|
Volume of the heartbeat was fine if the chest piece is placed right but if the chest piece bumps against anything else, it'd get really loud. Are all stethoscopes like this.The ear tips are too tight and doesn't fit well no mattter how I adjusted it. Those hurt the ears. Was purchased for my 2 yr old but I guess with the uncomfortable fit and loudness, I won't be letting her play with this at all. Will check out something else.
The results, in my opinion, are mixed.First, this is not the most sensitive of stethoscopes. I can't leave the stethoscope in my ears for more than a minute or so. Learning Resources Stethoscope / B00004WKU2When my heart starting skipping beats unexpectedly due, apparently, to chronic stress, I decided I needed a stethoscope on hand for quick assessments of my heart beat during my palpitation periods. Hearing loss is permanent and should not be flirted with). I can't imagine that this would be a particularly sturdy toy - if I have to keep the chewy rubber away from inquisitive cats, I'd have to think that small teeth could so just as much, if not more, damage. The heart beat is softer than more expensive stethoscopes, probably to lessen potential damage to a child's eardrums if the stethoscope is mishandled. Second, as others have noted, the hearing pieces on this stethoscope HURT.
Attempts to "stretch" the metal out a bit have failed so far.Bottom line, though, is that this stethoscope does work for what I purchased it for, even if it doesn't work as well or as painlessly as I'd like. Amazon is my standby in these emergencies and, among the expensive "med student" options, there was this Learning Resources toy. The hearing pieces are fairly big (I'd estimate larger than a small child's ear could comfortably accommodate, but I can't say with certainty), very hard, and press inwards strongly, and at an uncomfortable angle. (Seriously, that would be a huge concern of mine before handing this toy over to a child. The stethoscope realistically picks up every errant movement or flutter of clothing, so the user must hold very, very still in order to get a decent read on the already soft-sounding heart rate. I can monitor my heart during periods of bad heart activity, although I dislike that the stethoscope is too painful to use for frequent "spot checks". Although I suppose the majority of children don't chew on their toys past age 5, a younger brother or sister could wreak a goodly amount of habit on this toy.
You can actually hear heartbeats and it is made the same just slightly smaller. I bought this for my 3yr old daughter who loves to play 'doctor'. She actually brought this to her doctor's office and saw that it is just like the real ones. The only drawback is the ear pieces are pretty hard and tight, but I had read this on other reviews-she doesn't seem to mind too much though. Great buy overall.
This stethoscope was just right for my 5yo's birthday. Real enough to work, but not so real that her ears could be damaged by misuse.
I bought this one also for this past Christmas. It is a toy but my 3 year old can hear his heartbeat very clearly, and ours for that matter, and seems to enjoy it. The product appears to be durable and I guess my son will have it for many years.Overall, this was a good buy.
|
