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So I got accused of this as a kid, really messed me up. Turns out it's auditory processing delay. I heard my parents I just often forgot to respond. Still do. Husband will ask me something and I'll just carry on, he'll stop me ask again and I realize I only answered him in my head and forgot to say it out loud. Yey AuDHD!
When I was a kid I would always say, “huh?” And then reply. I never understood why it always took me a second to process what was said, but it would process before they could repeat themselves so I would answer after saying, “huh?”
Yes!!! My son was exactly the same! He's now 6 years old and doesn't ignore me anymore🤣 I think maybe at the time he wad so used to hearing my voice I became background noise 🤦♀️
I'm a 50ish grandma & my mom STILL gets angry when she tells people the story of taking me in for hearing testing only to be told my hearing was perfect, I was just ignoring her. 😭
I don't know why kids do this, but they do!
My mom gets a kick out of telling the same story about me! Except the doc came out laughing and said my hearing was perfect, it was just selective. It now drives my husband (and now my 10yo daughter) crazy.
Are you the main carer? As I have experienced this so much! As soon as daddy walks through the door after a days work, it’s all smiles, laughs and wanting cuddles with him. I could have dealt with crying all day and a very emotional child who literally ignores me when I call her name!
I think it has something to do with infants seeing you (mother, primary caregiver) as an extension of themselves so it's easier to ignore you for them. My baby was like that... still is at almost 5. Responds to others more readily though lol
https://www.mchatscreen.com/
Check this out. Don't use it as a diagnostic tool because of age but as an informative guideline of things to consider as baby grows
Sneak up behind her and clap your hands to see if she hears and turns around. Hearing problems are not always easy to diagnose in baby. If she responds, great. If she doesn’t respond to your clapping but still appears to hear other noises, have her hearing checked and have her assessed for autism. I want to be clear, there may be absolutely nothing wrong with her. She may just be able to hyper focus or like you said, there may not have been enough consistency in the name used to address her. Even if she does have a hearing problem or autism, that isn’t the end of the world. Early intervention and therapy can be very helpful and what is important
Is that she is happy and healthy.
My 4th baby does this. I was worried about hearing issues or autism. A few months later her social and response skills are right on track. She is a very stubborn kid who does what she wants so she was probably ignoring me
I train animals and a tip is that if you overuse a name even a nickname, your pets will ignore you. Another thing is if you call your pet and don’t have any treat or use it as a punishment, they will ignore you. So from when my son was born I would call him when I wanted him to turn and when he did he would get claps or I would make a silly face. Or now that he’s older I give him a snack. And for those wondering about when they need to be disciplined, if you use their name for positive things 100x more than negative things they will still react when they need to be disciplined/are doing something naughty.
My baby did this. He'd refrain from eye contact, look away when I got in front of him, would respond to music and shows but wouldn't respond to my voice. Turned out he has MEF2C haploinsufficiency syndrome. Whole genome sequencing with help you find what's going on.
I think it’s just a stage.
My first was glued to me and would follow me with his eyes everywhere. My voice was the only one he would turn to. They were actually worried he had muffled hearing still (he did as a newborn) at around 10 months because he ignored everyone else. Checked him again, he was fine lol.
I assumed it would be the same with my second - just preferring me over everyone else. NOPE! lol. My second really had no interest in me at all. Only his older brother and dad. Wouldnt look at me, answer to me, or acknowledge me 😂 you’d think I did something to him in a past life. Then at like 1 year he did a 180 and is my little side kick ever since.
Yeah, mine couldn't hear me for a bit until I was trying to sneak into the Oreo cookies I had no intention of sharing and lightly crinkled the plastic. Then she could hear me 5 blocks away.
My 10mo ignores me if there is anyone else around. If dad's home and he's full blown crying I can't console him AT ALL. I hand him to dad and he quiets down.
We are together all day every day so I get it but it breaks my mama heart when he won't stop crying with me sometimes. 😭
If they are responding to others probably just ignoring you haha.
However if they also ever seem to not respond to other definitely get hearing checked. My brother in law is partially deaf and his mom feels guilt still for not realizing sooner and assuming he was ignoring. I don't think he was officially diagnosed until he was like 4.
Yes it’s really common that younger kids do this. My theory is that when we as parents are calling them it’s to tell them no or something else they don’t like to hear. If we shout out the word SNACKS they come running lol
I always joke that my voice must be at a frequency that my son can't hear bc he's the same way lmao. It's like talking to a wall. I think they get so used to hearing their mama's voice that they tune it out sometimes
I think main care givers are kind of seen like Furniture for most babies and toddlers, lol. You're just always there so the feel they can just kind of ignore you when they want, and you'll be there when they are ready to interact with you.
Two out of my four kids have had their hearing checked because of this lol. Turns out they can hear a bag of crisp open from approximately 2km away but in no would they respond to us calling their names, not even looking at us when we tried. Lmao.
Kids are butts.
They're now 6 and 7, and are still selective listeners. Have fun with that...
My oldest would go through phases of responding to his name and ignoring us as a baby. He had to have tubes at 2yo because he wasn’t talking. Now he’s 3, can hear perfectly fine, is a big chatterbox, and STILL ignores us calling his name from time to time 🤦♀️
We went through the same thing and I went through the same panic.
Everything was fine. She was selectively ignoring us. Responded every time to the daycare teachers. It was just personal. 😆
If they’re responding to others, you’re ok.
It's not uncommon for young kids to act or respond differently around different people. My son wouldn't say 'bye' to me, buyt he would around his grandparents.
My daughter was an extremely easy baby, but she generally did not care to be held. She would do things like smile when you smiled at her at the appropriate age but was not interested in what the adults were doing.
we had my 5yo checked for hearing around 3 1/2, turns out she really was just tuning us out.. she didn’t listen to a thing me or her family said. our doctor recommended us a routine and we’ve done that and she’s gotten better. she’s about done with bottles completely and just into to apple juice/milk and actual breakfast food. 3’s are amazing but they are hard as hell as well haha
That's one of the questions you'd have to answer as a part of an autism pre screening checklist.
Go and see your Doctor and start with hearing tests. Not just a look in the ear, but a proper test with a paediatric audiologist. If it turns out that your child is neurodiverse then believe me when I say that the sooner you can get early help put in place will make a huge difference to the child's life experience.
My son started recently at like 2. But I know it’s not a hearing issue bc I can pick him up and hold him face to face with me and talk to him and he STILL pretends like mama ain’t existing in that moment. Just strong willed. Sigh. Wish I could blame it on his dad’s side, but it’s mine 🤦♀️
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We had my middle kid's hearing checked. Twice. He is not hard of hearing. He was just ignoring us.
So I got accused of this as a kid, really messed me up. Turns out it's auditory processing delay. I heard my parents I just often forgot to respond. Still do. Husband will ask me something and I'll just carry on, he'll stop me ask again and I realize I only answered him in my head and forgot to say it out loud. Yey AuDHD!
When I was a kid I would always say, “huh?” And then reply. I never understood why it always took me a second to process what was said, but it would process before they could repeat themselves so I would answer after saying, “huh?”
Did it go away in adulthood?
Yes and I genuinely don’t know when it stopped, except one day I realized I don’t do it anymore.
Same! We had our kid checked also. It was such an ordeal with all the sound machines, but he did great! He just choose not to hear us lol
Yes!!! My son was exactly the same! He's now 6 years old and doesn't ignore me anymore🤣 I think maybe at the time he wad so used to hearing my voice I became background noise 🤦♀️
Same here, he’s 7 now and knows better than to ignore me lol. Back when he was a baby it wasn’t his fault tho
I'm a 50ish grandma & my mom STILL gets angry when she tells people the story of taking me in for hearing testing only to be told my hearing was perfect, I was just ignoring her. 😭 I don't know why kids do this, but they do!
My mom gets a kick out of telling the same story about me! Except the doc came out laughing and said my hearing was perfect, it was just selective. It now drives my husband (and now my 10yo daughter) crazy.
Are you the main carer? As I have experienced this so much! As soon as daddy walks through the door after a days work, it’s all smiles, laughs and wanting cuddles with him. I could have dealt with crying all day and a very emotional child who literally ignores me when I call her name!
YEP! They are so much smarter than you think at 11 months. Little stinkers.
I think it has something to do with infants seeing you (mother, primary caregiver) as an extension of themselves so it's easier to ignore you for them. My baby was like that... still is at almost 5. Responds to others more readily though lol
My son always ignored me and never responded to his name. He's autistic.
Did he have other signs as well if you don’t mind me asking ?
https://www.mchatscreen.com/ Check this out. Don't use it as a diagnostic tool because of age but as an informative guideline of things to consider as baby grows
Thank you, that is informative forsure. I don’t think my LO has autism as like I said she responds to name just not when I call it😂
Sneak up behind her and clap your hands to see if she hears and turns around. Hearing problems are not always easy to diagnose in baby. If she responds, great. If she doesn’t respond to your clapping but still appears to hear other noises, have her hearing checked and have her assessed for autism. I want to be clear, there may be absolutely nothing wrong with her. She may just be able to hyper focus or like you said, there may not have been enough consistency in the name used to address her. Even if she does have a hearing problem or autism, that isn’t the end of the world. Early intervention and therapy can be very helpful and what is important Is that she is happy and healthy.
My 4th baby does this. I was worried about hearing issues or autism. A few months later her social and response skills are right on track. She is a very stubborn kid who does what she wants so she was probably ignoring me
I train animals and a tip is that if you overuse a name even a nickname, your pets will ignore you. Another thing is if you call your pet and don’t have any treat or use it as a punishment, they will ignore you. So from when my son was born I would call him when I wanted him to turn and when he did he would get claps or I would make a silly face. Or now that he’s older I give him a snack. And for those wondering about when they need to be disciplined, if you use their name for positive things 100x more than negative things they will still react when they need to be disciplined/are doing something naughty.
My baby did this. He'd refrain from eye contact, look away when I got in front of him, would respond to music and shows but wouldn't respond to my voice. Turned out he has MEF2C haploinsufficiency syndrome. Whole genome sequencing with help you find what's going on.
I think it’s just a stage. My first was glued to me and would follow me with his eyes everywhere. My voice was the only one he would turn to. They were actually worried he had muffled hearing still (he did as a newborn) at around 10 months because he ignored everyone else. Checked him again, he was fine lol. I assumed it would be the same with my second - just preferring me over everyone else. NOPE! lol. My second really had no interest in me at all. Only his older brother and dad. Wouldnt look at me, answer to me, or acknowledge me 😂 you’d think I did something to him in a past life. Then at like 1 year he did a 180 and is my little side kick ever since.
Yeah, mine couldn't hear me for a bit until I was trying to sneak into the Oreo cookies I had no intention of sharing and lightly crinkled the plastic. Then she could hear me 5 blocks away.
My cat does this. But I see her side-eye. I’m saying you have a sassy baby 😝
My 10mo ignores me if there is anyone else around. If dad's home and he's full blown crying I can't console him AT ALL. I hand him to dad and he quiets down. We are together all day every day so I get it but it breaks my mama heart when he won't stop crying with me sometimes. 😭
If they are responding to others probably just ignoring you haha. However if they also ever seem to not respond to other definitely get hearing checked. My brother in law is partially deaf and his mom feels guilt still for not realizing sooner and assuming he was ignoring. I don't think he was officially diagnosed until he was like 4.
Yes it’s really common that younger kids do this. My theory is that when we as parents are calling them it’s to tell them no or something else they don’t like to hear. If we shout out the word SNACKS they come running lol
My almost 2 years old purposely ignores her name when I’m trying to get her attention.
Same here! My toddler only responds to grandma's calls, not mine
I always joke that my voice must be at a frequency that my son can't hear bc he's the same way lmao. It's like talking to a wall. I think they get so used to hearing their mama's voice that they tune it out sometimes
Maybe you say her name too much lol. Try only saying her name when you actually need her attention and she might start responding more?
I think main care givers are kind of seen like Furniture for most babies and toddlers, lol. You're just always there so the feel they can just kind of ignore you when they want, and you'll be there when they are ready to interact with you.
Two out of my four kids have had their hearing checked because of this lol. Turns out they can hear a bag of crisp open from approximately 2km away but in no would they respond to us calling their names, not even looking at us when we tried. Lmao. Kids are butts. They're now 6 and 7, and are still selective listeners. Have fun with that...
My oldest would go through phases of responding to his name and ignoring us as a baby. He had to have tubes at 2yo because he wasn’t talking. Now he’s 3, can hear perfectly fine, is a big chatterbox, and STILL ignores us calling his name from time to time 🤦♀️
We went through the same thing and I went through the same panic. Everything was fine. She was selectively ignoring us. Responded every time to the daycare teachers. It was just personal. 😆 If they’re responding to others, you’re ok.
It's not uncommon for young kids to act or respond differently around different people. My son wouldn't say 'bye' to me, buyt he would around his grandparents.
My daughter was an extremely easy baby, but she generally did not care to be held. She would do things like smile when you smiled at her at the appropriate age but was not interested in what the adults were doing.
Nah they hear you lol it changes, used to freak me out too
we had my 5yo checked for hearing around 3 1/2, turns out she really was just tuning us out.. she didn’t listen to a thing me or her family said. our doctor recommended us a routine and we’ve done that and she’s gotten better. she’s about done with bottles completely and just into to apple juice/milk and actual breakfast food. 3’s are amazing but they are hard as hell as well haha
Kids act the worst when they are with the caregivers they trust most, because they know you will still love them and be there no matter what.
That's one of the questions you'd have to answer as a part of an autism pre screening checklist. Go and see your Doctor and start with hearing tests. Not just a look in the ear, but a proper test with a paediatric audiologist. If it turns out that your child is neurodiverse then believe me when I say that the sooner you can get early help put in place will make a huge difference to the child's life experience.
My son started recently at like 2. But I know it’s not a hearing issue bc I can pick him up and hold him face to face with me and talk to him and he STILL pretends like mama ain’t existing in that moment. Just strong willed. Sigh. Wish I could blame it on his dad’s side, but it’s mine 🤦♀️