My son is 9 months old and has had chronic congestion/cough since catching a nasty case of RSV in February. He's only had one infection in each ear - knock on wood - but every doctor we've seen about the congestion has commented on the amount of fluid in his ears. He's obviously uncomfortable from it - scratches and pulls on his ears all day, constantly tilts his head, etc, He's also very delayed in speech. Doesn't babble at all. Our pediatrician says he would probably benefit from tubes and referred us to an ENT. (We go July 12.) She seems to think the tubes will not only make him more comfortable, but will also help his speech greatly. Does anyone have any experience with tubes and speech delays? Did it help?
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My friends kid had tubes and her speech cleared up remarkably.
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@brownie: Thank you! I worry so much that his speech delays are a developmental issue, but the doctor seems pretty convinced it's a congestion/hearing issue.
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Not personally but my nephew didn't really speak at all until he was around 3, when they finally got tubes put in. His speech improved dramatically, in a short amount of time. He's 6 now, and his speech is right where it should be for his age.
My niece also had tubes put it at 2 years old. She took a little bit longer to start talking after that, but when she did start she started in sentences!
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I don't know if it was coincidental or not, but she started talking more after she got her tubes. But she babbled and squealed before the tubes, too.
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@SeptMomma12: I am a Speech Pathologist and have seen many children with tubes. They can make a dramatic difference in a child's speech and language development. When I get a referral for a child with a severe speech delay, the first thing I do is send them to an ENT or audiologist to check their hearing. You can imagine if a child's ears are clogged with gunk, it's so hard for them to hear our speech which can greatly delay their own speech development.
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@delight: Thank you so much for that info! Assuming they do put in tubes, is there anything you would suggest to try to "catch him up" speech-wise? Or is it just a natural process once they can hear correctly? The poor guy has been congested since 3 months, so I don't think he's ever had a chance to actually hear us:(
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@SeptMomma12: at 9 months he should catch up quickly. When talking to him, make sure you get down to the floor at his level and look right at him, so he can watch your mouth and see how we "make" our sounds. Imitate any sounds he makes so he knows that when he is communicating, he can get a reaction. The "m" and "b" sounds are typically first to develop so you can try babbling those yourself "mamamama, babababa" and have him really watch your mouth. Exaggerate your oral movements. Sing lots of songs, play lots of games like "peek a boo", always talk about what you are doing. Ex. "Mommy is washing the dishes. Wash, wash, wash dishes. Rinse the cup, rinse, rinse." These activities (you're likely already doing!) are great for speech and language development.
However, at 9 months I imagine he will catch up quickly when his ears are cleared. -
I'm also an SLP like @Delight and I second everything she said. Your munchkin is young enough that he should be able to make rapid progress.
Before I was an SLP, I watched my neighbor's son. He had chronic middle ear infections and his vocalizations were more like grunts. Within a couple of weeks after the PE tubes, he started to babble English speech sounds. My little brother was the same way according to my mom.
Think about how we hear when we are under water. That can be what your son is hearing. Since kids imitate what they hear, he is going to have some delays. But it shouldn't be insurmountable.
You're on the right track seeing the ENT. Sounds like you have a good pediatrician too to keep so on top of this.
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@PointeShoesTutus: there are a few of us SLPs on this board!
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My nephew also got tubes (around 5 years old) and the improvement in his speech has been really remarkable. My sister regrets not getting them sooner.
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