The sound of a baby crying sends moms everywhere into high alert. It’s time to get that baby soothed and her needs taken care of as soon as possible. Every mom has a unique style when it comes to nurturing their baby, but for deaf and hard-of-hearing moms, addressing a crying baby isn’t as simple as just listening.
Deaf mom, Deaf U castmember, and TikTok creator Cheyenna Clearbrook is sharing how she and her partner, who is also deaf, adapt their parenting to address their needs as well as their infant's.
Most parents respond to their babies in the night because they can hear them crying, but that's not possible for Cheyenna and her husband. They have had to find other ways. Cheyenna showed her TikTok followers one of the tools they use to be alerted to crying and sounds while they are sleeping.
The technology, which she says is also travel friendly, consists of a sensor, a receiver, and a vibration component. Cheyenna demonstrates the equipment and signs, “You can see the lights and it vibrates, It is how we wake up to know our baby is crying.”
It's like an extra set of eyes (and ears) on the baby.
Her daytime solution is that of many moms who want to see what their baby is up to: a video baby monitor. “It also recognizes when a baby moves or is making noises,” the Deaf U cast member shares.
She goes on to explain that the colored lights on the monitor indicate the intensity of the baby’s cry. The benefit of having a light/color scale indicating the intensity of the cry, is that it can help you discern whether the baby is talking herself to sleep or is in need of something, like a fresh diaper, change of clothes, bottle, and/or a cuddle.
A lot of commenters thanked Cheyenna for sharing, because they hadn’t ever thought of the scenario at all, while other followers thanked her for sharing the solution.
The video opened the door for some interesting conversations.
“Do deaf/HOH parents have more patience with crying babies because they’re not overstimulated by the noise?” one commenter wondered. They were answered by a deaf mom who replied: “Obviously the crying wouldn’t affect us the way it does you. But seeing your child upset and not being able to help then is also stressful sometimes.”
She then changed the direction of the conversation and asked Cheyenna to explain how she and her husband got a clear view of the baby on camera. Cheyenna replied, “I drill into a middle of the wall and in between of the crib so it gets the full view!”
People who grew up with deaf parents shared their experiences as well.
Cheyanna made another video on the low-tech ways that disabled parents have used to stay engaged throughout the night for people who were asking what deaf parents did before technological advances.
A good portion of answers also came from adult children and friends of deaf parents.
"Technology is so cool! ," one user commented. "My Deaf parents didn’t use anything in the 90s, my mom always said intuition told her!"
“Back then she put the baby monitor really loud under her pillow,” shared one inquisitive commenter who asked her friend’s deaf parents.
“I remember my mom had a set up like that but it was also connected to the doorbell or loud noise sensor,” another commenter wrote.
Some referenced other solutions, like sleeping with their hearing aids in, or for those with a non-deaf partner, having the partner initially roused by the crying. Whether high- or low-tech, love will always find a way.
