When does baby begin to hear

When Can a Fetus Hear: Womb Development Timeline

Medically reviewed by Debra Sullivan, Ph.D., MSN, R.N., CNE, COI — By Jessica Timmons on January 4, 2018

As pregnancy progresses, many women speak to the babies growing in their wombs. Some mothers-to-be sing lullabies or read stories. Others play classical music in an effort to boost brain development. Many encourage their partners to communicate with the baby too.

But when can your baby really begin to hear your voice, or any sound from inside or outside of your body? And what happens to hearing development during infancy and early childhood?

The early forming of what will become your baby’s eyes and ears begins in the second month of your pregnancy. That’s when the cells inside the developing embryo begin arranging themselves into what will become the face, brain, nose, eyes, and ears.

At roughly 9 weeks, little indentations in the side of your baby’s neck appear as the ears continue to form on both the inside and the outside. Eventually, these indentations will begin moving upward before developing into what you’ll recognize as your baby’s ears.

Around 18 weeks of pregnancy, your little one hears their very first sounds. By 24 weeks, those little ears are rapidly developing. Your baby’s sensitivity to sound will improve even more as the weeks pass.

The limited sounds your baby hears around this point in your pregnancy are noises you may not even notice. They are the sounds of your body. These include your beating heart, air moving in and out of your lungs, your growling stomach, and even the sound of blood moving through the umbilical cord.

As your baby grows, more sounds will become audible to them.

Around week 25 or 26, babies in the womb have been shown to respond to voices and noise. Recordings taken in the uterus reveal that noises from outside of the womb are muted by about half.

That’s because there’s no open air in the uterus. Your baby is surrounded by amniotic fluid and wrapped in the layers of your body. That means all noises from outside your body will be muffled.

The most significant sound your baby hears in the womb is your voice. In the third trimester, your baby can already recognize it. They will respond with an increased heart rate that suggests they are more alert when you’re speaking.

As for classical music, there’s no evidence that it will improve a baby’s IQ. But there’s no harm in playing music for your baby. In fact, you can continue with the normal sounds of your daily life as your pregnancy progresses.

While prolonged noise exposure may be linked to fetal hearing loss, its effects aren’t well-known. If you spend a lot of your time in an especially noisy environment, consider making changes during pregnancy to be safe. But the occasional noisy event shouldn’t pose a problem.

About 1 to 3 of every 1,000 babies will be born with hearing loss. Causes of hearing loss can include:

premature delivery
time in the neonatal intensive care unit
high bilirubin that requires a transfusion
certain medications
family history
frequent ear infections
meningitis
exposure to very loud sounds

Most children born with a hearing loss will be diagnosed through a screening test. Others will develop hearing loss later in childhood.

According to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, you should learn what to expect as your baby grows. Understanding what is considered normal will help you determine if and when you should consult a doctor. Use the checklist below as a guide.

From birth to around 3 months, your baby should:

react to loud noise, including while breastfeeding or bottle-feeding
calm down or smile when you speak to them
recognize your voice
coo
have different types of crying to signal different needs

From 4 to 6 months, your baby should:

track you with their eyes
respond to changes in your tone
notice toys that make noise
notice music
make babbling and gurgling sounds
laugh

From 7 months to 1 year, your baby should:

play games like peek-a-boo and pat-a-cake
turn in the direction of sounds
listen when you’re speaking to them
understand a few words (“water,” “mama,” “shoes”)
babble with noticeable groups of sounds
babble to get attention
communicate by waving or holding up their arms

Babies learn and develop at their own pace. But if you’re concerned that your baby isn’t meeting the milestones listed above in an appropriate time frame, consult with your doctor.

Last medically reviewed on January 5, 2018

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Hearing evaluation in children. (2016).
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Mayo Clinic Staff. (2017). Fetal development: The second trimester.
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Pierson LL. (1996). Hazards of noise exposure on fetal hearing [Abstract]. DOI:
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Your baby’s hearing and communicative development checklist. (2010).
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Jan 5, 2018

Written By

Jessica Timmons

Edited By

Nizam Khan (TechSpace)

Medically Reviewed By

Debra Sullivan, PhD, MSN, RN, CNE, COI

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Medically reviewed by Debra Sullivan, Ph.D., MSN, R.N., CNE, COI — By Jessica Timmons on January 4, 2018

When Can Babies Hear In The Womb And What Are They Hearing?

Listen Up!

Listening is crucial for babies before they’re even born.

by Patrick A. Coleman

Updated: July 26, 2022

Originally Published: Feb. 23, 2021

mihailomilovanovic/Getty

A baby’s sensory abilities — hearing, sight, smell, taste, and touch — develop weeks before birth. That means that while adults are unable to remember the womb explicitly, we certainly experienced the sounds and sights of our final weeks as a fetus. And recent research suggests that when babies begin to hear in the womb, they also remember what they’ve heard, suggesting that babies in the womb are learning from what they’re hearing. Dads-to-be have a great opportunity to engage with their kid during pregnancy by talking to them in utero.

When Can Babies Hear in the Womb?

The inner ear structures begin to develop at around 10 weeks into gestation, but the ability to hear doesn’t occur until all the structures are essentially wired to the brain. Some researchers suggest that some fetuses may develop the ability to hear as early as 14 weeks, as measured by the reaction to sonic vibration. However, one of the most cited studies on fetal hearing, published in 1994 by researchers at the Queen’s University of Belfast, found that babies start hearing in the womb at around 19 weeks of gestation. Specifically, babies in the womb show a response to sounds in the 500 Hz range, which is near the lower-end of what adults can hear. As the structure of the ear develops the acoustic range increases and by 33 weeks unborn, babies show a response to frequencies between 250 and 3000 Hz.

When Does a Fetus Have Cognitive Function?

As any parent of a toddler can tell you, hearing isn’t the same as listening. Hearing is passive, while listening is active and engaged. A fetus might be able to hear the outside world 18 weeks into pregnancy, but that doesn’t mean that they are paying attention. That ability to pay attention, react to, and even remember sounds appears to ramp up in the third trimester.

A 2012 study, again from the fetal hearing experts at Belfast University, examined if a fetus could recall sounds they’ve heard in utero. The study captured fetal behavior in two groups of expectant mothers — one which watched a popular British television show daily and another group that did not watch the program at all. Researchers found that fetus who had been previously exposed to the distinctive theme song of the program would increase their movements when the theme song was played for them later in pregnancy. Fetuses not exposed to the song did not exhibit any changes. Two to four days after birth, newborns played the song again. Those exposed to the song in utero exhibited recognition, while those who were not exposed showed no signs of recognition.

Recognition of a theme song indicates working memory in the late stages of pregnancy and infancy. But that doesn’t mean an infant is learning.

A study published in 2017 gets us closer to capturing evidence of fetal learning. Dutch researchers looked at a population of Dutch-speaking individuals who had been adopted from Korea. Although they had never learned Korean, the individuals had primarily heard Korean language while in the womb and shortly after birth. Researchers conducted their experiment by teaching both Korean adoptees and a control group of Dutch natives words in Korean to see how quickly each group could pick up the language. The Korean adoptees were far more quick and capable in learning the Korean words than native Dutch. Additionally, the ability was as true for children adopted at a pre-verbal age of 6 months old, as it was for children adopted as late as 17-months who might have spoken a word or two of Korean.

Researchers concluded that the basic understanding of language develops in the last trimester when babies are still in the womb, priming them for recognition of the language they are born to. Moreover, the brain remains primed for those languages years later.

What to Say to Your Baby in the Womb

The important takeaway is that listening is crucial for babies before they’re ever born. That doesn’t mean you’ll turn them into geniuses by reading Shakespeare to your partner’s baby bump. It does mean, however, that parents should talk to their baby while they’re still in the womb. Babies will remember the voices and the cadences they hear.

Babies have no choice but to hear a mother’s voice. After all, the voice is with them wherever they go. But that’s not necessarily true for dads. So in order to get in on the fetal learning, fathers should take time to speak to their unborn children. That might include reading stories, telling them about your day, or just thinking aloud.

For bonus points, fathers can start a story time ritual at bedtime. There’s a good chance that once they come into the world, hearing dad’s voice read the same story will cause the newborn to relax and feel soothed, possibly leading to easier bedtimes in the future.

This article was originally published on Feb. 23, 2021

When does a baby in the womb begin to hear?

Even in the mother's womb, the baby begins to hear sounds, react to them, and even distinguish the voices of loved ones.

When does a baby begin to hear its mother in the womb?

You don't know your baby yet and you can only imagine what he will be like when he is born. The child begins to get to know you by voice even during pregnancy. Around the 12th-16th week, the baby begins to distinguish sounds, and at the 24th week it can respond to the voices of mom and dad.

Of course, the first person he is a baby is his mother. Until the child's auditory canals are formed, he can feel the vibration of your voice passing through your body, as well as your breathing and heartbeat. In the last trimester, he is already extracting some information from voices and sounds, demonstrating various reactions. What exactly the baby hears and how often you need to talk to him - read on.

How about different voices?

Your baby can hear and recognize the voices of the people around you all the time. He is already familiar with his dad's voice. The child may prefer some voice that is pleasant to him. If the voice (or any other sound) is too harsh or loud, the baby may react to it with strong jolts.

Hear music?

Do you know that the music that a child hears in the womb through the neuroendocrine system affects almost all systems and organs of the child? Depending on the type and tempo of the music, the respiratory rate, muscle tone, motility of the stomach and intestines of the baby change. Avoid loud and harsh music, let your baby listen to the classics: Mozart and Vivaldi. Calm music can even lull the baby.

How often should you talk to your child?

Of course, you need to talk to your baby as often as possible - both mom and dad. Take every opportunity to talk to your baby. Talk to yourself when you do something around the house or walk.

Scientists have proved that when hearing the voices of parents, the child reacts to their intonation and calms down, the rhythm of his heart returns to normal. Therefore, the tone of conversation should be calm, voices should be quiet. Children who constantly hear the gentle voice of their mother are born calm and balanced.

Sing songs

Sing songs to your baby. Soon you will notice that the baby can react to them - actively move.

Talk to the baby

If you already know the sex of your child, address him by the name you have chosen for him. Or come up with an affectionate nickname for the baby.

Read aloud

Read books to your baby. It can be any literature: children's or adult's that you like. If you read before bed, read aloud. This habit will come in handy when your baby is born.

Avoid noise

Try to avoid noisy places, harsh sounds and loud conversations. If the baby does not like something, he may begin to push hard.

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When a newborn begins to hear: all that parents need to know about the characteristics of hearing

A newborn child is a fragile and very interesting creature.

Having taken him from the maternity hospital, his parents do not stop looking at his rapid development and adaptation in the outside world.

But, since children of this age still cannot explain themselves, the question arises - at what age does the baby hear?

At what week after birth does the child distinguish sounds?

The hearing of a newborn child develops rather quickly. Even before they are born, babies are able to hear sounds in their mother's belly. That is why doctors often recommend more communication with their babies during fetal development. This helps the child to distinguish the mother's voice from other sounds around him more quickly in the future.

After birth, the baby's ears are filled with a special liquid for about three days, due to which hearing cannot be clear. It is because of this that children initially react only to loud sounds or vibrations. Already 3-4 weeks after birth, the child is able to recognize familiar sounds and noises. The reaction is expressed in:

the ability to stop looking at certain, liked, objects;
in a careful study of human faces;
in slight strabismus;
in a more careful examination of black and white pictures than color ones.

Important! If a woman during pregnancy smokes, takes a large amount of drugs, drinks alcohol or suffers from diseases such as measles or rubella, then you should pay special attention to the development of hearing in the baby.

How does a baby hear?

During the first month of development, children are only able to hear loud sounds, but after this period of time, they begin to distinguish and respond to various voices and other extraneous sounds. To understand that the child is beginning to hear well, you should pay attention to the following signs:

Depending on the speed of speech, the child can behave actively or calmly;
Intonation - an angry voice can upset the baby, and affectionate, on the contrary, will soothe and delight;
There is a division into sounds that you like and that you don't like.

Often, newborn babies may become addicted to one object that makes a pleasant sound, such as a rattle. Then they may stop paying attention to other noises for a while, but this is quite natural and passes quickly.

What does the baby hear?

In the first week of life, the child hears only close and loud sounds.

He does not perceive them as clear, because the ear is not yet sufficiently developed.

Gradually, the baby begins to respond more actively to voices, especially mother's, as it is able to soothe and help to feel safe.

The main reactions to the correct development of hearing in a newborn include:

turn of the head in the direction of the noise.
eye search for the sound source.
crying, both strong and sobbing.
intensive movements of arms and legs.
fading and listening.

Attention! Experts do not recommend turning children on loud music, raising their voice at them, or taking them to places where it can be very noisy. This can significantly affect the formation of hearing.

How do I test a child's hearing?

Already 2-3 days after birth, while still in the maternity hospital, doctors do the first hearing test using a special hardware audiogram.

At this stage, deviations and pathologies can be identified. In the future, children's hearing should be checked at medical commissions.

There are several ways to test a newborn's hearing at home:

Clap your hands. To do this, you need to make a few claps out of sight of the baby. If there are no pathologies or developmental difficulties, then the child will shudder or look towards the sound;
With the help of any cereal. In three different containers, preferably plastic, you need to pour dried peas, buckwheat and semolina. All these cereals create fluctuations of different intensity. In the first few weeks, the baby will react to the sound of peas, as it makes low tones.

It is worth remembering that it will not be possible to objectively assess the hearing of a newborn child without special equipment, since the ears and auditory canals are just being formed.

What factors can lead to hearing loss

There are two main classifications of hearing loss in children: hearing loss and deafness. By their nature, they are hereditary, natural or acquired. There are several reasons for the development of these pathologies:

viral diseases or infections.
a difficult period of pregnancy in the mother.
use of harmful or toxic substances during gestation.
heredity.
various genetic mutations.
diseases of ENT organs, for example, adenoids.

The danger of hearing impairment is primarily that there may be a delay in the psychological or intellectual development of the child, because of which the child will not be able to live a full life.

How to develop hearing?

In addition to the usual sounds and mother's voice that surround the newborn, additional means are needed for the correct formation of hearing.

Various musical instruments and toys can help. For example, it can be rattles and bells.

The essence of the hearing development method is to attract the child's attention with sound.

It is important that these sounds are not too loud or unpleasant, as they may frighten or upset the baby.

You can also sing children's songs and lullabies, the main thing is to watch your voice, it should be calm and affectionate. Do not forget that well-developed hearing helps the child quickly adapt to the outside world and quickly begin to understand human speech and talk.