Your child's hearing is very important and should be
watched carefully. If detected early, hearing loss or problems
in children can be prevented from developing into something more serious
as they grow. The following is a list of hearing milestones
your child should reach. If they do not reach these, a hearing
test is recommended.
-
At birth, babies
awake and/or startle to loud sounds. They make pleasurable sounds
and respond or hush to a caregiver's voice.
-
By three months,
babies will watch a speaking parent's face, smile when spoken to,
and repeat cooing sounds.
-
From 4 to 6
months, infants will respond to changes in a parent's tone of voice,
look for the source of sounds like dogs barking or doorbells
ringing, and babble or use simple sounds.
-
From 7 to 12
months, toddlers will begin to recognize words for common items, enjoy
games like peek-a-boo, and begin to make speech sounds and use
one or two words.
-
From 1 to 2
years, a child will point to objects by name, follow simple commands
like "roll the ball", begin to ask simple questions
and use more words each month.
-
From 2 to 3
years, children understand differences like "in and out",
follow two-part requests like "get the ball and put it
on the table," can name most objects and use short sentences.
In addition to watching for these milestones, it is also
important to be aware of the risk factors for hearing loss in children:
- Parent or guardian concern about hearing,
speech or language development
- Family history of childhood hearing
loss
- Infections the mother had during pregnancy,
such as syphilis, herpes and rubella
- Bacterial meningitis
- Misshapen ears, and ear "tags"
or "pits", or cleft palate
- Serious infection or illness needing
treatment in a neonatal intensive care unit
- Head injury with a skull fracture or
loss of consciousness
- Repeated or long-term presence of fluid
in the eardrum for at least three months
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