Your Toddler's Hearing

Hearing Aid Wear Time

You already know that your child's hearing devices should be on during all waking hours, or at least 10 to 12 hours per day. Toddlers like to take their devices off to play with, chew on, or use to get your attention. This age is the trickiest time of your LSL journey to keep devices on. Most toddlers go through this phase but it'll get easier as your child gets older and there are ways you can help keep devices away from curious fingers.

• Distract: Draw their attention away from the device and to an activity
• Adhesive: Try medical or wig tape to help keep the device on
• Hats: Discourage touching devices by wearing a hat or cap
• Learn more about resources for toddlers here

Additional Resources and Support

In our Family Support Community, you can find advice from other parents who have experienced wear time challenges with a toddler.

Our daughter loved nothing more than to rip her hearing aids out every ten seconds. The struggle of putting them back in her ears when she was little was well worth it! Just because kids might rip them out doesn't mean they don't love them. It's just that hearing aids are so fun to disassemble and EAT!

Lydia H.

Your Toddler's Hearing

Self-Advocacy

An important part of your child's journey to listening and spoken language is self-advocacy. Start teaching your toddler these skills so when they go to preschool, they'll be confident in talking about their hearing and devices. Help your child understand that we all hear with our brain, not our ears. Teach them that their devices help sound reach their brain so they can hear just like their friends and family.

You can build these skills by talking with your toddler about their device as part of your everyday routines. Show them where you keep their device when they go to sleep so they start to understand the importance of keeping their device safe and dry. When your toddler is younger, start by teaching them the name of their device. As they get older, have them practice putting on their device on their own. Name the different parts and describe what they do. These are small steps that can lead to strong self-advocacy skills as your child gets older.

Hearing and Progress

Keep an eye on your child's developmental progress. Delays in development may be a hearing-related issue.

Possible Red Flags

• Any changes in responses to the Ling Six sounds
• Not responding to sounds around the house
• Appearing to ignore you while you’re talking to them
• Not following simple directions or commands
• Being silent during play
• Falling behind in age-appropriate language development
• Not putting words together
• Missing many sounds or parts of words (by 24 months)
• Reduction in distance hearing or "earshot"

If you have concerns, contact your pediatric audiologist for an appointment. You can also talk to your early intervention professional who's helping you monitor your child's hearing and progress.

Seeing the Audiologist

You'll work closely with the pediatric audiologist to monitor your child's hearing status on a regular basis. Until your child turns three, you'll likely see your audiologist every three months to monitor their hearing with regular testing. They'll also use these appointments to make adjustments to your child's devices as needed. Remember that you can schedule an appointment any time you're concerned about your child's hearing or their devices.

When your toddler has an audiology appointment, schedule your next appointment before leaving the audiologist's office and save a reminder in your phone.

During the toddler years, your child will learn to participate in different types of sound booth tests. In the sound booth, your child will sit in a high chair in front of a table and you'll sit right behind them. A testing assistant will sit in front of your child to help them. The audiologist sits outside the sound booth where you will see them through a window. Sounds are presented through tubes attached to your child's earmolds. Young toddlers will respond to sounds by looking to the right or left where they will see a box or screen light up. This testing procedure is called visual reinforcement audiometry (VRA).

As your toddler gets older, your audiologist will ask you to practice putting blocks in a container when they hear a sound. This listen-and-drop game is called conditioned play audiometry (CPA) and is an easy, fun task for children. The audiologist will determine the softest level your child can hear at each frequency.

For Hearing Aids

Your toddler — and their ears — keep growing. This means their earmolds will need to be replaced often so they fit well and your child has access to all the sounds of speech. Indications that your child may need new earmolds include:

• Falling easily out of their ears
• Noticeable gaps of space between the earmold and ear
• Excessive or frequent feedback
• Any cracks in the earmold or tubing

For Cochlear Implants

Once your child's device is programmed, you'll continue to see your audiologist on a regular basis to ensure the implant is working properly. Between your regular appointments, you may need to call the audiologist for other reasons, like:

• When you notice behavior changes related to putting on the implants
• Your child's not responding to sounds or speech in their typical manner
• Their speech sounds off or different
• The device isn't working despite being fully charged

Using Remote Microphone Systems

Traditionally, remote microphone (RM) systems have been used for school-age children in a classroom setting, but they're not just for school anymore. RM systems, specifically the personal-worn FM systems, can help your toddler hear you more clearly in any location. You can use it at home, in the car, at the store, or on the playground.

An RM system solves any problems of background noise and distance from the person talking, which means using one can increase the number of words your toddler hears. It can also improve the quantity and quality of the information that reaches your toddler's brain. Most hearing devices can easily accommodate an RM system. Talk to your pediatric audiologist to see if your child's hearing aid or cochlear implant comes with a mini-mic accessory, and ask how and when to use both devices together.