Part 1: Managing Sensory Overload at Mealtime - 5 Tips for Sound Sensitivity
Picture this-
You’ve just come home from work, you’re totally exhausted and all you want to do is go straight to bed. You know you need to eat but feel totally disconnected from your hunger.
Or
It’s lunchtime and you have 2 kids at home. You managed to get a meal together for them and the last thing you want to do is sit down and eat something yourself. You’re overwhelmed by the sound of the kids, the mess of the kitchen and all the things on your to-do list.
Welcome to my sensory series on managing meal time while overstimulated.
Whether you identify as neurodivergent or not, sensory input can become so overwhelming to our nervous system that it makes mealtime feel untenable.
There are two primary ways we can work to lessen overstimulation while trying to eat a meal- 1) management of the external environment or 2) management of our internal nervous system response. In this series, we will be focusing on working with our external environment.
In Part 1 of this series, we are focusing on sound.
Ticking clocks, your neighbor tapping their pencil, screaming children (yours, or someone else’s!), chewing noises, leaf blowers, music, cars honking. You get it- our world has a lot of sounds in it.
For those of us who are sensitive to the noises in our environments, it can feel like an attack to our nervous system that is totally out of our control. This makes eating difficult for some people, which sets us up for increasing overwhelm. Let’s do our best to regulate so that we can tackle mealtime.
5 Tips for Managing Sound Sensitivity
Remove yourself from the noisy situation. This one seems simple, but sometimes just going to a quieter environment for a couple minutes is all we need to be able to return to our window of tolerance.
Use noise cancelling headphones. You might choose to listen to calming music, or a podcast that makes you laugh. This one may not work if you are with little ones and need to be able to hear them, but can be really effective for eliminating noises like clocks ticking, traffic, leaf blowers, etc.
Use earplugs to block noise. There are lots of affordable options out there from your standard disposable ear plugs from the drug store, to these reusable “Quiet” ear plugs from Loop Ear Plugs.
Use earplugs that reduce the intensity of the sound. This can be really helpful for those caring for children or who need to remain aware of their external environment for any reason. The brand Loop Ear Plugs makes some amazing ear plugs that filter background noise or lessen the intensity of all sounds. They also have versions of their noise filtering/dampening ear plugs that allow you to add an attachment for noise cancelling. This is not an ad, I just really love their products!!
Grab a sensory soother. Sometimes the sounds in our environment are out of our control and we don’t have access to any of the other tips. Adding something into our sensory environment that helps us feel calm can help here. A few ideas to get you started (we will add more throughout the series!): a soft blanket, a pleasantly scented hand lotion, or a stress ball.
I hope you enjoyed Part 1 of this 3 part sensory series. Stay tuned for more!
