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The Baby Muzzle – Convenient or Cruel?

Here’s a scenario: There’s a foreign man asking for help at the hospital. Perhaps he’s injured, or sick, or has a critical condition where he requires medical assistance. The only issue is he doesn’t speak English, so we can’t understand what he’s trying to communicate. A doctor emerges from one of the rooms with some kind of device in his hand.

“Alas! Do not fret. I have the solution” He exclaims whilst showing the crowd a muzzle. The crowd have raised eyebrows, confused as to what this muzzle is for – there is no dog in sight. “We will put this on the man and silence him!”

Does this sound utterly ridiculous to you? It should. Of course this scenario is made up, but in fact a similar idea has emerged in contemporary society. The baby muzzle.

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Sure babies scream …A LOT …and it can get on the nerves of the best of us – but does this warrant covering their mouths the same way we do for dogs who are a threat of biting or attacking others?

According to rebelcircus.com, there’s a Japanese product available called The Baby Muzzle designed for newborns to 3-year-olds. Their purpose, of course, is specifically to silence newborns to 3-year-olds who won’t stop crying (you know, because they’re trying to communicate in the only way they know how.) But is this a fix or merely a misuse of power, silencing our children who are crying for their help?

Similar to the foreign man scenario above, babies cannot talk. They can’t tell us when they’re in pain, when they’re sick, when they’re hungry or when they’re tired. A mother, over time, has the ability to learn what each slightly different cry means for her child, and is able to fulfill the baby’s needs.

DudeIwantthat.com details the Baby Muzzle as “Using the same noise-slashing circuitry found in high-end headphones.” The article goes on to say that the structure of the Baby Muzzle‘s mouth cup “establishes an internal barrier that both blocks high-frequency, and erases low-frequency sound waves.” What this equals is complete, and utter silence, with the exception of a small amount of noise. This is due to the baby’s need to breathe to remain alive (thank god someone thought of the child) so the muzzle uses fabric ventilation and an incomplete seal on the mouth cup.

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Now of course you assume some ignorant single person with no children invented this. You know, one of those grumpy people who typically complains at restaurants, were bullied in school and relate way too much to The Trunchbull. Thankfully when the article was posted to Facebook for opinions to be raised, parents had this to say:

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In my opinion, I don’t know how anyone in their right mind could think it is remotely acceptable to muzzle a human being – especially one that relies on its voice to alert its parents. Maybe instead of covering your child’s mouth, people who take issue with crying babies should look into a different kind of muzzle: a chastity belt so you can’t procreate and give birth to a child that you will ignore and mute.