from nbcnews

?An Audiologist at Beltone, Dr. Rebecca Younk says the tools used to help children sleep, can be too loud.

“A couple of years ago, research was done looking at some infants sound machines because they wanted to make sure that these machines were safe for infants.

What we know is sound machines are great, right? They help with sleep. They help with fussy babies. But we also want to make sure they’re safe for their hearing. And they found that at certain distances, at certain levels, a lot of the sound machines were actually too loud and were unsafe for infants. And so now we want to make sure that parents can use these machines safely”, she said.

Audiologists aren’t saying to get rid of the sound machines, but to make some healthy changes.

“You want to use sound machines to help babies sleep, but you want to make sure that they’re not inside the crib or near the baby’s head. Safe levels are usually at the minimum, moderate level, not at the maximum level. And keeping those machines 1 to 7 feet away from the baby. You want them at the lowest level you can to help with sleep and fussiness. But not so loud that they have potential dangerous impacts on their hearing”, said Dr. Younk.

Everyone’s hearing can be affected with the use of a sound machine, but doctors says children are more at risk.

“For children with the smaller ear canals that if you’re playing loud or sounds right near their ear, that you can get an extra little bit of an amplification to it because they have a smaller ear canal resonance or ear canal volume, which can actually increase the intensity of the signal”, said Dr. Manke.

***Doctor say signs of hearing loss in children can include delays in language and speech development as well as educational delays.***

***There were six sound machines looked at for this investigation. Dr. Younk says three of them exceeded recommended audio limits."***



Do you think Shannan knew the constant rain machines 8-12 hours per day were harming her kids and delaying their language and speech?

Sound and noise machines used for sleep can cause hearing damage for children