[lotsa_love_2give]

DD is 2.5 weeks old and I may be just overly worried about this. When she was born she failed two hearing tests before passing one at three days old. The nurses assured us it was normal and that lots of infants still have fluid in their ears from birth.

Since we have been home, I have only noticed one time that she has be startled by a loud noise. I have a two year old who likes to be noisey sometimes, but DD doesn't really seem to notice.

Tonight I took her in the kitchen and hit a fork very loudly on the counter a few times and she did not react as if she heard a noise. I don't know if this is normal or if I should try other things. She just went to the doctor this week for her two week check up and her ears were clear, don't know if that means anything....

Am I being a worrywart?!

[Whirled_Peas]

Our son was born in a birth center so we scheduled a hearing test for a week after birth. Then at about 2 days, I was sitting on the couch with him and my husband dropped a HUGE book. We have wood floors and they nearly shook. The baby didn't startle. I said, "Do that again." He did. No response from the baby.

My husband got the 14 inch frying pan and a wooden spoon and banged it a foot above the baby. No response.

We decided we would learn sign language and we would make it work.

I called the birth center in near hysterics. One of the nurses said she did hearing screens all the time and it was common that babies wouldn't respond to noises even though they could hear.

We rescheduled the hearing test for 3 days earlier. He passed. He's almost 4. No problems with his hearing.

I'm sure your baby is fine.

[JenC]

when we had P in for his 2 weeks appt a few weeks ago I mentioned to his Ped. that although he did pass his newborn hearing screen, he didn't jump at noises at all. She wasn't the least bit worried and said to give it a little longer. He does startle with noises (and the 2 yr old!) now at 4 weeks old.

Give it more time and see how he does.

[Linny]

We've been, and are still going through some hearing issues with our baby. She actually passed her hearing tests, but, seems over the first few months, she didn't startle, nor did her vocalizations seem normal either. (I've worked with deaf children in the past.)
She has some other issues (low muscle tone) and the Birth-Three therapists were equally concerned that she didnt' seem to startle or take notice of sounds. (Visually, she's fine....tracks well visually, watches intently, etc)
At six months, she had a hearing test and the audiologist found her hearing to be 'low'....not exactly sure what that means, except it might go along with the low muscle tone where the neurological connections from the brain to the muscles don't work fast enough, or thoroughly enough. The audiologist suggested we have another test done at nine months.
This week we're having another testing conducted. I KNOW she hears something, just believe it's not clearly heard---or, heard by both ears, KWIM? I have yet to hear her laugh or sound 'normal' in her vocalizations. She opens her mouth, smiles like a champ, but nothing as far as sound comes out---at least sound as we've ever known it.
(And this is certainly not our first or second baby.)

My suggestion would be to contact your Birth-Three group, or, wait a couple of months and ask your pediatrician to refer for another hearing test. Error on the side of caution, is usually my motto in these types of things. It certainly can't hurt if you're still seeing/hearing things that don't seem 'normal'.
Hope this helps in some way...

Sincerely,

Linny

[Fran27]

I think it's too early to worry... At that age everything is still pretty overwhelming so they probably don't even really notice loud noises.

[mommytoEli]

when you are ready to freak out, just talk to your pediatrician. they can probably send you to the audiologist for some more extensive testing. my son was maybe 2 months old when he went to see a geneticist (another story all together), but he picked him up and put his feet on the table in a standing position and knew right away he couldn't hear out of one ear by the way he leaned. lol. it was weird to watch. he ended up at the audiologist (his ears were also "clear" by just looking, but he had fluid in his ears that could only be detected by a test called a tympanigram (sp?).....and months later he had tubes put in. come to find out, he could barely hear until he got those tubes at about 9 months old. as a result, his speech was delayed slightly. so now, when i hear parents worried, i always suggest talking to the doctor about further testing, because if there IS a problem, the sooner it is taken care of, the better off they will be speech wise. i definitely don't think it is too early to at least mention your concerns so that your doctor can help you monitor the situation.