Hi! Since my nine month old son started teething about two months ago and the pain often gets referred to his ears he will hold his hands to his ears. The odd thing is that now when anyone talks to him or we turn on a toy that has sound he will hold one or both hands to his ears. It's almost like a learned behavior/mannerism unrelated now to teething and people often ask me if he has an ear infection or think it's funny since he acts like he doesn't want to hear them speak since he covers his ears. I just explain that it's something interesting he's been doing. Has anyone else seen this before? Thanks.
It could be his baby sign for "I hear something." We have used lots of baby sign language with all three of my boys as well as several children that I have taken care of. All of them have used some sort of hand to the ear motion to indicate they were listening to something. He may be trying to communicate with you! How exciting!
My daughter also started something like this at about 18 months old. Although this was only for loud noises. She also has hightened sensory issues. If he is only doing it when someone talks to him and not around other noises it could very well be that he has learned a new game. If it is a game, do not laugh when he does it and ignore him until he takes his hands down. The game isn't funny anymore and he'll stop, if it's a sensory issue you'll notice that he'll do it for certain pitch sounds and he doesn't care if you respond he just wants the noise to stop.
When my son (now 4yrs) was around the same age he started screaming anytime there was aloud noise. I would rather he covered his ears! Even toys would cause this effect and it got worse over time. We had to turn off or remove the batteries from all his noise-making toys. He had not had any ear infections at this point. He finally outgrew it around 2 yrs old and now he makes enough noise to rattle the house! We never determined why he was like that but it eventually went away. Just one of those weird quirks kids go through. If you're sure there's nothing wrong with him (ear infections, etc) then I won't worry about it too much. Its probably just something he "discovered". He'll make new discoveries soon and move on to something else.
I have a 3yr old who does this and the dr told me it could be he has sensitive ears. They are gonna do a hearing test on him to see and go from there. You might want to talk to your pediatrician and see what he or she tells you. Good luck and keep us informed.
B.,
Please talk to the doctor and have them check his ears again, and if it does not have anything to do with his hearing consider this. My son did this also and now is 8 years old. We now know that this is a sensory issue and he has extrememly hightened senses. Certain sounds bother him that we would consider not to be the slighest bit bothersome to us. We now know that it can be part of a more serious problem. If the regular pediatrician says it is nothing and your son continues to do this try checking into it with an occuapational therapist or a developmental pediatrician who knows a lot about sensory integration issues. I am a big advocate for early intervention with children. I hope I have helped in someway. Does he seem to be overwhelmed when you are out in public when the sounds maybe louder?
A little about me: married, mother of 2 boys, 4 and 8
This is something that you should talk to your doctor about. Please make an appointment. There are many things that it could be.
Didn't see this exact problem but I wanted to let you know that my kids got ear infections/ earaches when they were teething. It might be worth a visit to the doctor just to check. Maybe he would give you those ear drops for pain and it would help. All those nerve endings in their little heads are so close together- he probably is trying to protect his ears from the pain.
My youngest son did that for a while but he was a little older, maybe 12 to 18 months. Everyone asked about it and thought he had an ear infection. It lasted a few weeks and then he quit. I wouldn't change anything, like avoiding loud noises, etc. He'll stop when he figures out something else to do.
He could have that sensitive disorder... i forgot what it is called but I am sure that there are mother's on here that can relate. That is where I heard about it in the first place. I could be that he has just learned that is how he can tune out what he doesn't want to deal with and if that is the case, that would be rude and ugly. Have you tried just asking him why he does it and if his ears hurt or how the sounds sound to him ; like are they magnified to him. Depending on his answer, I would ask my pediatrician next time I go, just to be on the safe side. They may want to do a hearing test.
That's completely normal. Just like kids who learn to blink or cover their eyes randomly. He's probably just fascinated by the changes in sound quality.
If it persists then it is possible that he might be sensitive to sounds. This too is not uncommon and goes by lots of different names. (Sensory integration, sensory processing) It could be that the noise is too loud/overwhelming and he is finding coping mechanisms. But you shouldn't be concerned about that for a while, just keep paying attention to his behaviour without calling attention to it. AS he gets older if you see this behaviour increase, or you find other behaviours crop up - then speak to your pediatrician.
Good luck!
please talk to your ped about possible autism. good luck
