Premee and Hearing

[SouthernMama]

Hello. I have a 6 month old daughter. She was born about 7 weeks early and is actually doing very well. But she has started to act like she can't hear me. I'll say her name 20 times behind her head and she doesn't turn, I'll clap behind her head and she doesn't look for a sound. She's sometimes watching our dogs or playing with a toy. So could it just be that she is more interested in other things? She does sometimes seem to act like she does hear me. When I sing to her, she sometimes looks up and smiles and laughs. She also does sometimes turn her head toward a noise like when our dogs bark. She's cooing and "talking". She's a very very happy baby and loves to laugh. Am I making a big deal out of nothing? Or is this something that I need to be concerned about? I'm so nervous because every time I do a search on it, I keep getting things on autism as well as deafness.

 

[SabrinaKat]

I would ask your GP for a hearing test to reassure you, but my LO (he's younger tho) sometimes doesn't react to things as well, but then does to others. I think they do get absorbed in other things, my LO will stare out of the window whilst I'm changing him (but there is nothing there but the sky (maybe interested in the light?) and other times, loving my singing, etc. I also looked up the info on autism (being of a nervous disposition) , and if LO is smiling at you/interacting, etc., it doesn't sound like autism at all....

best wishes

ps. as preemies (mine was 4wks early, 13 days in NICU), they would have run the various hearing tests at the hospital, so it might be that your LO is very interested in the dog, etc., and just not interested in responding at that moment?

 

[SouthernMama]

Glad I'm not the only one... I hope it is just her being interested. My husband keeps telling me that everything is fine she is just so absorbed into what she's watching. But I think we will be talking to our GP, just to ease my mind. When it comes to my baby, I want to make sure she is developing correctly. They did do the hearing tests while she was in the hospital, and she passed with no problems. So I'm hoping she's just being like her daddy and ignoring me when she doesn't want to listen

 

[emm2609]

I have a 6yr old son who was born at 29weeks and had numerous health complications, it was obvious to me from a young age he couldn't hear and it took me until he was 5 to get his hearing loss diagnosed, he now has bilateral hearing aids and has been diagnosed with auditory neuropathy. He has severe learning difficulties stemed from his hearing loss mainly and has to receive 1:1 full time support at school. My advice to you would be follow your instincts, mum's know best and don't leave it too long, three years i fought for to get my son's diagnosed.

 

[SouthernMama]

So we were at church on Sunday and Sam was in the nursery. One of my friends was working and I told her about my concerns. When I went in there later, she told me that she was clapping her hands and stamping her fingers and she looked toward the sound. Also, another child in there made a loud noise, and it startled her even though she wasn't looking in that direction. She's not showing any other issues, no medical problems. Actually, she did so well, the NICU nurses thought we were off on our due date by a couple of weeks. So maybe it's just a paranoid mommy????

 

[vermeil]

So we were at church on Sunday and Sam was in the nursery. One of my friends was working and I told her about my concerns. When I went in there later, she told me that she was clapping her hands and stamping her fingers and she looked toward the sound. Also, another child in there made a loud noise, and it startled her even though she wasn't looking in that direction. She's not showing any other issues, no medical problems. Actually, she did so well, the NICU nurses thought we were off on our due date by a couple of weeks. So maybe it's just a paranoid mommy????

I know how very hard it is not to get paranoid about everything! I also dreaded the worst all teh time and made an enemy of google ha.

If she is babbling it`s a very good sign! My friend`s daughter wasn`t babbling at all. The doctors eventually noticed she had constant water in her ears from repeated infections. Once they put tubes in, she started reacting much more to sound and within a few short weeks she was babbling away like crazy

 

[Marleysgirl]

I have a 6yr old son who was born at 29weeks and had numerous health complications, it was obvious to me from a young age he couldn't hear and it took me until he was 5 to get his hearing loss diagnosed, he now has bilateral hearing aids and has been diagnosed with auditory neuropathy. He has severe learning difficulties stemed from his hearing loss mainly and has to receive 1:1 full time support at school. My advice to you would be follow your instincts, mum's know best and don't leave it too long, three years i fought for to get my son's diagnosed.

Oh wow, I almost felt like I'd time-travelled reading this post! My son is just over two-and-a-half. He was born at 29 weeks; has bilateral hearing aids (moderate to profound severe sloping loss) and auditory neuropathy, fortunately diagnosed shortly after birth; and has learning difficulties. He has no speech yet, do you mind me asking when your son started to talk? Anyway, we're hoping to get Andrew into a special school rather than mainstream with support, we've just completed the request form for a Statutory Assessment.