Children younger than 2 years of age were initially excluded from cochlear
implant candidacy for a variety of reasons. Reasons ranged from concerns ab
out the reliability of the diagnosis of a profound hearing loss in very you
ng children, to concerns about surgical safety and long-term durability of
the device in a growing child. Results from several recent studies have sho
wn that children younger than 2 years of age can safely and successfully be
implanted. Provided this success, and the general agreement that early rem
ediation of a hearing loss provides a greater potential for speech and lang
uage development, implantation of very young children may soon become the n
orm rather than the exception. This article discusses the issues related to
the implantation of young children and the need for special tools and prot
ocols to use with this population.