Newborn Hearing Test

[ColwynsMommy]

Did anyone wait a long time before having the hearing test done? Niall was born at home and I just haven't been able to schedule it.. he's now 3 months old. I'm just wondering if it's going to be a nightmare now that he's older, if I'll still have to take him to the nursery, etc.

Thanks!

[stephbrownthinks]

I was just wondering this! Our son also just turned 3 months and I don't know if we should do it or if its too "late"

[Peony]

In our area, once they are that old, you have to go to audiology center to get the hearing test. DS actually got the hearing test when he was 6 months old, I didn't do one with DD2 and wasn't too concerned about it for DS then I got a letter from our state asking them to call and they would refer me to a place in my area that could do it. I went back and forth if I wanted to it and finally decided I would. DS is still not talking at 15m old and that was the first thing they asked if he had an extensive hearing exam and he had! The exam at that age was rough, he did not want to sit still, it took almost 2 hours to do it. I even went at his nap time so he could fall asleep and that was what finally allowed us to finish, he fell asleep.

[P.J.]

Originally Posted by Peony

In our area, once they are that old, you have to go to audiology center to get the hearing test. DS actually got the hearing test when he was 6 months old, I didn't do one with DD2 and wasn't too concerned about it for DS then I got a letter from our state asking them to call and they would refer me to a place in my area that could do it. I went back and forth if I wanted to it and finally decided I would. DS is still not talking at 15m old and that was the first thing they asked if he had an extensive hearing exam and he had! The exam at that age was rough, he did not want to sit still, it took almost 2 hours to do it. I even went at his nap time so he could fall asleep and that was what finally allowed us to finish, he fell asleep.

Wow, I wonder if they do a different one where you are. Here (in Germany) it was so simple and easy. They just stuck a little thing that looked like a mini-earplug in his ear, not deep in at all ~ I would think only the most sensitive of babies would mind it, but I guess maybe it's easier when they're only a couple days old, IDK ~ and pushed a button and in a millisecond it said "Pass" on the screen of the little machine. Finished. The whole thing took less than a minute, couldn't have been simpler. Not that it's something I'd be very worried about, but I found it sort of a relief to know for sure from the get-go that DS doesn't have any hearing issues.

[hapersmion]

Here in TN, they sent me a letter when he was a month old telling me the law said I was supposed to have it done in the first month. (I had tried to have it done, but nobody seemed to want to test a homebirthed baby.) They sent me a bunch of phone numbers of places that would do it for free, though, and we took him out to the school for the deaf. It only took a few minutes, and he didn't care.

[Skrimpy]

I have not gotten it done for DS2 or DS3, but I did get it done for DS1. It was done free at an audiologist's office. I think he was around 2-3 months old. It didn't take very long and they were really nice. If you'd like to have it done I don't think it's too late

[ColwynsMommy]

Okay, so I talked to the receptionist at the audiology department today. He said that they won't do it in the nursery after 3 months, and they won't do it in the audiology office until after 6 months. He referred me to a different hospital that they send the babies that have abnormal results to, to see if they'd do it (they have more sophisticated equipment, I guess). I didn't get a chance to call them.

It was actually a really funny conversation.. I used to work with the guy (I don't think he recognized me), and he was just as pompous as I remembered him. He went on and on with stuff like, "Well, the state really wants to know if your baby can hear.." Right, that's why I want it done. I tried to say, "Well, can't I just wait until after he's 6 months old? I mean, it's not like they'd be doing much in the way of services between 3 and 6 months if there was some hearing loss.." He just came back with, "The state really needs to know as soon as possible if he can hear or not." What an idiot.

[Nicole730]

We didn't do it. Our ped never mentioned it and he knew we had homebirth. I just figured we were going to skip it completely unless something makes me think DD has hearing problems.

[luv-my-boys]

first off to all the mamas that think its too late to have their hearing tested...its not, only its a different process. Most states have programs in place for free newborn screening if you do not have health insurance to cover. Most hospital nurseries only do them up to a certain age at which time they would refer to a audiological clinic/center after said age.

[Pookietooth]

We never did it -- oops!

[bjorker]

Hmm. dd2 is over 5 weeks now and nobody ever mentioned it to me. I thought of it a few times, perhaps I should take some action on that, eh?
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