Babies hear quite well, but not perfectly. The hearing system is still immature, the area of the brain associated with hearing has yet to develop, and infants respond better to high-pitched and loud sounds.
They already recognize their mother's voice: they have learned to distinguish it already in the belly from all the others. As he grows, he will acquire more and more hearing skills about the world around him.
Read also: Newborn hearing, do you recognize the voice of mom and dad?In this article
- When to worry about your baby's hearing
- The stages of the development of hearing in the newborn,
- How to encourage the child to listen.
When to worry about your newborn's hearing
See your pediatrician if your baby does not respond to high-pitched sounds or does not react to the sound of your voice in the first few months of life. In case there will be a need for a screening to understand the hearing level of the child.
Read also: Hearing, does your child hear well?
The stages of the development of the newborn's hearing
At birth
From birth, the baby pays attention to the sounds around him, especially the high-pitched ones. He responds to familiar sounds, such as mom and dad's voice, a lullaby, or songs you sing more often. He may be frightened by loud and unexpected sounds.
Three months
The brain area that deals with listening, speech and smell will be more receptive. The child, when he hears your voice, may look at you and try to answer you by making verses.
But it is good to know that listening to yourself and at the same time, for example, taking milk can be hard work for a three-month-old baby. If he looks the other way or loses concentration while talking to him, it's not necessarily because he doesn't hear you. He may have received too much stimulation.
A quarter of a month
At four months, the baby reacts excitedly to sounds and may smile when he hears your voice. He is likely to start looking closely at your mouth when you speak and try to copy you. He is also likely to start pronouncing consonant sounds like "m" and "b".
At six months
At six or seven months, the baby understands where the sounds are coming from and quickly turns to new ones. He is also able to react to faint noises as long as he is not distracted.
A 12 mesi
When the baby is one year old, he is able to recognize his favorite songs. He might even try singing them!
Read also: The growth of the baby, the stages from 0 to 12 monthsHow to encourage the child to listen
Encouraging the child's ability to listen is possible: There are many things you can do to help him recognize and learn new sounds. You can, for example, sing nursery rhymes or play an instrument. The child will be delighted with the sounds, so you don't have to limit yourself to specific songs for children. Share your favorite music with him.
You may notice that the baby seems to like some sounds more than others: he is starting to develop his tastes. Even the sound of bells or the ticking of a clock can entertain the little one.
Reading to your child, no matter how small, also has great benefits. Hearing you speak will help her language skills.
Try varying the pitch of your voice or singing as you read the stories, making them even more fun. The more you talk and read to him, the more sounds and words he will learn, waiting for the moment when he will start talking.
Sources for this article:
Babycentre.co.uk
Webmd.com
Read also: The stages of the child's development, from birth to 6 yearsTAG:
- first year
- child development
- newborn 0-3 months
