My Favorite Thing To Be: A Mommy

My favorite thing to be in the whole world is Taylor and Aiden’s mommy. Taylor is my precious eight year old daughter. Aiden is my sweet baby boy.

Let me sum up the last 6 months of Aiden’s life:

1. Born with lightening speed. 2. Slept well for a few days. 3. Colic forever. 4. Slept here and there – so so close to having a routine. 5. Earned two bottom teeth and let the world know it. 6. Slept off and on for a good week or two. 7. Ear infection. 8. Slept for 4 consecutive hours last night. 9. Six-month vaccinations (needles) today. Thankfully I do have many pictures of him smiling to prove that there have been those sunshine moments.

As a mommy, an ear infection is a dreadful thief that robs my baby of comfort, rest, and nutrients. He can’t sleep, he doesn’t want to suck, and together we become stuck in a circle of medicine and snuggles and walking the floor.

As a Speech-Language Pathologist, I know that ear infections impact speech and language development. Fluid hides inside the inner ear making it difficult for children to hear specific speech sounds and to pick up on the subtleties of language. If kids suffer repeated infections, especially during the early years of life, they can experience speech or language delays. As a therapist, I have seen tremendous improvements in children who have had their infections resolved, either through the insertion of tubes or by other doctor-supported strategies. If you have concerns about hearing or if your child’s speech and language is not developing as expected, it is a good idea to have a hearing test done by an Audiologist to rule out permanent or temporary hearing loss.

As for Aiden, the doctor told me today that there is still fluid in both ears and that it may stay there for three weeks! That is a long time in a baby’s life to have compromised hearing. I guess I will be singing my lullabies with a little bit more of an edge.

http://www.ed.gov/offices/OERI/ECI/earinfections.pdf (link for ear infections)

http://www.medicinenet.com/ear_tubes/article.htm (link for tubes)

Have a Great Day!

If a school district in your area needs Speech-Language Pathologists, please let me know by email as we at TinyEYE can help!