Your Baby’s Hearing Test: Questions and Answers
Parents who learn how to perform a fast and easy checkup on baby’s hearing will know when it’s time to find medical answers for any potential concerns.
They’ll also know when baby is developing just fine — and everyone can relax and get back to the fun stuff.
Yesterday’s blog post covered why it’s important to check on your child’s hearing. Today’s post tells you how to test your child’s hearing at home.
Your baby won’t know you’re checking up on him. He’ll just think he has, and deserves, your undivided attention. Again.
It is important to administer a developmentally-appropriate hearing test, based on the maturation of your child’s auditory response.
Here’s a quick guide to matching the checkup to baby’s physical growth:
Newborn
At birth, the middle ear has not finished maturing. Newborns don’t hear as well as they will once the amniotic fluid in the ears dries up. (Is that what people mean when they say “still wet behind the ears?”)
How to screen: First observe. How does your baby respond to sound? If loud noises startle your newborn, and if he cries at loud sounds, as well as attempting to turn his head toward the source of the sound, then his response is on track. You can perform the simplest check with a few claps of your hands, about 3-6 feet away from your baby. Your infant should blink, or startle, or react as previously described.
Settled baby (3-6 months old)
Even young infants detect and prefer the human voice. To check his hearing, call out to him at a time that he 1) cannot see you, and 2) isn’t busy with a new toy or fascinating activity. Ringing a bell will work too. Milestones: At 3 -4 months, your baby will improve his ability to turn in the general direction of a sound. By 7 months, he’ll be able to find it with his eyes, if the sound is beside him (as opposed to behind or below him).
Older baby (8 months to 1 year)
By his first birthday, your child will respond to his name, enjoy toys that stimulate his hearing, and imitate your speaking patterns. To check hearing, you can use your voice to call baby’s name, or you might use a rattle or other attention-grabbing sound. From about 3 feet away, baby will turn toward a familiar sound. The key Milestone here is that your infant is now able to localize a sound he hears by either side, or below him.
The hearing connection is such a big part of development that infants who hear more words (from real people — not recorded voices or television) grow up to be toddlers who score higher on tests of intelligence and social competence.
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Carly Jennings | Language Development | 
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