My 6yo DS seems to be losing his hearing

[MrsJordan85]

He says "WHAT?" after everything I say, and I have to yell to get him to even respond to me. It seems like it's more than "selective hearing". Has anyone else dealt with this? I plan on calling my DD's ENT on monday to see if I can get a hearing test, but I'm really worried that he's going deaf or something.

[myblessedbaby]

Sounds just like my 5 year old. I repeat things all the time and get annoyed with the "what", yet he can hear me whisper something to my DH when driving in the car. If you are concerned get him checked out, but it's probably just normal kid stuff.

[MDever]

Your pedi would be a good place to start. He may have fluid in his ears which can certainly cause that. They may even have a basic hearing screening machine at the office.

[tallanvor]

It may be something as simple as a build-up of wax. One of my nieces had that. They flushed her ears out and she was great after that.

[jesajane]

I think taking him to the ENT is great. When i was little I had chronic ear infections but didn't feel the pain. Something weird about my ears. Anyway, my mom didn't know when I would have an infection until I started saying what all the time. Has he had ear infections before? Does he feel the pain? I hope it's a simple fix for you, like the build up of wax.

[somo_chickenlady]

I would get him checked, just to be sure. I found out when my DS was 5 that he was almost completely deaf in one ear, and if you are on his bad side he can't really hear you at all (people take "surround" hearing for granted). That was back before they really did newborn hearing screening, though, b/c he was born that way. The nerves in his ear never developed. I honestly never noticed before that.

It could just be something as simple as fluid or ear wax, though. I have problems with wax build up, and it does affect my hearing pretty significantly. I can always tell when I need to get it taken care of b/c I have to ask DH "WHAT??" multiple times. lol

Good luck mama!

[Rdesonia]

DS got an ear infection at age 7. It was his FIRST. It was bad and he woke up screaming in the middle of the night and crying. It was an ear infection. His first complaint was that night. I put drops in his ears, gave him Tylenol, and sent him to bed. Next day, he had a bulging eardrum and bad infection. 3 days later at the follow up (he was till on antibiotics and a decongestant), infection was gone but he couldn't pass the hearing test. I was told he was probably going to be partially deaf for life. (Talk about scared and feeling guilty that I didn't rush him to the ER. But no fever.. first complaint. I did what I figured was normal. ) Anyway, we had a comprehensive test done 2 weeks later. He has better than average hearing. Never trust the beepy head phone tests of a pediatrician's office. Go see a specialist!
And all kids (some husbands too)have selective hearing. By the time they are teenagers, you will swear they really are deaf! If you are worried catch him off guard and clap/drop something noisy. See if he looks your way or not.

[erin_c_odonnell]

I'd have him checked just to be safe but it might just be a stage. My 9 yr old did this about age 6-7 and still does sometimes but he's 100% hearing (audio tests every 6 months to prove it). Especially since he's a son I'd say it might its be hard for him to respond to sound when he's concentrating on something else. He's just busying thinking to himself maybe.

[mibarra]

I agree get it checked. While it could be behavior, if it's hearing you want it addressed ASAP.

[gigismomma]

Yep, same thing here. "WHAT?" after everything I say. I brought her in convinced she would show significant hearing loss, but her hearing is normal.
The ENT diagnosed her with "selective hearing" ......he told me that next time she gets into the string of asking "what" for everything, to ask her (in the same volume) "Do you want a cookie?" Sure enough, there was no "What" response after that one

But I do agree that you should get his hearing checked anyway. You can catch any problems if they are there. At the very least, it would give you peace of mind if it is "selective hearing" after all.
It definitely could be wax build up or something easily treated.