How Many Hours A Day Should My Child Wear Hearing Devices?

Your child’s hearing devices are brain access devices! They give your little one’s brain access to all the sounds of speech it needs to develop listening, talking, and reading skills.

One of the most important things you can do to support your child with hearing loss is to make sure they wear their hearing aids or cochlear implants during all waking hours.

Why is wear time so important?

It’s all about the brain. A baby is born with about 100 billion brain cells. These brain cells must form connections with one another to create pathways in the brain that are necessary for a child to learn to listen, talk, and read.

The more a child wears their hearing aids or cochlear implants, the more words they’ll hear, and the stronger the connections will become. This is true whether your child is 1 month old or 5 years old.

How much time should my child wear their hearing devices? 

For children with hearing loss to reach their full potential and develop listening, talking, and reading skills, wearing hearing aids or cochlear implants during all waking hours is key. Research shows that children who wear their hearing devices 10+ hours per day have better spoken language outcomes.¹

Babies sleep a LOT! If your baby is awake less than 10 hours a day, then aim for "all waking hours” and you’ll do just fine! As your baby grows, you'll work toward 10+ hours of wear time!

How to reach 10+ hours of wear time

Reaching 10+ hours of wear time may feel extra challenging as a busy parent, but your efforts will be worth it!

Here are some tried-and-true methods to help you keep your child’s hearing devices on during all waking hours.

• Eyes Open, Ears On! Make Eyes Open, Ears On your mantra every day, from the first thing every morning when your child wakes up to when they go to bed at night. And don't forget after naptime to put devices back on! When your little one’s eyes are open, have their devices on too.
• Be persistent. Those curious little hands love to explore everything. If their devices fall off or if your child takes them off, quickly and calmly put the devices back on (no matter how many times it happens!). Try these tips and tricks for keeping devices on little ears.
• Spread the word. Anyone spending time with your child needs to know the importance of wear time and how to keep devices on properly. Learn more ways to work with family members and caregivers to maximize wear time.
• Talk with your team. Work closely with your pediatric audiologist and Listening and Spoken Language (LSL) interventionist for support in reaching 10+ hours of wear time.

Download the infographic

If you need to share more information about wear time with your child’s caregivers (or need a helpful reminder to hang on your fridge!), download this infographic that summarizes wear time.

Hear from an expert

Watch the video below to learn more about how to make 10+ hours of wear time a reality.

How Often Should a Child Wear Hearing Technology?