What Your Baby Should
be Hearing
Normal Infant Hearing
Milestones
Here are some things a child with normal hearing should be able to do.
- Jumps at a sudden, loud noise
- Calms down when you speak
- Turns head or moves eyes to find your voice
- Plays at making noises and sounds
- Recognizes familiar sounds for feeding (spoon in a dish)
- Reacts to hearing own name
- Begins to understand easy words like “no,” “bye-bye”
and “night- night”
- Responds to music by cooing
- Repeats simple words and sounds you make
- Uses two or three words other than “ma-ma” or “da-da”
- Knows names of toys and can point to them
- Follows simple spoken directions
- Uses 10 or more true words
- Points to body parts when asked
- Enjoys being read to
- Refers to self by name
- Shows interest in sounds of radio and television
- Understands when you call from another room
- At 24 months, speaks about 270 words, increasing vocabulary at a
very fast pace
- Is frustrated if adults don’t understand
- At 36 months, speaks about 1,000 words, which most others could understand
These milestones are important to observe as you monitor your child’s
hearing and growth development. Please be aware, if there is a family
history of early childhood hearing loss, you should have your infant tested
again between three and six months of age.
Provided by Pediatrix Medical Group.
