Glue ear / late talker? - any advice please!

[KC1234]

Hi all,

any experience with glue ear?

my little girl is 19 months, she was born with a heart defect, and underwent surgery and was then very poorly as a newborn. Despite all of this, she was always the happiest baby!

for the last month or 2, she’s just become much more ‘whingey’ she is still very happy for some of the day. But she also spends a lot of the day whinging - it’s not always a proper cry. She just wants to be held or carried, doesn’t want whatever I try to give her to entertain her etc. I just feel drained by the end of the day and like I need to have a good cry

she had a bad ear infection in October, and last week I took her back to GP as I was worried she had another (she was up all night crying and I could tell she had pain) GP said it’s not infected but she has ‘glue ear’ advised me to bring her back in a couple of weeks to review it and if it’s ongoing then they’d refer to ENT after 3 months.

i then had a call from nursery to say she was biting others which is unlike her - I had a long discussion with her key worker and I said could she be frustrated? I feel she understands so much now but she only has about 4/5 words she uses at home, and at nursery she doesn’t use any recognisable words, she only babbles. Key worker said she would expect more words by now but said it’s too early for any intervention.

my questions are - could the glue ear be causing the irritability? And should I be concerned about her speech? I’ve read online that glue ear can delay speech but I really don’t think she has any hearing loss.

any experience/reassurance would be greatly appreciated.
thanks in advance x

Following with interest...hope this is a bump for you.

Does your daughter tug or hit her ears when they hurt? How is her balance?

Thanks for your response!
she doesn’t often tug at her ears actually.
her balance isn’t the best though, it was definitely a lot worse when she had the ear infection, it’s improved since then but sometimes she will fall over nothing 🥴

My son had multiple ear aches and on a few occasions the fluid would drip from his ear
He was given antibiotics a few times.
His speech was not good at younger age, but as it was my first child I didn’t have a clue

Eventually he was under the ent and they recommended grommet and tonsils out.

whilst waiting for operation he was sent for speech therapy, which highlighted his hearing as the problem . He wasn’t hearing the words correctly because his hearing was muffled

After operation he was fine

Never had frustration through, but I can see that could definitely be an issue he they’re not hearing what’s being said properly

go back to gp and ask for hearing test your really concerned as your the mum and know it’s not right

Thank you for your response, glad he was fine after the operation. I’ll definitely follow up with gp x

My son had glue ear- I didn't think his hearing was that bad, but turned out he was quite deaf!
He had grommets and his speech improved almost instantly and came along loads.
His grommets came out within 12 months and hearing loss returned.
He's just had another pair inserted and has again made huge leaps.

It might sort itself out but if not she'll have hearing tests and grommets will likely be recommended.

If you're worried about speech you can ask nursery or HV to refer for speech and language. The waiting lists are that long I'd probably ask both to do it asap and if when they get back to you she doesn't need it they'll just discharge.

Thank you!!

I'd recommend getting in touch with the National Deaf Children’s Society. They support parents of kids with all levels of hearing loss including glue ear.
Also this leaflet is helpful ewing-foundation.org.uk/resources/hearing-to-succeed-and-achieve/

As she is showing signs of a speech delay, you should ask your GP for a referral to children's hearing clinic to check it out.
It is probably just a temporary congestion which is super common but persistant glue ear can affect speech as it means the speech sounds she hears are not as clear.

It sounds like your daughter's having a hard time at the moment. And I know what a clingy toddler is like so I can definitely sympathise!

I'm definitely no expert in this area, but I've been doing some research around glue ear for my job recently. Irritability can be caused by associated pain, tinnitus, dizziness or frustration at hearing loss. And if there's hearing loss this can also cause speech delay.

The good news is NICE have recently updated their guidance on glue ear (or otitis media with effusion - OME www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng233/chapter/Recommendations#non-surgical-management-of-otitis-media-with-effusion
A 3 month wait before referral was part of the previous NICE guidance, but they now recommend treatment earlier if hearing loss is impacting daily life (which it sounds like it is!). Also, if your GP suspects OME you should be offered a formal assessment with a hearing test, which might help bring forward a referral or put your mind at ease. However, all this depends on where you live. I'm guessing England or Wales as you mentioned a 3 month wait and I think Scotland and NI have different guidelines. Different areas have different funding policies and wait times for ENT, so it's a bit of a postcode lottery I'm afraid.

The rubbish thing about glue ear is there's not much you can do at home to help. There's a thing called otovent, but it's not recommended for children under 3, and I think my 3.5 year old would have a hard time using it! Other NHS advice includes trying to teach/encourage your daughter to blow her nose often, and trying to keep background noise to a minimum. Hope that helps!