If you are worried about your baby’s hearing, it is important to bring this to the attention of your pediatrician. Although most states in the US require hearing screening prior to hospital discharge, it’s still important to listen to your instincts (no pun intended) and follow through with any concern. This is extra important because some conditions that happen after birth such as infection or reactions to medication may impact baby hearing—making a normal newborn hearing screen irrelevant. Now that we’ve gotten this out of the way, it’s on to the fun stuff.
So, when do we start sassy silly ways to have fun with hearing? Frankly, and I’m really quite proud to admit it, during my two bed rest stages with each twin pregnancy, I ate a lot, knit a lot, complained a lot and watched a lot of television! I mean a lot of television. Not quite sure what the babies heard inside my tummy … but so far, so good.
This week we’re going to focus on ways to start in the womb (yes, in the womb!) with fun hearing stimulation interactions.
- This one is really easy. You don’t need any special tools. You don’t need batteries. You don’t need to do anything! Let your baby hear your heart beat just be being beautiful pregnant you. Lie quietly relax and know your baby is inside there loving your heart before he meets you (Awwwwww!).
- Enjoy conversations with loved ones with tender voices and play music—I do not recommend blasting music onto your tummy with speakers. We just don’t know enough about how that may impact baby. But gentle singing, playing music with speakers a safe distance from baby and talking are ways your baby—while inside your tummy—can enjoy sassy and silly fun with sound!
- Here’s another one you can do pretty easily: Eat a healthy diet! As the food you eat gets swallowed, processed in the tummy, goes through the intestines and (let’s be polite here) leaves through the back door, your baby is hearing these noises!
One Sassy Doctor recommends:
