Ask HN: How do you block high-pitched child wailing on flights? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: How do you block high-pitched child wailing on flights?

4 pointsunsupp0rted19 comments

I have AirPods Pro and they're amazing and terrible.

Amazing at blocking engine hum and low-pitched adult conversation, but noticeably terrible at blocking high-pitched child wailing and laughter.

A kid in the seats behind me cuts through the AirPods Pro like they're not even there.

What's your go-to solution for blocking high pitched kids, without giant construction earmuffs? I'm looking for something I can pack in an already overpacked laptop bag.

Thanks!

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Last time I had this issue I used earplugs (Howard Leight MAX-1) with my Bose QC 35s over them playing white noise.

Well, you could decide to have kids of your own. I used to really be annoyed by such things, but once we had a child, things just changed. Nowadays, I just feel sympathy for the kids and their poor parents, and then tune them out.

I'm looking for more realistic solutions to the noise of children on planes.

"Expose yourself to the same noise at home for every waking moment for the next decade and you won't notice it on planes anymore" isn't a realistic solution.

I know it was a tangent... but that's what's interesting about HN.

Actually, just babysit for a few months and you'll get there, it doesn't take a decade. It's not the exposure that does it, it's the empathy you gain that does it.

I'm happy to get unexpected solutions to a problem on HN; that's what we're all here for.

This reply though shows a fundamental misunderstanding of what I'm asking. Children irritate me and I want to block them out to the maximum degree that I am able. I have no interest in making any, or in taking care of somebody else's.

Talk about lack of empathy. "I mean, how could anybody not like children? They probably just haven't been exposed to children enough."

If somebody came here asking how to avoid street dogs in developing countries, the answer wouldn't be "spend lots of time with street dogs".

See... you're in that same place I was in before I got married and had a child. Children are egotistical little noisy monsters, scared of random things, and needy, needy, needy... I get it.

It's not the amount of exposure to kids, it's the relationship during said exposure, that forces empathy for those little monsters upon you, and your appreciation of your parents goes through the roof.

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As for blocking out the noise, industrial hearing protection is your friend. I'd go for the foamy things that expand inside your ears from 3M.[1]

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Also, you're in a recliner, flying through the air at 600 miles per hour, with your needs attended to by someone paid to do so... putting up with a temporary crying kid with a desperate parent trying to comfort them is waaaayyy better than walking. ;-)

[1] https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/p/c/ppe/hearing-protection/earpl...

Okay, to summarize:

Q: How should I block out kids?

1. Kids are either great, or are terrible but interacting with them is great, or it's terrible but interacting with them makes you a better person.

2. Use earplugs

3. You're lucky to be in an airplane at all, so shut up and deal with it

By Reddit standards talking past one another is par for the course, but by HN standards this is an uncharacteristically frustrating exchange.

You’re rather quick to criticize, but I don’t see you thanking anyone who provided a better earplug recommendation. You didn’t need to continue to interact if you already knew you were dead-set on not expanding your empathy horizons.

> Well, you could decide to have kids of your own.

Any ruin my life? No thanks.

3M 1100 earplugs and some over-ear ANC headphones.

Pay for business class.

That only works if people don't bring children into first/business class, which of course they do with regularity.

Back when I traveled weekly I used etymotic head phones. They are without a doubt the best sounding and noise dampening headphones I have ever had. https://www.etymotic.com/product/music-pro-elite/

Other than that the Bose over the ear noise canceling head phones are good but are noticeably inferior in all regards to the etymotic.

People can fly children in premium class but I rarely see that.

I use Sony noise canceling over the ear with industrial-quality earplugs. Reduces most noise, from the engines and cockpit announcements to screaming children, and influencers talking about Bali and crypto for three hours.

There should be a rule keeping cockpit announcements to a minimum. On my last Low-cost 4-hour flight in Asia, about 30 minutes of it was announcements in 3 languages.

Thanks for the weather update at the destination, captain. Oh the duty free sales will start soon? The duty free sales have started? The paid drink service will start soon? The paid drink service has started?

Someone on the team is retiring? I don't need this information.

Also recommend Etymotic. I've had a pair for like a decade. High quality audio and dead silent. Same design as actual in ear hearing protection equipment.

I have cheap wired etymotic earphones with fairly good sound isolation. They come with a case and I always carry two pairs of earplugs in the case.

A $0.50 pair of earplugs guarantees a quiet restful experience free of loud engine noise and screaming babies.

I’m surprised they are not offered on flights.

Good suggestion. I also have wired etymotic earphones with the rectangular foam tips. They're good at passive sound isolation, but they don't block high pitched kid screeching too well. Better than AirPods Pro though!

Cheap $0.50 earplugs are roughly on par with those foam tips. They're good at blocking low pitched engine noise.

A pillow.

Or a rolled sock...some airlines even provide the two of them, for the odd wailing little couple

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