Hearing is an essential contributor to your child’s development. If hearing loss is not addressed, it can delay critical development milestones, such as language learning, and affect vital life skills like socializing. Fortunately, there are many ways to help a child cope with hearing loss, and the first step is identifying the problem.

Read more about why hearing is important for children.

Your Child's Development in the First Three Years

Your child goes through significant developmental changes during their first three years, which makes it challenging to generalize hearing loss signs in children under 3. Additionally, children master skills like language at different paces, so it’s important to consider any potential challenges your child may face. Hearing loss can delay language development during this critical learning period, which may also impact other skills, as they might not fully perceive verbal instructions.

We’ve compiled a list of guidelines to help you recognize potential signs of hearing loss in children up to 3 years of age.

Signs of Hearing Loss for Children Under 6 Months

It can be hard to detect hearing loss in such a young child, especially if the loss is mild. However, some signs may indicate hearing loss, such as:

• Not responding to sound or music
• Not turning their eyes toward a sound
• Not recognizing or responding to your voice
• Not noticing toys that make sounds
• Not making different noises when happy or upset

Signs of Hearing Loss for Children Up to 1 Year Old

By the time your child turns one, they will have reached several developmental milestones. In terms of hearing, they should be able to:

• Respond to their name
• Turn and look in the direction of sound
• Understand and respond to simple words like "No," "More?" "Up," "Daddy," etc.
• Listen to songs and stories for short periods
• Recognize familiar voices, music, and sounds
• Play peek-a-boo or similar games
• Make simple sounds, possibly saying their first words

Once your child reaches the age of two, they have been experimenting a lot—with their body and with sounds and words. It could be an indication of hearing loss if by your child’s second birthday they are not yet able to:

• Use and understand a lot of new words
• Name items in books or in everyday life
• Follow simple instructions such as “Pick up the doll,” “Go to mommy,” or “Look at the dog”
• Recognize body parts or pictures in books when you name them
• Ask and respond to simple questions like “What’s that?” “Who’s that?” and “Where’s Tommy?”
• Put words together like “daddy, up” or “No more banana”

Signs of Hearing Loss for Children Up to 3 Years Old

Your child is now walking (or running) around and expressing their personality through words. By this age, it can be an indication of hearing loss if your child still cannot:

• Put together small sentences
• Understand opposites such as big/small, up/down, stop/go
• Talk and be understood by people who know them
• Ask and understand “Why?”
• Follow increasingly complicated directions such as “Go to your room and grab the blanket”
• Learn and understand new words quickly

If Your Child Shows Signs of Hearing Loss – Next Step

If you’ve read our list and now consider that your child may have a hearing problem, beginning your child’s journey to better hearing as soon as possible can make a big difference in their life. The first step is to get your child’s hearing assessed by a hearing care professional. You can find your local hearing clinics in the link below:

Find a hearing center near you

You can also find useful information about hearing aids for infants and toddlers here.