Late walker/talker and ear tubes

alr5k

DS is now 17 months old and is not walking independently yet. He does cruise with furniture, will stand for a few minutes at a time, and pushes around his little walker all over the house though. He has had many ear infections this year though including the fifth one we are currently treating. I have had to fight our pediatrician and now i finally have a referral to take him to an ENT to talk about the possibility of tubes. I was just wondering if any of you also had late walkers and talkers. A nurse practitioner at our Ped's office said to us that these ear infections could be effecting DS's balance, preventing him from walking independently walking. Also she said that the fluid in his ear could be effecting his hearing preventing him from talking. Also if anyone has done tubes for any of their children can you shed some light on the improvements you saw?

ambmama

I don't have advice on the walking/talking, but DS had 4 or 5 ear infections in a row so he got tubes in April. He hasn't had an ear infection once since, and now that I think about it, I do think he's talking more (and definitely repeats more of what we say). I was extremely nervous about the tubes but it really has been such a relief to have him happy, no spiking fevers, and no more 10 day antibiotics!  Good luck!

chrissynena

I have a late walker/talker with tubes. DD had tubes put in last October, she still had a lot of problems with her ears until late January. She didn't start walking til 15.5 months, and is just now starting to say more sounds. She doesn't say any full words at all. She does however communicate very well. Good luck!

jobiann

I have been told that LO's with several ear infections can have issue with balance and will be late talkers as well. DS had 6 ear infections in 15 months so he had tubes put in last month. He however walked just fine from 13 months on and is talking up a storm for several months now. 

The improvements we have seen is that he so far (knock on cyber wood) does not get ear infections any longer. He does seem to hear a bit better, but I also think he has that famous man hearing issue called selective hearing...

Las135

Luckily DS has only had one ear infection, BUT I struggled with ear issues when I was younger.  I had a terrible time with walking, balance was off, and a little behind with talking compared to my peers.  My mom said I would sit 2 feet in front of the TV with the volume blasted, and I talked extremely loud because I couldn't hear myself. It wasn't until kindergarten when my parents finally were able to get the go-ahead for tubes after they found out that I was only hearing at 25%.  

What a difference they made, and I made strides as far as catching up to my peers and not falling over when walking. I remember having the tubes replaced multiple times the last time being 14, and never having a bad experience. They were a life-saver for me.