Grommets - when will we see an improvement?

[Susiejo77]

Hi there, I’m hoping there might be some experienced mums that have been through what we are at the moment.

So, my baby boy is 17months tomorrow and he had grommets fitted two days ago. I am yet to see an improvement in his responsiveness, he rarely responds to his name, although did for a short time before the grommet operation but only to my voice. I presumed he’d got used to the sound of my voice muffled as he rarely responds to any of the nursery staff. He had persistent glue ear ( I think for sometime) failed 3hearing tests - it wasn’t clearing up on its own.

You read about parents noticing a real difference after grommets, sadly that hasn’t been the reality for me and I’m slightly devastated as I’d so hoped he’d turn when I called his name after he’d calmed down after surgery. If anything he seems less responsive - could it be all the other sounds he’s hearing distracting him maybe?

Just wondering if any other mums had the same as this and whether they saw gradual improvements or does it sound like my boys grommets aren’t the source of the problem?

I know this might sound a bit crazy, but I’d read an article about allergies (mucus) causing glue ear and in my sons early months he had terrible severe reflux and then we found out he was allergic to dairy, he was dairy free from around 6months old. The ENT consultant said this would have been the cause because the glue ear would have cleared up by then, but I’ve read persistent glue ear can last a year?

Should the improvements bd straight away or are they gradual? I guess I’m wondering if he’s had this from a young age - maybe he needs to learn to respond? Autism has been on my mind, could he be unlucky and have both glue ear and autism?

Currently he is having high temperatures throughout the day and is miserable, he seems scared and is super clingy to me. Is this behaviour to do with all the new sounds he is hearing? What can I do to help him?

If he is runny high temperatures he is unwell which would explain the miserable and clingy. Grommets can show an improvement straight away or sometimes not at all. My daughter had them as a toddler twice. The first time was good the second no improvement. Chronic glue ear and infections improved as she grew bigger. Unfortunately, she has a form of glue ear as an adult, hasn't held her back in any way in her life though so don't worry. Treat the symptoms as best you can. It might be too eary to say until you can get hearing tests

I phoned the hospital to say he was running a high temperature and wakes up screaming and they said this was normal after the operation, if he is still running a temperature tomorrow I will phone them back for antibiotics, currently I’m just giving him calpol. He seems scared of his shadow at the moment 🙁

The improvement was pretty instant in my DDs case, like night & day. Her speech improved overnight & she was reacting to noise.
He could be still recovering from the effects of the anaesthetic - they told us 24/48 hours with DD

Thanks for your response, his sounds to me are still babble - he says mama and dada, up which usually just sounds like him yelling with his arms up and I can’t say I’ve noticed any change language wise at all 😢

Does anyone remember their child being extremely upset after the operation?

Oh dear it sounds a bit tough.

Often with grommets the difference is immediate but that can be when a child has already had good hearing and learnt to listen/ speak. For your ds he may not have really had much access to speech ever and May need to learn to listen now. Keep using his name and also giving him simple language for things around him and encouraging him to listen to sounds around him. When something like the doorbell goes say "What can you hear?" and draw his attention to the sound. Hang in there. It sounds like he needs a bit more recovery time post OP.

Don't forget that listening precedes speaking by a long way so he will need time to take in and process what he is hearing before he starts to replicate it. He won't suddenly start to speak.

Have a look at this link. It's designed for use with children who are profoundly deaf and get cochlear implants but the principle is the same... starting off language with a child who had limited access to hearing before. There are some brilliant activities and the whole thing is very useful.
www.cochlear.com/uk/home/support/rehabilitation-resources/early-intervention/chit-chat

He has had his fingers in his ears and rubbing them a lot and seems incredibly sleepy and irritatable

Oh wow thank you ToDuk, I will take a look and when he seems more himself we will try some. He’s currently nuzzled into and has been sleeping napping for 3hrs

Sounds like be is still recovering from the op. I'm a teacher of the deaf and own dc had grommets so I'm always happy to chat.

This is incredibly kind of you ToDuk. I’m hoping that as you say, he was very young when they glue ear started so he needs to learn to listen, I need to be patient to see the improvement! Hopefully it was just the glue ear causing the hearing loss. I’m booking another hearing test for 3wks time x

Hopefully at the next test he will get a better result. Hope you see some improvement soon. Please do post again if you need to or pm me. Im always happy to chat about hearing related things.

He’s screaming so badly now and there is a bad. Smell we think coming from his breathe? I keep checking his nappy but nothing there? He did have his adenoids removed also for snoring and sleep apnea. Should I be worried about an infection?

It could be an infection. My dd had an infection in her ear with one lot of grommets and the smell was awful. I think it's really worth seeing someone today. Poor little thing.

Is it definitely not his ear smelling?

Hope he gets better soon. Just to say for my boy who was 18 months when he had grommets, it was a week before he stopped falling over (we hadn't even realised his balance was so affected) and a couple of weeks before his speech improved. I imagine his ears could be swollen still immediately after the op

If you are worried you should call the ward and see what they say

I'd be more worried about the adenoids than the grommets. An ear infection with grommets shows up quickly - you get a milkshake discharge from the ears.

Fever, bad breath and pain sounds like the adenoid site and/or sinuses are infected.

Did they do tonsils too?

Meant to say, I'd see a doctor asap.

Hi mums, thanks so much for these messages, it feels like he is in pain, his fever seems to have gone down now but the smell is his breathe yes, he’s reluctant to drink much and take calpol. I’ve phoned the hospital ward this morning and the nurse said the smell is to be expected and it can take a week for the to recover now, I was originally told 48hrs.

Sorry forgot to mention it was just grommets and his adenoids removed, not tonsils

Both dcs had grommets and they gave us antibiotics straight away as a preventative measure as they tend to get infections after op. Hence could be an infection , good luck