Lullabies, laughs and cries: How your baby’s Hearing develops?
Have you ever wondered what littles one can hear? I remember when I would sing to my babies I often wondered if they could tell the difference between my hums and my words. (And if one was more effective than the other to get then to sleep 🤞) In this blog we will sound out some interesting facts about baby’s auditory development and make your queries about those tiny ears feel heard.
When my little ones entered the world, I found myself immediately intune to their cries. It felt as though my ears were already trained to regognise my baby's unique pitch and make my brain (and breasts *laugh face* *milk splash*) respond. I also started to wonder if their ears were as sensitive to this new auditory landscape as mine were.
Long before they’re born… Hearing in utero
A baby's ability to hear arrives well before they do.
From around 7 months in utero they can hear distinct sounds such as their mother’s heartbeat or her voice or the voice of people close to them like their father, siblings or grandparents. Every mother speaks to their little person in waiting.
”Can’t wait to meet you.”
“Go easy on me please”.
✅ Top Tip: playing music or chiming a bell near your baby in your belly will sometimes make them kick and squirm.
It’s noisy out here! The outside world.
While they can hear nearly as well as adults almost from birth, babies overall auditory system takes a 2-3 months to develop. They have no context for sounds in the outside world. So in the initial weeks, newborns are gradually attuning to the sounds around them. Their responses will be mainly instinctive, responding to familiar or stimulating (often loud) sounds. They’ll be soothed by their mother’s voice and loud noises will wake them up.
✅ Top Tip: Gentle conversations and soothing lullabies are perfect. Your baby will be drawn to the cadence of your voice, laying the groundwork for language development and fostering a sense of security.
Tuning in and out. Sound discrimination
Learning the difference between different sounds is a major stage of development. A baby's efforts to distinguish between various sounds are fascinating and essential for their cognitive development. Think of them learning for the first time what a voice or phone ringing sounds like, or how to hear the wind blowing in the background. To support this stage, introduce a variety of auditory stimuli such as soft music, nature sounds, and even your own soothing hums. These experiences contribute to their growing ability to differentiate between different tones and pitches.
✅ Top Tip: if you’re live nearby to some nature, a short walk at dawn or dusk can give your baby a beautiful introduction to birdsong. Sunlight is also very important to our natural body clock or Circadian rhythm. Evening light can help let little ones know its time to wind down and sleep (hopefully 🤞).
Speak your mind! Language and speech development
Speech and language are hugely important and specialised subjects so I can’t do them justice here. Instead I’ll highlight a few insights from the early days, some tips that will help your newborn, and where you can learn more.
Knowing that our baby’s hearing functions well before they’re born it’s never too early (or too late) to start helping them. Everything you say to them and they hear contribute to their comprehension of language. Create an environment with spoken words, simple rhymes, and soft spoken stories. Try talking them through all and any day-to-day activities. For example: “We are going to get you dressed now. One arm out, then the next arm. Well done. Out it pops. Over it goes” Or “Good morning. The sun is up. Let’s get you up.” Greater exposure enhances their language skills but will also nurture a sense of comfort and connection.
✅ Top Tip: speech and language development is an incredibly important and detailed topic of its own. I can’t do it justice hear so recommend you do some wider reading. You can start with this guide from the Raising Children Network on Baby Language Development 3-12 months.
Where did that come from? Tracking & Spatial Awareness
From 3-6 months, your baby will begin noticing the source of sounds and turning their head towards them. They’ll understand that sound comes from various directions too. As you notice this you can encourage their auditory tracking skills. Experiment with soft rattles or gentle musical toys placed strategically around them. Just out of eye-line or behind them for example. This not only stimulates their auditory senses but also reinforces the connection between sound and its origin. The more they practice, the more adept they become at identifying and locating sounds in their environment.
A more advanced approach to this is to play and experiment with them with many different sounds. A box of mini musical instruments like rattles or tambourines or harmonicas is a small but brilliant addition to your toys.
✅ Top Tip: This stage of development is very closely aligned eyesight tracking and with overall spacial awareness. Your play can incorporate both elements. Showing them a toy that makes a sound, or making the sound with the toy where they can’t see it. This helps their two way understanding of what sounds come from what objects and finding the objects that are making sounds. (We’ll talk a lot more about this in our blogs on Touch.)
What next?
Now you know more about what your little one is hearing, listening to and learning, we’ll explore how they learn to Touch the world around them (and touch our souls along the way 😊).
Look after your little one. Look after yourself.
Juliet. 💛