One-Yard Wonders projects

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

How Loud Does a Child Scream?


Out of curiosity, I just looked up how loud a screaming child is -- you know, for your ears. Can your child actually deafen you with their screeches and screams?

According to the American Tinnitus Association (ATA) a person's hearing will be damaged when exposed to sounds of over 85 decibels (dB) for more than eight hours. The noise of a screaming child is about 110 dB. The recommended maximum exposure at this level is about half an hour.

To put this into perspective, a lawn mower or chainsaw is 105 dB, while the soothing sound of a summer rain is a mere 50 dB.

Hurricane Bo is currently coming in at 3,010 dB. At least that's how it sounds to me -- and I'm a floor below him! Poor Shawn drew the short straw tonight, he had to take Bo upstairs, change his diaper, wrestle him into jammies and put him in bed -- all with a human lawnmower trying to tear him to pieces and deafen him.

The terrible twos. They were terrible with Mazy, but they are terrifying with Bo. Only 10 months to go until the cooperative threes...

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