme hyperacusis still, and tactile hypersensitivity)

5. Maybe different styles -- he may be unable to tolerate a headband at the top of his head but would be okay with the kind that go around the back of his head, or even with earbuds that have loops that go over the ears (although I suspect the latter may not be appropriate until he's older).

6. Does his OT do auditory integration therapy with him? If so, is he okay with it or does he hate it? If he hates it, that might be why he doesn't tolerate any earmuff style headphones -- because he thinks they will torture him like the special headset used of AIT with the bone conduction thing....

My OT tried auditory integration therapy with me, and it was TORTURE. She had to stop it very fast...I declined to ever try it a second time (The memory still sends shivers down my spine...I cannot express enough how awful it was.)

I want to believe that all OTs are sensitive to distress in their littlest clients but if yours is doing AIT with your son and he is freaking out in distress because of it, and she does not respond appropriately to stop -- please consider asking her to stop the AIT because seriously, traumatically aversive sensory overload experiences may not desensitize him -- they may just make it worse instead.

7. If you get him over-ear headphones thst play music, let him choose the music -- try to find a child-friendly set that has a traditional old-school volume dial or volume control buttons as well as play/pause (etc) on the earpieces.

8. Maybe try putting the ear defenders over top of a thin toque -- if it not the sudden reduction in normal sound freaking him out but something about the sensation of the ear defenders, it could be proprioceptive (pressure) or tactile -- some fabric acting as a cushion between the ear defenders and his skin might reduce both unpleasant proprioceptive and/or unpleasant tactile sensation and make it more tolerable for him.

Good luck!