Infants and toddlers have sensitive, growing ears that are particularly susceptible to damage. Since your ears and hearing develop significantly in your first few years of life, it’s important to think about how to protect the ears of the little ones in your life.
Hearing Loss in Infants and Toddlers
Some infants are born with hearing loss. This is known as congenital hearing loss and many things can cause it. Others may be diagnosed with hearing loss if they can’t hear sounds below a certain level of volume or sounds of a certain pitch. This can happen in one ear or both ears. Since these deficits can make it hard to understand speech, it’s extremely important to get hearing loss treated so that infants and toddlers can continue to develop learning language.
Newborns will often receive a hearing screening by the hospital on the first day or two of birth, but infants who pass the hearing screenings can also exhibit signs of hearing loss as they get older. Signs of hearing loss in infants and toddlers include:
- Not replying when you call their name
- Having difficulty understanding what people are saying
- Speaking differently than other children their age
- Turning the TV up loudly or sitting very near it to hear
- Misunderstanding questions and responding incorrectly
- Having speech delays or problems articulating things
- Having academic problems
- Complaining of ear pain, earaches, or noises
- Watching others to imitate their actions
- Having trouble hearing over the phone
- Watching a speaker’s face very intently – Many children learn to lip read and escape hearing loss detection.
How Loud Is Too Loud for Infants and Toddlers
Hearing damage due to loud noise can be permanent, so it’s important to monitor your child’s surroundings for excessive noise exposure. Safe sound levels vary based on the duration of the exposure and are measured in decibels (dB). As a general rule, noises softer than 80 dB will not damage hearing unless the exposure lasts for several hours.
Possible Hearing Hazards
It can be hard to measure decibels on a day-to-day basis, but keeping an eye out for possible hearing hazards can help sound levels stay down. Those can include:
- Household appliances like the vacuum, blender or hair dryer
- The television volume
- Loud toys – Some toys can make sounds in excess of 120 dB. If you can, listen to the toys before you buy them to see if they are too loud. Because children play with toys much closer to their faces, even sounds of 80-90 dB can be damaging.
- Events such as festivals, sporting events, concerts, or firework displays
- White noise sleep machines
Headphones for Infants
There are many available options for earmuffs or noise cancelling headphones for infants and toddlers. These will often be small enough to fit snugly on your child’s head. For more information on the hearing protection products we provide at Sonora Hearing Care, click here.
Avoiding Earplugs
While choosing earplugs because they are smaller and cheaper than traditional headphones might be tempting, they are not recommended for infants and toddlers because they can present a choking hazard.If you would like to speak with an audiologist about how to protect your child’s hearing, schedule a consultation with Sonora Hearing Care in Tucson today!