Boo!
Look at the eyes of the toy vacuum he’s sitting on. HYSTERICAL.
We had AndyZ’s 12-month check-up and Shotfest yesterday. He did okay with everything, even the shots which had him screaming while the needles were in his legs, but he stopped immediately afterward. The pediatrician is sending us to an ENT to look at his ears because she saw some white “stuff” around his eardrum that didn’t look like an infection and he had no water around his ear canal, which might also indicate an infection. She sat down to talk to us about the referral and said, “Does he hear okay?”
Um. He’s 12-months old. I have no idea. I don’t even think he knows his name yet.
In reality, I’m not too concerned. He is repeating sounds with surprising accuracy and he jumps at loud noises. Of course we’ll see what the ENT has to say, but I think the pediatrician is just being cautious because she said there was a medical journal that recently discussed findings that 50% of pediatricians misdiagnose ear exams. This is evidently due to the size of a child’s ear and the Wiggle Factor making it very difficult to get a good look. So – she’s sending us away as a precautionary measure.
So, what do you think we did last night? Spend the evening YELLING at him randomly to see if he reacted. He did. Often with tears. Who wins Parents of the Year now?
My niece had a UTI a few weeks ago and as a precautionary measure she has to go have kidney tests. She’s 18 months old, so I’m sure it will be a day at the playground for her.
Hope AndyZ does well, which it sounds like he will.
My dad was telling us the other week, when we were visiting my sister and her newborn twins, that he used to test our hearing by randomly dropping a heavy book on the floor to see how we would react. So yeah, your yelling is no big deal!
I’m sorry but it just REALLY cracks me up that you guys yelled at him all night to get a reaction. He probably though you were torturing him. Poor little guy. Does he grow every day? He’s getting so big!
ohhh man that poor child. LOL Hope it is nothing!!
Boy, that kid looks more like those pictures of your dad every day. I’m sure, as you said, that the pediatrician was just being overly cautious, which all of us can appreciate.
Well, let me point out that Grammy made him cry once when I hollered “NO”. He turned around and burst out in tears. He heard me!!
I concur about spending money on specialty socks. When I moved from Sunny Oklahoma to Below Zero Crazy Winters Iowa, I was told to buy wool socks. I refused to pay that much money for a pair of socks! My husband finally took pity on me and bought me a pair. They made so much difference, I made him go out and buy me three more pair.
That comment totally was for a different post. How did I manage that? Feel free to delete it.
My youngest son would have ear infections and we would not even know until his well baby checks! We are not rotten and very attentive. He actually had tubes for his first birthday, they said he could hear like our ears feel when we are in a tunnel. “Tunnel Hearing”!
But thankfully he speaks fine, hears fine, and has no problems with learning so far. Kinda scary tho.
I love that a pediatrician just assumes parents automatically know if a child hears OK. At least yours knows to refer patients when there’s a question at all! Most don’t and the kids who need help are 2 or 3 before anyone realizes something is amiss.
Even after my child failed three newborn hearing tests I thought she heard OK. My midwife clapped her hands, Mari flinched, and she declared “she’s fine!” which didn’t help matters.
Marielle has a severe hearing loss and has been wearing hearing aids since 3 months of age. Wrong on that one!
You know, it was you or Marilyn that had a post on their “what I’m reading” that described the author’s experience as she learned at a routine checkup that her daughter couldn’t hear. I’ve regretted not bookmarking it so I could go back and find out what happened next.
I’m sure AndyZ is fine. In addition to the yelling, does he also turn towards quieter, interesting noises like bells or chimes or little ditties? Biscuit knows his name and just danced for the first time this past week (“Clint Eastwood” by the Gorillas – it beats Grommet’s first bop song: “Smack that” by Akon), so I’m pretty confident he hears just fine.
Poor AndyZ! I hope everything is okay.