My daughter has a birthday coming up and I would like to get her some appropriate IEMs. I have no idea where to look for such an item. Could she wear adult IEMs? She is extremely tall and mature-appearing for her age--she is the tallest girl in the class ahead of her. I would greatly appreciate some input. I know that some people will consider a 9 year-old wearing IEMs to be unethical from an ear health perspective. I don't share that view. As long as volumes are monitored, I am fine with it. Thanks for any input!  I'm lost.

I grew up on a farm..  my dad had a pretty broad general view of safety in general... lots of loud noise farm equip, trucks.. guns.. whatever..  my dad seemed to revel in disabling any and all safety devices.. true story.. how I grew up with all my limbs and fingers is a miracle..
 
but I can tell you tinnitus is no fun...
 
I realize the above is different than earphones..but I'd think kid safe ones would be most responsible.. 
 
 
if my wife had a dollar for every time I have said "WHAT???" when she tries to ask me something .. she would have many dollars...
 
on the upside the highs on beyer headphones don't bother me =p

Etymotic has their ETY-kids 5 which have low sensitivity to restrict volume levels.

dulalala said:

Etymotic has their ETY-kids 5 which have low sensitivity to restrict volume levels.

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I'll look into them--thanks!

dulalala said:

Etymotic has their ETY-kids 5 which have low sensitivity to restrict volume levels.

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Was what I was going to suggest. There's an ETY-kids 3 model too (it has a mic and in-line remote).

If I remember right, Harman makes (or used to make) a similar product as well, through their dbLogic subsidiary. And I vaguely want to say that 50 Cent's audio company, SMS, also makes such a product too (but don't quote me on that third one - I could be mis-remembering).

Here's the Ety website:
http://www.etymotic.com/consumer/earphones/ek5.html
http://www.etymotic.com/consumer/headset-earphones/ek3.html

The db Logic model:
http://www.gadgetreview.com/db-logic-ep-100-earbud-headphones-review (I'm not sure if these are still made)

And believe it or not, it really was 50 Cent, but it isn't SMS:
http://www.kidzsafeaudio.com/

I think IEMs are the way to go here because they block out a lot of external noise, so there's less desire to crank the volume to "mask" external sounds. :etysmile:

As far as "as long as the volume is monitored" is fine, as long as you're going to be there literally all the time to keep an eye on things (because NIHL doesn't take much, and most modern IEMs are sensitive enough to easily take your head off with very little input), and as long as you recognize that the output #s that whatever device gives you are entirely arbitrary and have zero bearing on "is this too loud?" (and that even the various safety features put into mobile products, like Sony's AVLS, are also completely arbitrary and usually only work correctly to limit volume to a safe limit with whatever headphone/earbud they're originally packaged with).

As far as other IEMs, I would assume she probably could wear them if you can change the tips (a lot of "better" models won't have an issue with this - my reasoning here is based on the more or less universal nature of earplugs), but the risk for NIHL is just too high IMO. Disagree all you want with that sentiment - ultimately any problems with your child's care are your failures, so make whatever choices you want, and let the kiddo live with the consequences.

EDIT

Did a bit more looking and found another manufacturer, "Puro Sound Labs," which I've never heard of, but they make a volume limited IEM too:
https://purosound.com/collections/headphones/products/iem-200-studio-grade-in-ear-headphones

They also have a "sound limiting cable" -
https://purosound.com/collections/headphones/products/puro-limiter-3-5-mm-auxiliary-audio-cable

Not a lot of documentation about it, so it may or may not actually deliver on its premise, but its an interesting idea - you could potentially mate that with whatever headphone/IEM the kiddo finds comfortable, and achieve the best of both worlds. However I'm guessing that its probably making some assumptions about sensitivity and impedance, and it may be possible to either end up with configurations that A) can never get loud enough for normal listening levels and/or B) can easily exceed 85 dB.

EDIT 2

Symphonized also apparently makes volume limited IEMs:
https://symphonized.com/collections/kids

Don't know anything about that brand either, but it popped up on Amazon in a quick search.