Baby Hearing Development - Step-by-Step Development from Newborn to Five Months

Hearing is a sense that is important to a baby's understanding of their world. It allows them to identify who is in the room with them, if there is danger approaching, if it is day or night and it is used to develop communication skills. Since hearing plays such an important role in child development it is important to monitor how your baby's hearing is developing, especially during his first year of life.

Newborn Hearing

At birth a baby can hear, however, their hearing is not mature. It will take about a month before hearing is fully mature. During this first month your baby will respond to the sounds that are the easiest for them to hear, namely high pitched sounds and voices. This is why many newborns will respond more to their mother's voice as opposed to their father's voice, which will tend to be lower. As the baby learns the sounds in her environment she will start to recognize common sounds like your voice, the sound of the dishwasher or the sound of the family dog.

Three Months

At three months a baby is actively processing new sounds and categorizing familiar sounds. At this age their temporal lobe, which is the part of the brain that is responsible for hearing and language processing, becomes much more active. As a result your baby will start to link specific sounds, particular speech, with communication. This is a new skill that is difficult to learn, so baby's can become overwhelmed when bombarded with lots of voices or new sounds. When they become overwhelmed it is common for the baby to turn away from a sound as opposed to turning towards the sound.

Five Months

At the age of five months your baby will respond to new sounds by turning towards them. They will also be able to recognize a lot of the sounds in their world. They will be able to connect specific sounds with specific people or objects. They will also be able to recognize their name and will turn towards you when you call their name.

Baby Hearing Problems

A baby's hearing is nearly perfect at birth. However, it takes a while for the baby to figure out how to decode the information that they are taking in through their ears. If your baby has a hearing problem then you may notice that they are not responding appropriately to sounds, or that they are not responding at all to sounds. If you suspect that your baby may have a hearing problem then you need to get their hearing screened as soon as possible. A baby's hearing problems can be treated if caught early, and the results will be better if they can be caught before the baby turns three months old.

References

http://kidshealth.org/parent/general/eyes/hear.html

http://www.babycentre.co.uk/baby/development/hearing/