another hearing screening test

[groggymama]

ds2 has just failed his third hearing screening test, on low noises, so he'll have to go back for a fourth test. I'm worried, has anyone else had any experience of this?

bump

no experience as such, but ds has now been referred for audiology test ( as opposed to HV waving rattles around behind his head) as he failed the 1st one with flying colours and is now too old (12m) for that test...

When ds failed, I came on MN trying not to panic (!) and was reassured that lots of babies fail the hearing distraction test...

Hi GM. I went through the same thing with my DS. He had to go through lots of hearing tests as my DH is partially deaf (runs in family).

DS failed on low noises several times in a row and it turned out that it was down to glue ear, not to any congenital hearing loss. (Basically he'd had 2 colds in a row, which left lots of goo in his middle ear).

My advice is;

1. If he's had any colds or anything lately, tell the docs (I'm sure they would have spotted glue ear by now, but it might be worth a mention)

2. Try getting appointments for different times of day i.e. if your DS always goes for his test when he's just woken up and bouncing off the walls, he might be less likely to sit still enough for them to test properly.

3. An added frustration for me was that my DS is not outgoing and not a 'performer', so no matter how much goo-goo-gah-gah he got or different toys rattled in his face, he wasn't going to react. If your DS is at all like this, tell the docs - he might need a bit more time/space during the test.

4. If your gut-feel is that everything's OK with your DS's hearing, make sure you say so. I can't stress this enough. I said several times during appointments that I didn't think there was anything wrong with my DS's hearing, but this only 'got through' to the doctors once we were sent to the 'next hospital up', for test with fancier equipment.

What is your gut feeling? x.

My dd didn't pass until the fourth attempt. She had suffered from repeated ear infections though. She was referred to the audiologist, who diagnosed mild glue ear. We were told to leave it to clear by itself. We went for a follow up appt 3 months later and it had gone. We've had no trouble since, either with the infections or her hearing.

I have lost count of how many distraction hearing tests my ds1 failed! He was diagnosed with mild glue ear, which has now cleared itself up.
i have also posted about this on another thread, but because they were trying to look at his ear drum, and couldn't becasue of amount of ear wax we were told to drop olive oil into his ears.
I think excessive ear wax can make a real difference.
So you can do that at home prior to the next test and you might be suprised by the results. Fingers crossed for you!

I had 2 done on one ear with DS... but i was told they can fail bfore passing a few times. Double check before next one there no ear wax etc. (Tesco do baby cotton safety buds)

thank you eveyone - my gut feeling is that he can hear but can't be bothered to react sometimes (MagicGenie - exactly like your ds, he won't perform to order and makes my antics seem daft! )

He does have waxy ears Overrun, so I'll try the olive oil.

They've advised me to bin the dummies as it causes re-infection. So out they go!

Its frustrating having to go back again.

In case you are not sure how to use it, this is what we were advised.
If bad, just do it at night if really waxy can do it first thing and at night. Get child to lie down on side, and drop a little bit in, then stopper with bit of cotton wool, keep child still for (well as long as you can). Aim for 10 seconds and then do other side.
Do for a week, this loosens it, then they gave us a solution that breaks it up, ask at your pharmacy. Use this for a week in the same way, and see what happens.
Hope this helps