Topic Overview

Fluid may remain in the middle ear (serous otitis, or middle ear effusion) after your child has an ear infection. This may not cause symptoms, or it may cause a muffling of sound, decreased hearing, and mild discomfort. The body usually reabsorbs fluid behind the eardrum within 2 to 4 months, and hearing returns to normal.

It may be hard to tell if a child has a hearing problem, especially children age 3 and younger. The following may help you check your child's hearing at age:

• Birth to 3 months.
• 4 to 6 months.
• 7 months to 1 year.
• 1 to 2 years.
• 2 to 4 years.
• 4 years and older.

Your child may have a hearing problem if he or she is not responding to voices or sounds as well as in the past and other symptoms of a cold or ear infection have gotten better or gone away.