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Cochlear Implants For Kids & Growing Up With a CI

A cochlear implant can help your child succeed in school, make friends, and reach their full potential

Hearing better with an Advanced Bionics CI is a journey.

As your child becomes familiar with the way the CI sounds, they will learn very quickly—hearing and recognizing if it’s speech or a car honking. 

And Advanced Bionics will always be there for your child and your family when you have questions or run into problems. We even offer free and comprehensive educational tools to help speed up your child’s journey to better hearing.  

Visit HearingJourney.com to chat with other families who have chosen the AB CI, and learn about their experiences.





What age can a child get a cochlear implant?

Regulatory agencies approve cochlear implants as young as 12 months old. Your hearing healthcare team can help you decide when is the best time for your child to get a cochlear implant.

Your child’s implantation surgery, activation, and beyond 

To hear with a cochlear implant, the implant is placed inside the inner ear through surgery. While any type of surgery has risks, it is important to know that complications are extremely rare. Keep in mind that the surgery is a quick part of the process, and that hundreds of thousands of children and adults have had it all around the world. Most of them go home after the surgery the same day, or the very next day. 

Usually, two to four weeks after the surgery, your child’s CI will be activated, or “switched on” at the audiologist’s office. That’s when they’ll begin to hear with their new CI!

This is a very exciting and emotional step. During this appointment, the audiologist will also show you how to use and take care of your child’s CI.  

After that, follow-up programming to improve your child’s hearing is typically scheduled in the next weeks and months. Long-term, your child will have regular check-ups to ensure they’re getting the most out of the implant. 


Built for all of life’s adventures 

Getting a cochlear implant is only the beginning of your child’s hearing journey. Their needs will change as they grow, and their AB CI will always have the flexibility to meet their needs.

The Advanced Bionics and Phonak teams are on top of the latest innovations, so as technology gets better, your child’s hearing will get better, too

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Every Child is Different

If your child has special needs besides hearing loss, we offer specially designed tools and technologies that will meet your child’s unique needs. 

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Babies & Toddlers

Helping your baby learn early language and communication skills through play is very important. Our waterproof battery and Slim HP AquaMic™ allow your baby to learn during bath time and at the swimming pool. 

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(Pre) School Aged Kids

Our CI’s RogerDirect™ helps your child hear the teacher’s voice directly in their ears, even when the classroom is noisy. 

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Teens

Sky CI M offers direct connectivity with virtually any Bluetooth®-enabled device like phones, tablets, and computers. This keeps them learning, connected, and prepared for more independence and responsibilities.


In other words, her implants transformed her entire life, not just her hearing.

AB’s cochlear implant technology not only gave Bina the ability to hear, it gave her the ability to speak, express herself, form relationships, become employed, and have a bright future. In other words, her implants transformed her entire life, not just her hearing.

– Bill Treasurer, father to Bina, who grew up with two AB CIs.

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Improving hearing connecting lives 

Besides technology, AB offers lots of resources to help your child learn to hear and reach their full potential.

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Hearing Success

The free Hearing Success portal includes information, activities, and resources to help you become your child’s best advocate, teacher, and coach.

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AB Connections

AB Connections is our blog where you’ll find stories written by CI experts, parents of children with CIs, and adult CI wearers. There are articles about their hearing journeys, and helpful information on hearing loss and cochlear implant technology.

Don’t forget to subscribe to the blog, so that you will know when a new article is posted.

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AB Community

The best information and help often comes from people who have been there before. Join the AB Community of families just like yours. You can be connected to a mentor to learn more about their family’s journey to better hearing, so you never have to go at it alone

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Event Calendar

We offer a range of events, both in-person and virtual, to share information on hearing loss, hearing solutions, and resources. Browse our Events Calendar and join us at a free event with our team of trained hearing professionals and network of mentors.

For those of you considering a cochlear implant for yourself, a loved one, or a child, you should know that you are not alone out there.

"For those of you considering a cochlear implant for yourself, a loved one, or a child, you should know that you are not alone out there. There are people who are willing to listen, share, and possibly give you the answer that you’ve been looking for. "

– Jack Leisure, AB CI wearer and mentor