Hoping to find my group of people, and some good advice 🤞🏻
My little girl (11 month old) has almost complete hearing loss in one ear and we are due another hearing test to check her other ear deterioration very soon. This has been since birth and we have a deaf support worker who is amazing!
She isn’t my first baby, but she is my first with hearing loss and we have no history in either family so we don’t have anybody to turn to for help/advice about the ‘little’ things.
My girl does NOT sleep, our deaf support worker brought up sleep and said at our last visit that it is normal and very common for babies with hearing loss to struggle sleeping, and my daughter has never slept through or even spent a few hours happily asleep! Now i know babies don’t sleep etc, but this is something different. The second she leaves my arms she cries and is awake, and on the rarity i can put her down she is awake crying within minutes..
It’s having such a massive impact on day to day life, she’s not sleeping so she’s tired and moody all day, she cries SO much because she’s frustrated and tired and then night time comes and it’s a repeat cycle! She naps absolutely fine through the day if she is held, or in the car she will nap but night time is a no go!
She has such bad separation anxiety, she wants to be held alllllll day because she gets so worked up if she isn’t in my arms- which is harder now she’s a bit of a lump at 11 months!
I can’t pop her down and nip into another room for something, because she screams the house down. Likewise if i put her down and do something in the same room she screams, she has to be in my arms or she cries. Some days she might be happy to play with toys if she can see me at all times, but most of the time she won’t do it.
She has some hearing in one ear, and is aided but she really struggles with too much sound.
She gets worked up in busy places, or if too much noise is happening at home she gets upset.. im assuming it’s so overwhelming to only be getting so much noise in one ear, and for somebody so tiny that must be so hard!
I sound like im having a huge moan, and im not, i can’t imagine how hard this is for her and i do everything i can to make sure she is happy and entertained, and she is so so loved..
She has the biggest smile, the most amazing laugh (at her big sister most of the day) but she is perfect, and we wouldn’t change her for the whole world!
I just wanted a little bit of advice from any parents in the same boat (or who have been) and just tips on what they have done with their little ones, just to make things slightly easier for her..