Because children are still developing they are especially at risk. Children often play with toys close to their heads in order to explore them. With a noisy toy this can damage your child’s hearing. The risk depends on how loud the toy is and how long the child is exposed to the noise. In Canada toys are regulated under the Hazardous Products act by Health Canada! They have banned all toys that exceed 100 decibels (dB). Even then, there are still toys with the potential for harm. Whistles, for example, can emit 110-135dB. That is as loud as a jet flyover or even a rock concert!

There are some things you can do to minimize the risk:

• Buy toys that can be turned off
• Buy toys that have volume controls
• Listen to the toy before you buy it and decide for yourself
• Remove batteries from excessively loud toys
• Place sticky tape over the speaker if possible and check periodically to ensure it is still securely attached
• Look for noise level labels on toys
• Supervise and teach your children about safe use of noisy toys
• Reduce the amount of time your child spends playing with noisy toys
• Buy toys that don’t make noise like books, puzzles or arts and crafts supplies

Remember if you have to raise your voice above the noise level of the toy it is too loud.