F1 with very small baby - are we mad??

[growcookeat]

Ok I've looked online and have found little to sway me either way. Hope I've included all relevant info below.

First baby is due start of May. DH has significant birthday in April. He loves F1 and racing in general so I bought him 2 weekend tickets for July Grand Prix and told him about them in advance of his birthday so he could arrange travel/accommodation etc and decide which friend to take.

Now I admit, it was a rash decision on my part and I probably should have just talked it through with him but I wanted him to be excited by the surprise.

So the problem is now, none of his friends can go with him and he doesn't want to go alone. He's saying I could go with him but I'm not convinced it's safe in terms of noise levels for an 8-10 week old baby. Although I've heard you can get baby ear defenders??

So...
Option 1 - we both go and take baby (with ear protection) - I would stay well back from the track etc.
Option 2 - we try to sell the tickets online and possibly lose a lot of money
Option 3 - I travel down and stay nearby with baby and convince DH to go alone so as to not waste both tickets.

Anyone been with young children?
Wwyd in our situation?

Do it with good ear defenders. I went to my first motor race at 3 weeks old and continued going regularly till the age of 7 and my ears are fine If you have seats you will be fine as you will have a Base to stay, and baby can be snuggled in a sling and hopefully feed/sleep. When I last went to a gp there were fan villages with big screens a bit away from the track where you could take baby if it gets too much. For actual indoors you would probably have to pay £££££.

OP, have you actually checked that you are allowed to take the baby? perhaps you are not allowed 🤔

Your DH's friends are really missing out by not joining him on what will be a great day out. My DH and I went to the British F1 Grand Prix at Silverstone in 1994 ( pre-kids ) and it was brilliant. What a great present you have got him and good to keep it a surprise.

I would not take a tiny baby. I can remember feeling the vibration of the noise ; it hits you in the chest. It's all part of the experience as an adult and is an awesome thing but I would not have wanted to subject my baby to it.

Do you have a relative or very close friend who could come with you but stay in a hotel nearby and be the babysitter on the day ? That might add a lot to the expense though.

I wouldn't bring a small baby.

When I was working in Singapore the office building was right beside the F1 race tracks. Even though I was indoors, high up, and wearing ear plugs, I could still hear the noise of the engines. When I took the ear plugs off my ears hurt. When I actually went to the race I could feel my ears ringing for hours after.

Wouldn't chance it with a baby.

Tbh I wouldn't. I've been and it is a fantastic experience but it is crowded and very very noisy. I would also worry about the fumes and a newborns tiny lungs.

i wouldnt take a baby to a F1 GP even these days the cars arent as loud as they were before, they are still very loud

silverstone is a old airfield there is really nowhere back from the track where the noise would be less even in the campsites across from the track you can still hear the cars
theres no inside either apart from the toilets
are you in a covered grandstand? how will you cope sitting at the track and its chucking it down with rain

i think you would be mad to take a baby a race track isnt the place for a baby

Not a risk I would take. You wouldn't necessarily be able to tell if any damage was being done.

MotoGP mum here! Take that baby with some ear defenders!! Seriously :-)

If you decide to sell let me know

No, I wouldn't. Surely the ear defenders themselves are too heavy for such a small baby with a delicate skull?
I think you'll feel very differently about it once the baby is born.
If you're offering the tickets to a friend then that should include the hotel too. Maybe he'll find someone to go with him after all if tickets and hotel are covered?

I wouldn't, my DP is an engineer for an F1 team and I don't go as it hurts my ears even with the professional head sets they have in the garages.
It has been mentioned that the hybrid engines are quieter, but this year changes to the regs mean so if the noise is coming back.
Whilst you have grandstand seats I could not imagine any worse place 6 weeks after birth. Even in hospitality I wouldn't do it. Plus there is all the queuing in the car to get into silverstone.
Let him go on his own, he is bound to find someone to go with him,

I went to the F1 last year. All the advice before was to not take smaller babies and toddlers, as the noise levels were horrendous even with ear defenders.

HOWEVER the engines were a lot quieter for the 2016 season. It was unbelievably different to previous seasons.

My 3 year old twins couldn't stand the noise for the GT race which was on the Saturday and we had to leave (and they had ear defenders on). However, when the F1 cars came out, it was absolutely fine. They didn't even need their ear defenders on. I am also very noise-sensitive and had taken ear plugs, but I didn't end up using them.

So I would go, and take some decent Peltor 3M baby ear defenders and avoid any supporting races.

I think with the regulation changes this season, the engines are going to be louder than the 2016 ones.

I'd go. I love F1. Can I ask if it's the race in Austria, UK or Budapest?

We've been taking DS every year since he was a tiny baby and it hasn't had any negative effects on his hearing.
We invested in some really good quality ear defenders and he's always been fine.
He's 10 now and looks forward to it every year.

I went to F1 years ago when pregnant with DS. I'm not an overly sensitive soul but I found the whole thing totally overwhelming- the crowds are crazy and the noise, even with buds and defenders was loudest thing ever, and once cars spaced out, almost constant. I was very lucky and was there as a guest of someone who arranged for helicopter out so I didn't even have to contend with hours of queues in and our.

I would rather pull my own teeth without anaesthetic than take tiny baby to F1!

PLEASE don't take a small baby to F1. I researched this thoroughly as had need to take my small baby to another sporting event, but with crowd noise as opposed to engines. The evidence in terms of noise reduction achieved by ear defenders on children is minimal, something in the region of low double figures, and if you consider the decibel levels at an F1 meet you would be mad to expose a child to this. I am moderately deaf myself, and there is no way I would choose to risk this happening to my baby too. I'll try to find the papers/articles I'm referring to and come back to link later.

It's VERY VERY loud. Yes I am shouting. Even with ear plugs it actually hurts your ears.
On my dh tickets fir hospitality young children are not actually allowed in. Have you checked yours?

Take the baby. F1 is not as noisy as you think. It's loud but not painfully loud, and anyway, it's the one place where nobody will be complaining about the noise of baby crying!

I've been to a number of f1 races due to my work and I wouldn't do this no. It's busy, it's hot, it could be raining, and it's tiring, it's also very loud . Not loud enough to damage your child's ear drums, but enough to distress your child. In addition you're going to be carting a lot of stuff around with uou all day. If you're not totally into it, that's going to make it worse. It'll just feel exhausting.

There is also a lot of hanging around, different things before the race starts, it's a long day. Your child is just too young.

Let DH go with a mate.

I wouldn't risk it with a newborn:

www.cyh.com/HealthTopics/HealthTopicDetails.aspx?p=114&np=304&id=1584#young

www.who.int/ceh/capacity/noise.pdf

And I say that as someone with a partial hearing loss due to exposure to loud and prolonged noise.

Thanks everyone! We've been going back and forth all day! I think we'll try to refund or sell the tickets as I'm still worried about the noise. I'd rather cut my losses now with the cash than pay out more for accommodation etc then not go anyway.

Well that's DH's birthday sorted for next year!

Definitely go! ear defenders will be fine and actually since the regulation changes in F1 it's no where near as loud as it used to be.
Actually at that age id imagine the noise would just keep baby asleep as its just constant background noise, kind of the same effect as white noise really.
I'v been to several F1 races and It's not as bad as people seem to think it is, especially in the last few years with new engines! I'm taking my 1 & 3 year old, happily! There are plenty of places to get away from the track, I'd jump at the chance to take a baby that little who would just sleep most of the day!

Really think you've made the sensible call OP and hopefully you'll enjoy all the more in 2018

The regs have changed for this year. Engines will be noisier