Hearing Developmental Milestones

We often get asked by new parents, what the signs are of healthy hearing in their child? There are several developmental milestones related to hearing that you should look for! We’ve compiled a list of things to keep an eye out for, and suggest at any time, if you have concerns that you visit your primary care physician or an audiologist to conduct a hearing screening and/or evaluation. The earlier a hearing loss is detected, the earlier intervention can begin – allowing your child to not miss a minute of the important sounds needed for speech, language and learning development.

• 3 months: your baby can recognize your voice and makes cooing noises. Sudden, loud noises should startle your baby.
• 6 months: your baby recognizes speech sounds and familiar noises. Interesting noises make your baby turn their head, and your baby plays with their own voice and laughs. Your baby also uses their voice to indicate pleasure and discomfort.
• 9 months: your baby understands simple words like ‘mommy’ and ‘daddy’, ‘no’, ‘bye-bye’ and their own name.
• 12 months: your toddler can speak one or more real, recognizable word.
• 18 months: your toddler understands simple phrases and retrieves familiar objects on command and speaks between 20 to 50 words and short phrases and your toddler learns new words each week.
• 24 months: your toddler’s spoken vocabulary should be 200 to 300 words and simple sentences can be spoken. Adults who are not around the child on a daily basis can understand your child’s speech. A toddler at this age should also be able to sit and listen while being read books.