Stimulate Baby Auditory Development

Stimulating baby auditory development in their first year of life is arguably a baby's most important sense.

Through hearing, children can experience language and music, both which stimulate their intellectual and emotional development in ways no other sense can.

A newborn baby will often turn their head towards a sound only minutes after birth. Their hearing however is far from mature at birth. Baby auditory development grows steadily more acute in their first year.

A baby's first year is a critical time for learning the sounds of language and developing a desire to communicate with others.

Music can be used to entertain, soothe and excite your baby. They often enjoy the regular beat and rhythm in the sounds of music and your voice.

Brainy Bambino's brain games for babies stimulate your baby's auditory development by utilising the following activities. The activities below also enhance baby's listening skills and emotional development.

Baby Auditory Development Activities

	Read books to your baby from day one. Even if it is an excerpt from your novel, hearing language and the rhythm of reading is critical for language development and your baby's future in reading.
	Sing songs and nursery rhymes gently and regularly to your baby. This will soothe and relax them.
	When your baby is strong enough, fill the bottom drawer in your kitchen with safe objects that your baby can play with. Allow them to make different sounds with the objects by banging them and rattling them. Some examples of objects may be measuring spoons, rattles, noisy toys, kitchen implements.
	Play games with your baby that involve different sounds such as tongue clicking, mouth popping, whistling, clapping, peek-a-boo to enhance baby auditory development.
	Play gentle and peaceful cds to calm and relax your baby. When your baby is alert, play some brighter cds with nursery rhyme songs that you can clap and sing along to.
	As your baby gets stronger, allow them to experiment with banging different materials such as a wooden spoon on a saucepan. Although it can be noisy, when they drop objects from their highchair, your baby listens for the distinct sound it makes.
	Talk and sing to your baby at nappy changes. I always encourage the use of hand actions to nursery rhymes (such as Incy Wincy Spider and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star) as it helps baby track with their eyes and encourages them to listen.

Note: Hearing problems often impact on language and social development. If you are concerned regarding your child's hearing or baby's auditory development, visit your doctor or health nurse as soon as possible.