# 3yr old covers his ears



## loopylin

if there is a loud noise, my 3yr covers his ears and says he dont like the noise, he cannot stand the noise of his bouncy castle, i asked the health visitor and she told me to take him to the doctors which i did, he had an ear infection, so we got that cleared up thinking that was what it was, but he started covering his ears again saying he dont like the noise, we took him for a recheck on his ears but they was clear, had a word with the health visitor and all she said oh his got sensitive hearing and there is nothing they can do has anyone elses lo had this any advice would be welcome thanks xx


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## angelstardust

A lot of children do it out of habit, some do it because they do just have sensitive hearing and others do it because they have a sensory problem. 

What you may be better off doing is noting down exactly when and where he does it and what reason he gives as well as how he is generally (tired, excited etc). That way you can see if it is getting better, worse, only when he is tired. Plus you can then go back to the GP with a nice little diary. Keep it for about 2-3weeks to get a clear picture. 

In all honesty, most of the time it is just a quirk that they will grow out of, and given that he has had an ear infection, it can leave your hearing a bit muddled (I get recurrent infections and for a few weeks after noises can have a booming feeling in my ear).


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## xXhayleyXx

My 5 year old son has exactly the same problem with his ears! I took him to the doctors and they looked at me as tho i was stupid and that it was just a phase that he was going through but even now after a good couple years he still gets just as panicky over loud noises :( Even if the fire alarm in the school goes off he gets really upset and covers his ears x


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## angelstardust

DS2 does it, but he has hemiplegia (cerbral palsy affecting one side of the body) and one symptom of it is some sensory issues. He has a few things that are similar to Autism (but not autism as he has hemi - confusingly!) 

So anyway, I bought myself a book called 'The out of sync child' which is all about sensory integration issues. I've only read bits and pieces so far, but sound is obviously part of the sensory system. 

If you were worried about it and thought it was more than just a 'thing', you could google sensory integration dysfunction. But I warn you, it's far too easy to start reading too much into things and putting labels on a child. 

Unless it's affecting your child's quality of life, I wouldn't worry about it.


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## MummyToAmberx

My amber started doing this, alot. I knew it was a sign of an infections as she got them often, but then she started doing it when she didnt have an infection, told probably just listening to how things sound different etc.
Then we went onto the question, can she hear properly as she wasnt talking as good as she should be, didnt always listen to you or repeat words when you told her things.
We got referal to ear hospital bit (mainly off bad infections though) turns out her ears are perfectly fine. She doesnt cover them no more now.


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## emilyjade

my son has done this since he could lift his arms. He does it to washer, tumble, traffic. hair dryer, hoover you name it!

doctor told me it was just a habit but its not he now screams at anything 'too' loud !


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## mamalove

My daughter does it whenever she doesn't want to hear something. wether it's loud noises or us telling her off .. i never knew about ear infections, will have to check with my HV about that.


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