My ds received the coolest gift yet. It's a toy hummer with a ton of buttons for sounds-horns, music, revving tires, etc. The problem with it is that it' soooo loud! It's driving me crazy. I'm also concerned for his little ears. Of course, there is no volume control.

Does anyone else have toys that are loud that don't have volume control? What do you do to muffle the sound? I've made the rule that they can only play with it outside, and I can still hear it as if it were right there with me.

By Kate on Thursday, June 28, 2007 - 01:10 pm:

Put packing tape (I say packing tape because it is so wide you usually don't need more than one piece) directly over the speaker. If it's a bumpy speaker and you can't lay tape across it flatly, squirt hot glue into the speaker holes. Believe me, you will still hear this toy just fine, but it WILL be surprisingly quieter.

By Enchens on Thursday, June 28, 2007 - 04:24 pm:

Hot glue?? Really??

Lemme go find my craft bin!

Thank you

By Kate on Thursday, June 28, 2007 - 05:00 pm:

Let me know if it's quieter. The tape works better, IMO, provided the speaker area is flat.

By Colette on Thursday, June 28, 2007 - 05:29 pm:

I always hated noisy toys like that. Dh's cousin gave my kids when they were 3,7 and 9 furbies, on Christmas Eve, they mysteriously got lost that night.

By Andi on Thursday, June 28, 2007 - 06:28 pm:

I also put tape over the speakers if the toy is crazy loud.

By Reds9298 on Thursday, June 28, 2007 - 07:15 pm:

Ditto on the tape!

By Breann on Thursday, June 28, 2007 - 08:50 pm:

Loud toys make me nuts! Good idea about the tape. I'll have to try that sometime. I usually just take the batteries out, lol.

By Mara on Thursday, June 28, 2007 - 09:44 pm:

My kids would probebly pull the tape right off!! LOL

By Amecmom on Thursday, June 28, 2007 - 11:03 pm:

LOVE loud toys! I hear the toy and I know they are occupied and having fun (read: not into mischeif). My late sil used to tease my husband that he was going to get out kids noisy toys because that's all he got for her kids. When she teased me the sme way, I said, please do. Love noisy toys.
Ame

By Enchens on Friday, June 29, 2007 - 02:35 am:

I don't mind if the toys make noise, don't get me wrong. We have a fair amount of those. This one in particular is far too loud. I don't need their little ears getting damaged this early.

Anyway, had the glue gun but no glue sticks. I put tape over the speaker, ds pulled it right off and proudly announced what he had done. I opened up the car and muffled the speaker with a cloth, put it back together, and put another piece of cloth and tape over it. The darned thing is still too loud. Dh says it's because the sound doesn't just come out of the speaker part. It comes out from all over.

So, the plan is to put up with the toy for now, keeping it as an outdoor toy. When we visit my in-laws next, the kids are bringing the toy with them and leaving it there. (That's where it was originally.) I am also going to encourage the kids to play with it as much as possible, indoors, and warn mil to put in her earplugs. It's my fil's fault that we are going crazy with this thing. He had the nerve to tell dh that if dh couldn't tolerate the noise, he was being selfish. We'll see how much grandpa can tolerate when we visit.

And when I say this toy is loud, I mean it's loud. I was able to hear it from inside the house when I was outside, two doors down.

By Enchens on Friday, June 29, 2007 - 02:37 am:

Oh, our windows were open.

By Ginny~moderator on Friday, June 29, 2007 - 06:21 am:

If you google "noisy toys hearing damage children" you will come up with a number of articles from medical schools and health organizations that specifically address the risk of hearing damage to children with noisy toys. Show those to your FIL.

As for dh being "selfish", unless your FIL never, ever in his life said "turn that down!", he has no room to speak. And frankly, when it comes to things like that, I don't think being "selfish" is a bad thing.

My youngest, at age 40, has some hearing problems because he spent a lot of time at hard rock and similar clubs in his "youth". If the hearing loss continues, he may have to change professions. Hearing damage is no small thing.

By Happynerdmom on Friday, June 29, 2007 - 10:40 am:

I always used duct tape. I hated those noisy toys....

By Pamt on Friday, June 29, 2007 - 11:20 am:

Add me to the "I hate noisy toys" club! As Ginny mentioned, there are more cases of noise-induced hearing loss in children younger and younger. Plus, toys that make noise do not help kids develop language (yes, even including V-Tach and Leapfrog/Leap-pad stuff). Kids should be doing the talking, making car and horn noises and animal sounds, NOT the toy. Glad you found a solution.