Can your baby hear you?
It is sometimes hard to tell, as babies are often pretty good at tuning out many noises.
By three months, your baby will likely begin turning towards some sounds though. And she should respond to at least some loud noises.
Newborn Hearing Tests
While parents often had to rely on their own observations to figure out if their baby could hear them, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics, all babies should now have their hearing tested before they even leave the hospital when they are born.
Did your baby have a hearing test when she was born?
Do you know if she passed?
In addition to universal hearing screening (testing all newborn babies), the AAP recommends that:
- babies who fail their hearing screen in the hospital should be retested
- by three months of age, "appropriate audiological and medical evaluations" be done for babies who continue to fail their hearing tests
- early intervention services should be started as soon as possible and not later than six months of age for infants with a hearing loss
If your baby didn't have a hearing test when she was born or if you are unsure of the results, now would be a good time to discuss this with your pediatrician.
Source: AAP Policy Statement. Year 2007 Position Statement: Principles and Guidelines for Early Hearing Detection and Intervention Programs. Pediatrics 2007 120: 898-921.
