When your baby is all tucked away in your womb he can hear the sound of your voice and make out other noises, but might not be able to hear exactly what you’re saying. He is too busy growing to understand the world yet. Babies ears are well-developed at birth, but it can take up to six months for a new baby to understand and hear different ranges of sounds. When a baby is born, his ears are filled with fluid and it may take some time for it to clear up. Also, the part of a babies brain that is responsible for hearing is still developing. Keep talking to him, because he love the sound of your voice.
At this stage in Zachary’s life he is always paying close attention to high-pitched sounds. He is very likely to respond to familiar noises like the sound of his parents voices or a song they sing to him often. Loud noises startle him so trying to keep him in a relaxed calm environment is very important.
When Zachary reaches three months the part of his brain that is responsible for hearing, language and smell will be more responsive to a wider range of noises. When Zachary’s Mom and Dad talk to him he will look at them and try to talk back with some cute little baby gurgle noises. Listening is hard for a baby at 3 months, so if you try to read or talk to him and he looks away it’s most likely because she has had enough stimulation for the day. Try again tomorrow.
At four months he will react to sounds with more excitement and might even smile at you when he hears his mom’s voice. He will watch his mom’s mouth move when she talks, try to copy her and might even manage to get out a couple letter sounds. At six or seven months Zachary will start to understand where noises come from and react faster to them.
There are things that Zachary’s parents can do in order to encourage him to listen better and learn new sounds. First, they can try singing to him, or play music for him. Restricting Zachary to children’s songs this young is unnecessary in my opinion. Once he starts learning to talk his parents can be a little more restrictive. For now they should play him all kinds of music, and soon enough they’ll find out what he likes best. For now keeping him happy and making him feel secure is the most important thing they can do for him.
Lastly, they can try reading to him to encourage his listening skills. It will pay off in many ways. Hearing his parents talk will help with his language skills as he gets older. When reading to Zachary changing the tone of your voice with every story keeps him interested and more likely to listen closer. The more someone talks and reads to him the more sounds and words he’ll learn that will help him talk in the months to come.
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