What does a newborn baby hear?

Question, when the newborn begins to hear, it is not uncommon, since the toddler is not yet able to communicate with us verbally. Does the newborn hear from birth?? How does a tiny child perceive acoustic stimuli and when does the sense of hearing actually develop? Can you indicate sounds and sounds for babieswhich are especially important to them? How does the voice and the way the parents speak affect them? Find out not only what the newborn can hear and the baby, but also how his sensitivity to the voice of his loved ones develops and what is the purpose of speech directed to the child.

Newly-baked parents are not always sure does the newborn hear - and if so, then co. Only they get to know the toddler's behavior and learn his reaction, so sometimes they have doubts and wonder when actually the baby begins to hear. It's known that do the toddler arrives different soundsbut it is the voice of mom and dad that is one of the most important baby sounds. Below, we explain why this is and why communicating with the youngest in a special way is important for their well-being and proper development.

Can the baby hear?

The answer to the question of whether a newborn can hear is most positive. Toddlers not only hear, but they can distinguish between sounds and react to them. Nay - from birth, they easily distinguish human voice from other sounds, recognize parents' voices and react to their speech. 

The fact that newborn babies are able to recognize their parents' voices and are most likely to listen to them has led researchers to conclude that that the ability to differentiate sounds and 'learn' the sound of a caregiver's voice must have developed much earlierstill in utero.

What does a newborn baby hear?

For a newborn baby, the world is a cacophony of sounds that he can neither recognize nor locate yet. Although the baby hears everything, but reaching the youngest babies sounds and noises they are higher (less bass) and a bit muffled. The inability to select sounds makes the newborn perceive all the sounds that come to him in the same way, because they are all equally important to him.  

Since when does the newborn hear? 

Hearing is the first sense that develops already in the prenatal period, starting from the first trimester of pregnancy. In the fetal phase, the baby not only develops the ability to hear and differentiate sounds, but also auditory memory. Around 4-5 months of pregnancy, the first reactions to sound stimuli appear in the fetus.

The research undertaken so far shows that the possibility of auditory detection of mom's voice and reacting to that voice and changes in its intonation, occurs around the 24th week of gestation. No wonder then that after birth, the sound of this voice is best known to the baby and has a beneficial effect on him. According to researchers, the voices of the closest people, heard even before birth, are sounds, which can for babies provide a kind of link between the intra- and extra-uterine stages. Of the variety that reach newborns and baby noises, it is the voice of mum and dad that gives little ones a sense of security, calms them down and soothes them. 

Parents' voice and speech: important baby sounds

When adults, especially parents, speak to a toddler, they change the sound of their voice very clearly. Mothers and fathers speak in a noticeably higher and softer tone than usual, they melodiously prolong vowels, expressively modulate their utterances, and they hum and sing more often. Their speech has a slower pace, statements consist of short sounds, words or phrases that are repeated many times. All these changes occur intuitively and spontaneously in parents' speech, and are greeted with joyful curiosity by little children.

Speech directed at the child

It is so for a reason. Early stage researchers call this special form of addressing babies to babies and emphasize that it performs extremely important functions. What?

1. It attracts the attention of children and allows parents to maintain their interest. Thanks to the melodiousness and "exaggerated" intonation, parents can convey their emotions and intentions to babies in a clear and understandable way long before the children begin to understand the meaning of words.
2. In addition, the sonic and emotional emphasis of the speech addressed to the child makes it helps parents to effectively soothe their children - babies calm down when they hear a gentle, singing and calming voice parents.
3. What's more - in the long term, based on shorter, clearly articulated and repetitive sounds and words, speech addressed to children helps them to distinguish between different elements and supports the development of learning to speak.

Expert advises

The sensitivity to sounds, the ability to distinguish between them and a preference for what they hear are surprisingly pronounced even in the youngest babies. It is known from research that newborns react differently to human voices compared to other sounds. What is especially important - from the earliest stage of life, they are able to distinguish known voices from strangers, and above all, they recognize the mother's voice and distinguish it strongly. They also prefer to listen to speech in the parents' mother tongue than in the foreign language.

Eliza Kiepura

Clinical Psychology Specialist, Mental Health Clinic for Children and Youth, Assistant Professor at the Department of Early Psychological Intervention, Institute of Mother and Child

Observations of the "conversations" between parents and infants showed that From the very first days of life, toddlers clearly prefer speech addressed to the child compared to speech typical for adult conversations.

Źródła:

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Author

Eliza Kiepura

Clinical Psychology Specialist, Mental Health Clinic for Children and Youth, Assistant Professor at the Department of Early Psychological Intervention, Institute of Mother and Child