Ways of Stimulating Your Baby's Hearing

Communication is the main tool we possess as individuals who belong to a society. And more so for those who have just seen the world for the first time. For this reason, stimulating a baby’s hearing is of fundamental importance.

Babies’ sense of hearing allows them to perceive the sounds that surround them. Unlike sight, they can receive information and stay connected, regardless of the effort they make.

A baby’s hearing

In newborn babies, this is the most developed sense of the five. From when they’re in the fetus, they’re able to perceive sounds and absorb information. Subsequently, at birth, they respond to sounds with slight movements of the head and eyes as they try to figure out where they are coming from.

For this reason, from the beginning, the baby will pay more attention to the sounds he perceives from the outside world. And above all, the sounds that are familiar to him, such as the sound of his mother’s voice. Likewise, babies are likely to be surprised by high and surprising tones in the voices they hear.

Ways of stimulating your baby’s hearing

However, the main benefits are achieved by stimulating the baby’s hearing. To achieve this it’s essential that parents talk constantly to their children.

There are different ways to carry out this stimulation of the baby’s sense of hearing. The main objective is for babies to be able to get to know the world around them and to get in tune with their everyday emotions.

Classical music for newborn babies

Classical music has positive effects for people of all ages. This is also the case for babies and young children. Among its benefits is to achieve a state of tranquility and relaxation, which helps them to externalize their emotions and balance them with reality.

Therefore, listening to this type of music is very effective for reducing the tension that can occur in babies, and is especially helpful at bedtime.

Speak clearly and slowly

You should speak to your baby slowly, pronouncing your words clearly. By doing this, the baby becomes familiar with the different voices and it helps him acquire an understanding of language.

Reading

Your baby is fascinated by the sound of voices, even if he doesn’t understand what is being said. However, you can start reading him stories, tales or rhymes out loud. 

Just listening to them will completely absorb your baby. This is even more beneficial if the reading is done in a cheerful, calm and attractive tone.

Making sounds with objects

To help a child understand the words better, you can point out the names of the different objects as you walk with him, either around the house, or in a specific place that your baby will like. This is a very useful activity for stimulating your baby’s sense of hearing.

A good example is to use a clock, and express onomatopoeic sounds like “tic-toc.” Or, in the case of a cat or a dog, “miaow” or “woof.” This stimulates both your baby’s sense of hearing and abstract thinking.

Once the baby has identified the sound with the object that has been shown to him, he will be able to link the two. From then on, whenever he hears that sound, he’ll look for the object with his eyes without having to have it in front of him. The objective has been achieved, and he’ll be able to identify the object easily.

Making funny faces

Talking to the baby, and making funny, exaggerated faces and gestures makes it possible to relate the word or gesture with the meaning more quickly. This understanding increases if you change your voice regularly.

Many of these ways of stimulating the baby’s hearing help him work and develop his other senses at the same time. These multi-sensory activities will help the child connect with, and start to understand, his environment.

Another important consideration is that all these activities also help us detect anomalies in babies. This is of great importance, as treating hearing defects or problems at an early age will increase the chances of correcting them in the long term.