Develop your baby's hearing!

Babies use their ears to take in massive amounts of information about the world around them. Hearing also enables them to learn language and stimulates brain development.

The inner ear is fully developed by about 20 weeks of pregnancy, and babies are born with fully developed hearing – so your baby is ready to listen and learn from the get-go.

From birth, babies pay close attention to voices, especially high-pitched ones. Your baby will respond to familiar sounds (like you or your partner talking) and probably be startled by loud or unexpected noises.

How your baby responds to sounds depends in part on temperament. A more sensitive baby may jump at every little noise, for example, while a calmer baby may take more sounds in stride.

By around 2 months, most babies get quiet when they hear familiar voices and make vowel sounds like ohh. Don't worry if your baby sometimes looks away while you're talking or reading to them, but do tell their doctor if he/she doesn't seem to respond to your voice at all or doesn't get startled by sounds in the environment.

At about 4 months, babies start to look for the source of a sound, and by 6 months they try to imitate sounds. By 8 months, they babble and respond to changes in tone of voice. By your baby's first birthday, they'll probably say single words like "ma-ma" and "da-da" and respond to their own name.

Your baby will continue to use hearing to make sense of the world and to learn to communicate.

Even though the sense of hearing is up and running at birth, the portions of the brain that respond to complex sounds and attach meaning to what is heard continue to develop until about age 12.

To develop baby's hearing, what could be better than music? But not only nursery rhymes for kids! Your baby will appreciate soft words, lullabies and gentle music, especially when you combine it with kisses, cuddles and rocking movements. As soon as they're able to, let your little bundle of joy deafen you with drums, maracas, xylophones, pianos, trumpets, etc. It's a great way for them to develop their hearing. And who knows, you might have a future Mozart living under your roof!

Playing with your baby, use special musical toys. Make a photo of your activity and upload it to the App. Write some words your little one's favourite melodies and toys.