In this episode, I bring a very real, soon-to-be-parent concern to the AI: how can I get some sleep when there’s a newborn in the house? It may sound a bit selfish for me to want to get some sleep while my partner is obviously going to be awake, but we both agree that its better my partner is tired and Im not so I can help more. Specifically, I explore the world of noise protection—earplugs, earmuffs, and noise-cancelling devices—to see what really works for blocking out baby cries.
Together, we compare different options, dive into how sound frequencies matter, and even look at whether layering foam earplugs with soft, comfortable earmuffs could be the ultimate solution. Along the way, I challenge the AI to move beyond vague categories and recommend specific products that balance comfort with maximum noise blocking.
It’s a practical and surprisingly detailed conversation that any sleep-deprived new parent might find useful—especially if you’re desperate to reclaim a full night’s rest.
🎙️ Hosted by Paul at Talking to AI — where real people, real problems, and real conversations meet artificial intelligence.
Deep discussions with AI.
For success today, you don't need to know all the answers.
Just have good questions.
Chatting to AI is different from normal speech
and I hope you enjoy listening to the show
whilst getting ideas on how to hone your questions
to get the most out of AI.
My name is Paul.
The live conversations you hear are uncut
although sometimes the AI needs time to think.
In those cases, I've cut out the dead space.
Good afternoon, ChatGP2.
Good afternoon. How's it going?
Let me know if there's anything I can help with today.
Well, I'm going to be having a child soon
and I'm a little bit concerned.
We've talked about it and I think it would be better
if maybe one of us does get a decent night's sleep
and that one would be me
because my partner will definitely be kept awake no matter what.
So I'm going to attempt to try to get some sleep
and in order to do this, I need some kind of ear protection.
But I need to be able to sleep in the ear protection
and I've looked at the different products that are available
and first of all, I have some high level questions
about what to expect from noise blocking or noise cancellation.
So you can have hard ear muffs for noise blocking
like they use for shooting and using industrial equipment.
You can use foam earplugs.
You can use other types of earplugs.
You can also use noise cancelling technology
with headphones and things like that.
So first of all, I was hoping you'd be able
to sort of compare the different types of approaches
and tell me what I could expect from each
in terms of noise cancellation.
Especially thinking about the type of frequencies
that a baby would produce
would be around the 500 to 2 kHz range.
I think that's correct.
So it doesn't have to isolate that sound.
I don't want to be able to hear any sound at all
but I imagine most of the sound is going to come from that range.
So I was hoping you would be able to give me an overview
of the different options that I have
and maybe give me an option
and order them in order of the most effective
to the least effective.
Yeah, so if you could do that, that would be great. Thanks.
Congratulations on the upcoming addition to your family.
That's definitely a smart move to plan ahead for some sleep.
Let's break down the different types of ear protection
and how they perform,
especially for the frequency range of baby sounds.
Foam earplugs, they offer a good level of noise reduction,
usually around 25 to 30 dB, depending on the brand.
They are very effective at blocking out higher frequencies,
which includes the range of baby cries.
They can be comfortable for sleeping
but it depends on the shape of your ear
and how sensitive your canals are.
Drawbacks, they can sometimes get a bit uncomfortable
if one for long periods
and they don't block out low frequency sounds
as effectively as some other options.
Two, soft silicone or wax earplugs,
similar to foam earplugs, usually around 25 to 30 dB.
They mold to the shape of your ear,
providing a good seal.
Often more comfortable for long periods
because they conform to your ear shape.
Drawbacks, they can sometimes lose effectiveness
if they get dirty or if they don't fit perfectly.
Noise cancelling headphones, active noise cancelling,
ANC is very effective at reducing low frequency noises
like hums or droning sounds,
but it's less effective at higher frequencies
like baby cries.
They're generally quite comfortable,
especially over ear models
and can be worn for long periods.
Drawbacks, they don't block out higher frequency sounds as well
and they need batteries or charging.
They also may not be as effective for very loud
or sudden noises.
Over ear passive noise cancelling headphones,
these rely on their physical design to block noise
and they can offer a good level of attenuation,
especially from a mid to high frequencies.
Generally comfortable and can be worn for long periods,
but they can get a bit warm.
Drawbacks, they don't completely block out
all noise and can be bulky.
Ranking in terms of effectiveness
for baby sounds are 100 to 2000 Hz.
One, foam earplugs and soft silicone earplugs,
best for higher frequency noise reduction.
Two, over ear passive noise cancelling headphones,
good at blocking out a broad range of frequencies,
including baby cries, noise cancelling headphones,
great for low frequency sounds,
but not as effective for higher frequencies.
So in your case,
former silicone earplugs would likely be the most effective
for blocking out those baby sounds
if you want a bit more comfort and less fuss.
You could try over your passive noise cancelling headphones.
Let me know if you need more details on any of these.
Yeah, so foam headphones are my go-to at the moment,
but I feel I might need more than that.
Is there a way of layering protection on?
Could I use foam headphones as well as something else?
And you didn't explain what the actual noise blocking effect
of ear muffs would be.
Is it not as effective as foam or is it as effective?
Or could I use those in conjunction with earplugs?
And if that was the case,
what would be the likely effect?
I'm not interested in silicone plugs
because I don't find those very comfortable.
And it sounds like the noise cancelling headphones
won't really work in my use case.
I'm a bit confused about that
because I have seen noise cancelling headphones
marketed specifically for baby noises.
So maybe you can talk to that as well.
Maybe you can find what those headphones are
and find out if that is marketing
or whether they actually could work.
Got it.
Let's dive into these details.
Earmuffs versus foam earplugs.
Earmuffs, or ear defenders,
are designed to block out noise passively
by covering your ears completely.
They typically offer around 20 to 30 dB of noise reduction,
which is comparable to foam earplugs for certain frequencies.
Combining earmuffs and foam earplugs
is actually a well-known method from maximum noise reduction.
This combination can give you an additional
5 to 10 dB of noise reduction
beyond what either alone can achieve.
Layering protection, home earplugs plus earmuffs.
This is the gold standard for noise reduction.
You can achieve around 30 to 40 dB of noise reduction.
It is very effective for those higher frequencies of baby sounds.
The combination is often recommended
for environments with very loud noise.
Those should definitely help with baby sounds at night.
Noise cancelling headphones with baby noises.
Marketing versus reality.
Some noise cancelling headphones are marketed specifically
for babies or for parents to block out baby noise.
But they usually emphasize low frequency noise reduction.
They do go up, but they might not be as effective
as foam earplugs for higher frequencies.
They also may not provide as much attenuation
as the combination of earplugs and earmuffs.
If you want a more comprehensive solution,
layering foam earplugs will likely give you the best results.
If you want, I can also help you find specific products
that are known to be effective for this purpose.
Just let me know.
Okay, yeah, so I've...
No worries.
Yeah, so I've seen a product in Norway called Soundcore.
And it says it's for sleeping.
They're Sleep A20 Bluetooth earbuds.
For sleep easier, sleep longer.
I'm wondering if they're more attuned for snoring,
which would be low frequency than other sounds.
Can you tell me what you think about these headphones,
whether you think they would be effective?
The Soundcore Sleep A20 earbuds
are indeed designed to help you sleep better.
By blocking out noise, they focus on snoring action,
which is generally a lower frequency sound,
so they might not be as effective for higher frequency sounds like.
Turn the 500 to 2000 Hertz range.
The A20 model uses a noise masking system
that's more effective for lower frequencies
and doesn't have active noise cancellation.
However, there's a newer model called the Soundcore Sleep A30,
which does include active noise cancellation
and adaptive snoring masking.
That might operate.
So yeah, okay.
All right, but that sounds like the frequencies
would not be what I'm looking for.
Okay, all right.
So the problem with them over the head ear muffs
for noise blocking is that they are very,
going to be uncomfortable to sleep in.
Are there any kind of soft options
that also do a reasonable job of blocking sound?
Because I'm thinking, you know,
if I could layer those on with some foam ear plugs,
that might be the best approach.
But I don't think I'm going to be able to sleep
in conventional ear muffs
just because of the hard shell
and the size of them.
So do you have any suggestions
for something that I could use instead?
And can you tell me,
obviously it's going to be a compromise
because I understand that the hard shell
does help to block sound.
So if it's a soft shell,
it might not be as good,
but I want to know how good they are
and what the likely noise blocking effect
of these other ones are.
And if using them in conjunction
with the sponge ear plugs in my ears,
will actually make any difference?
Absolutely.
Comfort is definitely key when you're trying to sleep.
So let's look at some softer options.
Soft ear muff alternatives.
One, sleep headphones with noise reduction.
These are typically made of soft,
flexible fabric and have built-in speakers
that can help mask noise with white noise.
No, we've already decided that noise reduction
is not going to work
because the frequencies are not going to be
the right frequencies.
I need noise blocking soft muffs
that I can put over the top of foam ear plugs.
And the noise reduction won't work particularly
because I will have foam ear plugs in my ears as well.
Got it.
Thanks for clarifying that.
So you're looking for something that adds a bit more noise
blocking on top of your foam ear plugs,
but still is comfortable enough to sleep in?
Right.
No problem.
Here are a couple of options
that might work well for you.
One, soft foam ear muffs.
These have a cushioned, flexible design
that can conform to the shape of your head and ears,
making them much more comfortable
or sleeping than the hard chill versions.
And before you move on to the next one,
can you tell me what the noise reduction effect
will the noise blocking effect
of those of the two options are?
Absolutely.
Got it.
Let me break down the noise blocking effectiveness
for these two options.
One, soft foam ear muffs.
These generally offer around 20 to 30 dB
of noise reduction,
depending on the quality of the cushioning.
This level of attenuation is quite effective
for blocking out higher frequency sounds
like baby cries,
when used in conjunction with foam ear plugs.
Soft, flexible ear muffs.
These tend to offer a slightly lower noise reduction,
typically around 15 to 25 dB,
because the cushioning is softer and not as dense as...
So I need a specific product to talk about
rather than general categories.
So can you find the best example
of each one of these that you can find
and then we can talk about them?
When I say best example,
I'm looking for comfort
and I'm looking for a high amount of noise blocking.
Here are a couple of great options
that should meet your criteria.
One, max ultra soft foam ear plugs.
These ear plugs have a high noise reduction rating
of about 33 dB,
making them very effective at blocking out noise.
They're made of ultra soft foam,
which makes them comfortable to wear
for extended periods including sleeping.
Two, loop dream ear plugs.
These are designed specifically for sleep,
a mighty good level of noise reduction.
20 to 25 dB, and they're weak from...
You're not listening to me charge you.
Look, I don't need products that are ear plugs
because I will be using foam ear plugs
and I have a good source of foam ear plugs, right?
So they will be in my ear.
What I need is ear muffs to go over the top of my ear plugs
and they need to be comfortable
and they need to be noise blocking,
not noise reducing.
So I don't need any noise cancelling technology.
I just need good noise blocking
and I need two specific options
that are flexible, comfortable,
muffs to put over the top of my ears
that will have a high degree of noise blocking
and I want to know what that degree of noise blocking is.
Thanks for clarifying.
Here are two great options for comfortable soft ear muffs
that you can wear over your foam ear plugs.
One, 3M Pelter Optima 98.
These ear muffs have a noise reduction rating
and are of about 27 dB,
which is quite effective at blocking out noise,
especially when layered over foam ear plugs.
They're lightweight and have soft cushioned ear cups,
making them comfortable for long periods including sleep.
Howard Late Lightning L3.
These ear muffs have an amount of about 30 dB,
offering excellent noise attenuation,
especially when combined with foam ear plugs.
They're designed to be comfortable with a padded headband
and soft ear cushions,
making them suitable for extended wear.
Both of these options should give you the extra noise blocking you need,
all still being comfortable enough to sleep.
Let me know if you'd like more details on either of these.
That sounds great.
Can you send me those in the chat?
Thank you very much.
If you could send me those in the chat, that'd be great.