Should I have his hearing checked?

My DS Conner has had lots of ear troubles. He got tubes put in at 21 months & had done great until last month. He got a wicked ear infection that required 2 rounds of antibiotics & ear drops. We had his hearing tested before his tubes were placed & he passed, except some difficulty with low tones. His speech improved after his tubes were placed, too.

Now he's 11 months older & I'm still noticing issues. Aiden's speech is crystal clear, whereas Conner still has a LOT of enunciation problems. I do believe Aiden is advanced, but I wonder if Conner is behind. He's understandable most of the time, but definitely not as much as Aiden (I know, I know, don't compare, but it's hard!).

Then there's his volume. He is SO LOUD. His decibel level is so high that it gives me a headache! He can talk normal, but typically is ALWAYS yelling or talking loudly (or outright screaming). Could it be his ears? Or just being a toddler? Or being a boy (I hear boys are just loud)? Aiden seems to be louder now, too. Whether he's copying Conner's level or they feed off each other or if they're both just loud, I don't know. All I know is that my head hurts by the end of the day & that I must say 'QUIET' & 'NOT SO LOUD' a gazillion billion times a day! I feel like a broken record!

So, is it his hearing? Being a toddler? Being a boy? Or just his way of driving me BONKERS??? I don't know how long I can stand it!!!

PS It doesn't help that I appear to have super sonic hearing. I'm constantly turning radios/tvs down or asking people to talk quieter. I can hear super quiet things that no one else can. Lucky me....

 

Do you really have anything to lose by having it tested?

You might want to go to an ENT, although your pediatrician should at least be able to do a screening. If he seems louder lately, it may be that there is still some fluid lodged in there and his hearing is temporarily affected. A decongestent could possible help with that.

If he has had some hearing loss, you want it addressed sooner rather than later. I wouldn't want to risk the language delays from it.

I lost about 20% of my hearing due to severe ear infections when my girls were 4 months old, so granted I'm sensitive to this! I now wear hearing aids, which have made me much happier AND easier to live with!

 

I can only tell you the difference between Alice and Royce.

Alice speaks crystal clear, uses correct tenses, and Royce is still stuck on 2-4 word sentences. The same sentence between the two of them would be like:

Alice: Mommy, will you kiss my arm? I hurt it.
Royce: MommEEEE, kish ahm. Hutit.

When he does talk, he has two volumes, super quiet and OMGLOUD!!

 

His hearing should have been checked before and AFTER the tubes (I'm an audiologist). If he's had more recent infections, I'd have his hearing rechecked and a check to make sure the tubes are open and draining properly. That being said, some kids are just loud. My boys are LOUD and had speech issues but have never had tubes/fluid issues. Becca is LOUD and has speech issues, but she's also had some fluid and I know her hearing is down. I'm having the "tubes" discussion next month, but I'm hoping the nicer weather coming will help to clear that up on its own. For what it's worth, she was having speech issues before the fluid.

 

I would just do a recheck at the ENT and have them check his hearing. All of my kids have or had tubes. I do rechecks for the tubes every 6 months. The last time I had a concern about Leah and after the recheck we went right to the hearing test and then right back in the room with the ENT. No issues. I think they get used to talking louder when they have had fluid build up. But I will tell you that my DD is louder than my boys, so I wouldnt write it off as a boy thing. I bet its just a toddler thing.

 

I definitely think you should have his ear rechecked to rule that out. His speech may be behind his brother's for many reasons, one of them being his hearing issues prior to the tubes the first time. If you are concerned about his speech development you can always have that evaluated as well. As for the loudness, well that might just be who he is. I have a loud one and I know his hearing is fine. Some people are just naturally louder and all you can do is remind him to use his quiet voice.

 

I had my Abby's hearing tested for the reasons you've stated. She started with her 1st set of tubes right before she turned one, another set at about 18 mo. and when she was 3, I had her hearing tested. She was so loud! She would say things like "I can't hear the TV/you" and sure enough she did have a mild hearing loss. Her tympanogram (measures how well the ear drum/tympanic membrane is able to move) was a flat line b/c she had a lot of fluid in her ears eventhough it wasn't necessarily becoming infected. She got her 3rd set of tubes then and we noticed a nice difference. I'm starting to notice the really loud talking again, so I'm beginning to wonder if she needs to be looked at again. I see no harm in having his hearing tested if you're concerned. It's actually pretty neat and informative. I have a hole in my left ear drum that had caused a moderate hearing loss and they have tried to fix (unsuccessful) and will probably be getting a hearing aid soon.

 

Thanks, Ladies. I think I'll keep an eye on him & bring up a hearing test at his 3 year check up. If it gets worse in the meanwhile, I'll definitely pursue it. I hear him talking normally (like right now he just told me the doorbell rang, but didn't yell it out) so I KNOW he can!

Side note, he didn't have his hearing checked after his tubes...I'm assuming because he essentially passed. And, he's had his actual ears checked numerous times since then. We had a check 2 weeks after his last ear infection & both ears were fluid free & the tubes were draining fine. So I'm glad his tubes are working, but I just worry that his last month long bout of nasty ear infections possibly did something permanently. They were bad...like goo dripping out of his ear bad. Blech.

I had to laugh....it seems like he's JUST like Royce. SUPER quiet & OMG LOUD! Hilarious! We say the EXACT thing about Conner! He's SOOOOO quiet around strangers, but OMG LOUD at home !

Thanks again for the feedback! Much appreciated!

 

I know your two are almost the same age as my two so I know that I've always seen you as a peer if that makes sense.

 

Of course it does! I think mine are about a month older...

 

I took Sarah to have her hearing tested recently because she was talking sooo loud and had excessive wax build up in her ear. The ENT doc told me that loud talking is not correlated with hearing loss (which shocked me). Instead what we should look for is can she hear when we whisper to her and speak to her when her back is turned. They did clean out her ears real good and he said her ears look good and there really wasn't any reason to get her hearing checked. Of course, Sarah still talks loud and has no enunciation problems. It doesn't hurt to take him to an ENT, however, to ease your mind.