Hearing Loss in Your Baby-What You Need to Know As a Parent
Babies are mostly born with perfect hearing, but sometimes it has been seen that some have hearing loss. When babies who are born with such problems, it is a birth defect then. And as children rely on their hearing to learn from beginning, it is important that the problem is identified soon and treatment be done as soon as possible.
Children who do not get help when they are born with hearing problems are generally the ones who suffer from language delays. These children also face a lot of difficulty with their social skills; they even have trouble with reading. In fact, children who have mild hearing loss are more likely to be held back in class than children who has normal hearing. So, it is very important that a child is diagnosed with the problem and treatment is done soon.
Sooner a child is diagnosed with hearing problems and gets language training, cochlear implants, individualized language training or other treatment, more likely the baby is to meet the language milestones and developmental speech. Children who have audibility problems can be best treated before they reach six months of age.
Nowadays, most of the hospitals screen a baby's hearing before sending them home. If your child wasn't screened in the hospital, take your child to an audiologist for a paediatric hearing test. But this needs to be done within the first month. However, it has also been seen that sometimes a baby develops hearing loss later in his or her life. As a parent, you need to very careful about this and note if your child isn't reacting to sounds properly as he or she should.
Hearing loss in baby can either be congenial or acquired. So, this means a baby can have hearing loss because of different reasons.
There are several things that you can do to prevent hearing loss in your baby. The first thing that you need to keep in your mind is that you should never ever insert anything into the ear canal of your baby. Sometimes cotton-tipped swabs cause damage as well. Make sure to immunize your baby against the different diseases that are faced in childhood because of them like mumps may cause hearing loss. Always monitor the baby when he or she is affected by ear infections or cold. If the baby shows signs of having ear infections, consult with a doctor. Don't expose the baby to noise that is too loud, particularly ongoing noise. Install area rugs or carpets in your rooms as they help in softening the indoor noise.
Children who do not get help when they are born with hearing problems are generally the ones who suffer from language delays. These children also face a lot of difficulty with their social skills; they even have trouble with reading. In fact, children who have mild hearing loss are more likely to be held back in class than children who has normal hearing. So, it is very important that a child is diagnosed with the problem and treatment is done soon.
Sooner a child is diagnosed with hearing problems and gets language training, cochlear implants, individualized language training or other treatment, more likely the baby is to meet the language milestones and developmental speech. Children who have audibility problems can be best treated before they reach six months of age.
Nowadays, most of the hospitals screen a baby's hearing before sending them home. If your child wasn't screened in the hospital, take your child to an audiologist for a paediatric hearing test. But this needs to be done within the first month. However, it has also been seen that sometimes a baby develops hearing loss later in his or her life. As a parent, you need to very careful about this and note if your child isn't reacting to sounds properly as he or she should.
Hearing loss in baby can either be congenial or acquired. So, this means a baby can have hearing loss because of different reasons.
There are several things that you can do to prevent hearing loss in your baby. The first thing that you need to keep in your mind is that you should never ever insert anything into the ear canal of your baby. Sometimes cotton-tipped swabs cause damage as well. Make sure to immunize your baby against the different diseases that are faced in childhood because of them like mumps may cause hearing loss. Always monitor the baby when he or she is affected by ear infections or cold. If the baby shows signs of having ear infections, consult with a doctor. Don't expose the baby to noise that is too loud, particularly ongoing noise. Install area rugs or carpets in your rooms as they help in softening the indoor noise.
Source...