2 Year Old with Hearing Aids

My soon to be 4 year old has had hearing aids in for a little over a year now. In the begining we seemed to have some issues with him keeping them in, or losing them. Honestly it was a struggle. I started telling him they were his magic ears- I never call them aids around him. By calling them his "ears" he began to assume that they were a part of him. Dont get me wrong, from time to time he does take them out when they squeek, and he would typically put them somewhere they couldnt be found. I had to let him know over and over that if he needs a break from them hand them to Mommy, so we wouldnt lose his magic ears. I use alot of positive talking, maybe some roleplaying too - He's a child. By making them Magic ears or super hero ears - it makes him feel special, not different or odd. Obviously this cant go on forever but it helps him now. Some people may disagree with what I tell him or make him believe but I know what works, and what's going to make him feel better about being the odd ball out. Now I've been keeping up with the "Magic Ears" and such since he first recieved them. A few months back a family member had seen something on the news and sent it to me, Im not sure if your son is into Superheros at this age but this is pretty incredible and I think it's well worth checking out...

http://gawker.com/5913048/marvel-invents-new-hearing+impa...

The above article is amazing, and my son absolutely lit up when I showed him. It's worth a shot. I hope things get easier for you and your little one. We all want the best for our babies, it's just a bit trying to find a method that works well for you both. I found ours.. =)

Our doctor suggested WIG tape. You can get it at any hair or beauty supply store. We place it on the part that attatches behind his ear. We put a new piece on once maybe twice a day. It works great.

im 40 yrs old with kids and ive had my hearing aids since i was 18 mos.old. when they put them on me while i struggle to get away then i heard things ive never heard before, my sister's and brother's voice and i really didnt want to take them off not even when i went to bed at night so mom or dad would come by later and take my hearing aids off when i fell asleep.
but with your child not wanting to wear them you can get him to try new different things but one thing parents sometime dont think about this but you can get him head set with cd player to play music just be sure his hearing aids are on telephone switch which should be the middle section on switch let him listen to that. hearing music he may like but then he may not.ive always liked that. NOTE: he wont understand them unless you sing along those songs before. he would memorize the sounds with the words youve sang over and over.being with other kids hearing them may help to keep them on.family such favorite person mom, dad ,grandparent or cousins can call him on the phone (again be sure hearing aids are on telephone switch)
im sure he trying to get use to them . they may be very uncomfortable. sometimes when they have to make ear molds for me they were always uncomfortable to begin with and at time they make my ears very soar .the earmolds may not be fitting well such as the earmold part that enters the ear is too long going deeper than it needs to be.or the tubes may be shorter or longer than it should be making it uncomfortable. and also the part that doesnt go in the ear but above can be very soar in about an hour so that could be also.and another thing it could be is they tend to slide out slowly out of the ear at times whether he sweating in the ear some or talking alot, mouth wide open,or chewing food and he wont know to push his earmolds a little in at the bottom earmold to make it fitted better. i know its uncomfortable at first even if every part is fine it is always that way to begin with. i always hate to get new ear molds or tubes need changing because i have to start allover again getting them either fitted better or just getting use to them period. i have so much answers to questions for you if you ever want to email me personally. (____@____.com be sure the subject says hearing aid questions or something like that so i know to open your email. also keep my email for future questions if any ) but the older he gets he will let you know these things but for now ask him now if his ear hurt , show me where . doesnt matter that he is 2 but if you can talk to him with the right questions ask him and if he can put his finger on the part of the ear that may feel bad or hurt he can tell you where by doing that and his way of saying that part of the hearing aids is bothering him. also the redness can show you too.
i started pre-school at 2 yrs old with small group that were like me and getting him in something like that would help you and him also. mrs. howard was the best teacher of my life and most enjoying and learning time for me and i loved it !! i still remember those days. funny huh to remember that but i do.

Our son was a little over 2 when it was discovered he was HI, he is now 21yrs old. Once we got the aids in and he heard new sounds, he always wore them. So not to lose them we used fishing line and a sm safety pin to pin them to the back of his shirt. We told him God had made him special and the aids were to help him. He went to speech at least 3times a week in the early yrs and now people at times forget he's HI because his speech is so good. We had no problem with drainage from the ears because after a bath/shower he didn't wear them for 30min. so the ears could dry out. Oh his lost is 60% & 50% and has always been verbal. When he reached school age,he had special equipment that he and the teacher both wore. He still uses that today in the college classroom. We nevered listened to the people who said he had to fail fisrt and then he would get the proper equipment. He has done very well for himself, but it took a lot of hard work on everyones part, not giving in and spending the money to help him, when we would go without. The best of luck.

My child does not have hearing aids, however, I have had mine since I was 18 months old. My mother tells me that she would 'make' me wear them for short peiods of time and then I could take them off for about an hour. Then I would put them back on for 20 mins. and so on and so on. It was hard being a kid with hearing aids. I was very ashamed of them. I wore my hair long so I could cover them up. I felt like when people noticed I had them they talked to me differently. This could have all been in my head. When I was in highschool I got over it and moved on. I have never had an issue with someone being mean to me since then. A lot of the kids when I was little were simply curious but I construed it as them being mean because I was embarassed.

My brother on the other hand who also had hearing aids, has had them since he was 5. I dont think he was every as embarassed as I was and I dont think anything mean ever happened to him. I hope some of this helps. I know hearing loss in kids is much more common now than it was then. It may not be such a big deal anymore.

Hi, my son has had hearing aids since he was about 4 years old, he is now 9 yrs old. The best advice that was given to me by the team working with us was to have him wear them for short periods of time building up to the all day wearing. It worked great, we started out for 15 minutes with the very first day and added more time each day till he was wearing them all day. We would give a special treat for meeting each goal each day, weither it was a sticker for his book or a special snack.

L.,
My son started wearing hearing aids at the age of 3. He is now 19. We had something called "huggies", when he was younger. These held the aids in place. They were like a plastic tube and went around the ear and held the aids in place. Their little ears are just so soft and pliable that it is hard for the aids to stay in place, unfortunately. This website may help. If you need any other help, just let me know.
D.

http://www.soundbytes.com/page/SB/PROD/HUG410