Special Ears Advice

I thought I'd give an update on Harper's "ears" and ask y'all for advice.

I knew it wasn't going to be easy to get her to wear her hearing aids and it has NOT been. We have had them for a week and a half and it's still very difficult to get her to wear them at all. Let's face it - with a head strong 2.5 year old - it's hard to get them dressed, brush their hair, eat good foods, get them to behave.......much less add in something very different.
I want this to be a positive experience for her so I'm trying not to make a big deal out of it. I'm not going to discipline for not wearing them or wear both of us out trying. I'm just going to ease in........I think it will come together at some point.

I didn't want to bribe with food because that's just not a habit I want to get into. I tried taking her to Target to pick out a special toy or two that she could only play with when she wore her "special ears". That didn't go so great. She found a few things she loved but when I said "You can only play with it when you wear your special ears" - she would say "I don't like it" and put it back. ha! She didn't think anything was worth THAT! She's really not that into toys so that would probably not work and I didn't want to waste money so we didn't buy any toys.

What she DOES love is movies. She has gotten real into "Beauty and the Beast" and "Tangled" so I decided to make a rule that she could only watch her movies if she was wearing her special ears. So far - that is helping. We only go about 30 minutes at a time maybe once or twice a day - but we are making progress. Before she would just lay on the ground holding her ears and throwing fits if I even mentioned the hearing aids.

In fact I just today bought her MY favorite movie - "Mary Poppins". I think she will like all the music in it. And I'm hoping she will wear her ears more. She usually takes them out after 20-30 minutes but she always says "I like my special ears". ha! I'm hoping she is starting to realize she can hear better. I usually turn the TV volume down when she has them in.


She is so funny - she knows just how to work us ...........lately when she gets in trouble and she's right in the middle of us talking to her - she will say "Special ears?" ha! She knows that might make us change our minds. She is such a character.

We also have been so tickled because I have been trying to work with her on sounds she doesn't hear so well. So I've been sounding out letters........like I'll say "F.F.F...fork". And all the sudden she will say things like "Ka. Ka.Ka.......Water Table". Like she is sounding the consonant out but doesn't quite get the concept.

If any of you out there had to get your toddler to wear hearing aids - I'd love to know -
1. What worked for you?
2. How long did it take before they were wearing them full time?

Pin It