If you haven’t already, you should notice that your baby is being a lot more responsive to noise and sound around him. He should turn his head towards your vacuum, hair dryer, puree mixer, and even his name when you call him. At this stage of his infanthood, his hearing is very important in the development of his communication skills. He should be babbling much more and should be trying to “talk” to you.
Try to encourage him to babble as much as possible by talking to him. Repeat the words or sounds that he is making. He’ll think you’re talking to him. Try to have him listen to lots of different sounds and noise and tell him what they are. It will help him associate the sound/noise with to the item making the sound/noise. Also, continue to use repetitive sentences or words so he can understand what they mean when you say them.
Since hearing is critical to your infant’s speech development, make sure you check with your pediatrician if your infant:
- does not repond to loud noise
- responds to only some sounds
- does not giggle or laugh out loud by his 6th month
- does not babble in a variety of tones and sounds by the 8th month
If caught early, these problems can be treated successfully and will have little impact on speech development.
