Common mistakes parents make that lead to their child becoming deaf

Everyday habits of parents are inadvertently causing their child to become deaf. Parents, take a look at the following habits to avoid.

1. Pinching the baby's cheeks

Infants are adorable with their chubby cheeks. It's something that everyone loves and wants to pinch for fun. However, few mothers realize that frequently pinching a baby's cheeks with force can greatly increase the risk of deafness. Since newborns are not fully developed, their organs are fragile and easily damaged. Particularly, pinching the cheeks can affect the development of the ears, causing damage to the ear canal, which could lead to perforation of the eardrum in babies.

2. Overcleaning a child's ears

Being afraid of dirty ears is a common habit among many mothers, leading to frequently cleaning a child's ears. In reality, during the development and maturation of the ear canal, earwax will naturally be pushed out. Except for some cases where earwax is not pushed out and sticks to the ear canal, only then should you clean a child's ears.

Usually, if you're cleaning a child's ears yourself, you should only clean in areas you can see. Avoid trying to insert cotton swabs deep into the ear as it may accidentally push earwax deeper, introduce bacteria into the ear, cause scratches in the ear canal, puncture the eardrum... All of these pose a risk of deafness for the child.

3. Blowing a child's nose too forcefully

A child blowing their nose too forcefully can also affect their ears

Allowing a child to blow their nose incorrectly and too forcefully can risk causing ear ringing, middle ear infections, and significant hearing loss. Most parents fail to teach their children proper nose blowing techniques, often allowing them to blow instinctively. However, young children don't understand the concept and when they say 'blow nose,' they'll blow quickly and forcefully, sometimes not even blowing all the mucus out and swallowing it instead.

When teaching a child how to blow their nose, parents should instruct them to blow gently from one nostril while closing the other nostril with their hand. This way, mucus can easily exit without affecting the ears.

2. Nursing while lying down and using a bottle simultaneously

This is a common habit among many mothers when feeding their child with a bottle. Most mothers feed their child lying down, especially when the baby is sleepy or during midnight feedings. Feeding while lying down may be convenient for the mother but harmful for the child, as milk can accidentally flow into the ear canal, causing ear inflammation, middle ear infections, and leading to deafness if not treated promptly.

Therefore, for mothers who bottle-feed their babies, if feeding lying down, it's advisable to elevate the baby's head with a pillow to prevent milk from flowing into the ear.

5. Incorrectly exposing children to music

The auditory system of newborns is not fully developed, so exposing children to music incorrectly can also affect their hearing. For example, many mothers play music too loudly or take their child to places with loud music such as parties, karaoke, etc. Additionally, when the child is in the womb, exposing them to loud music by placing headphones on the mother's belly or playing music too loudly can also affect the child's hearing.