Helping babies understand they need to wear aids
Hi. My lil one is 14months and worn aids in both ears since he was 4/5months old. He is constantly pulling them out & trying to eat the earmoulds. He has actually stopped breathing & I'm now holding him constantly as i cant even make lunch with him in a high chair as he will pull them out. We've tried taking them out for periods & then trying again, wig tape, headbands, retaining clips on the back of his top & nothing helps within minutes he is pulling them off & has not changed since the day he got them. After a year nearly I'm loosing hope this will get better.
My questions for you are: could he have cocklear implants as he could not choke on these? How can i help him to understand they need to stay on as he has additional needs & no understanding or soumds at present?
Any advice as i want him to have the best access to sounds for his development but am burnt out from the constant worry of him choking & being in my arms all day everyday.
Thanks for reading :)
Hiya, my little girl is similar. We have asked our audiologist who has put mould locks on which do help to an extent. I almost feel my little girl thinks its a game. I had looked at the hats but found they were really expensive so I instead bought a swimming hat that ties underneath her chin. I feel this has helped to break the cycle of her pulling them out and we just wear it in the house which has helped alot. I totally understand how you are feeling its soul destroying at times.
Hi there!
I have experienced exactly the same with my 6-month old (including the horrible choking experience!), so know how frustrating it can be.
I'm not sure if you're looking for a solution that helps your little boy understand, however I recently started a company called Happy Little Ears which creates practical AND nice looking hearing aid hats for little ones. My little one wears hers full time when she's awake, so she can't get to her aids to rip them out and eat them and our audiologist approved them.
I'm currently doing some parent testing so if you'd be interested in getting involved or chatting a-bit more about what you need I'd love to help! I'm at [email protected] if you want to get in touch. Either way I hope you find something that works for you and your little one :)
Hi
I've experienced the same frustrations with my two children (now aged 4 and 6) and remember it well.
My only advice is to persevere and they will at some point realise the connection between being able to hear with the aids in and the benefits this brings! I think my children stopped doing this between age 2-3.
I agree with flower 90 about them thinking it's a game, especially if you are putting the aids straight back in. After my two had pulled the aid off I used to take the aid away (no fuss made) and distract them with something else and put it back in once they were distracted.
It will get better as he gets older, keep going - you are doing a great job :)
Hearing aid hats helped y son at that age. Of course as he grew he worked out how to take them off but by then could understand that the hearing aids made a difference.
Please follow our guidelines when posting a new comment.
Contact your moderator team if you have a question or feedback.