Warning signs of a hearing problem in children age 1 to 3

Hearing loss can happen at any time. For young children, especially from birth to 3 years old, hearing loss can cause speech and language development delays if it goes untreated.

If you think your child might have an issue or have any concerns at all about your child's hearing, don't hesitate to talk to a healthcare provider. It's important to get any issues addressed as soon as possible.

To help monitor your child's speech, language, and auditory development, your child's healthcare provider will routinely ask about potential warning signs like the ones below. You spend the most time with your little ones and you'll likely be the first to notice an issue, so it's important to keep an eye out.

Talk to your child's healthcare provider if you notice any of these red flags:

Warning signs: 12 to 18 months

• Doesn't enjoy games like patty-cake
• Doesn't recognize the names of familiar people, pets, and objects
• Can't follow simple commands such as "Come here"
• Doesn't turn their head in response to sounds coming from another room
• Doesn't point to express a desire
• Doesn't imitate simple words , doesn't sue at least two words, and doesn't babble
• Doesn't respond to music
• Doesn't point to simple body parts or look at familiar objects when asked

Warning signs: 19 to 24 months

• Doesn't say more than five words
• Can't point to at least two body parts when asked
• Doesn't respond with "yes" or "no" to a question or command
• Can't identify common objects such as "ball" or "cat"
• Doesn't mix babble with some intelligible speech
• Doesn't enjoy being read to
• Doesn't understand "yes" and "no" questions (such as "Are you ready?")
• Doesn't understand simple phrases ("under the table," "in the box")

Warning signs: 25 to 29 months

• Doesn't respond to two-part commands (such as "Sit down and drink your milk")
• Can't answer "what" and "who" questions
• Can't form simple two-word sentences such as "I go"
• Isn't interested in simple stories
• Doesn't understand many action words ("run," "walk," "sit")

Warning signs: 30 to 36 months

• Doesn't understand possessive terms such as "mine" and "yours"
• Can't select things by size (such as "big" and "little")
• Doesn't use any plurals or verbs
• Doesn't ask "what" and "why" questions
• Doesn't understand "not now" or "no more"

If you notice any of the above, talk to a healthcare provider right away so your child doesn't miss a moment of listening and learning.