Newborn hearing screening: making and reacting to sounds checklists
Published 1 April 2013
© Crown copyright 2013
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/newborn-hearing-screening-making-sounds-checklist/newborn-hearing-screening-making-sounds-checklist
This checklist gives advice on what to look for as your baby grows to check if they can hear.
Not all babies can do things at the same age. The ages presented here are just a guide.
Making sounds checklist
This information was adapted with permission from M. D. Sheridan, 1997.
4 months old
A baby:
- makes soft sounds when awake
- gurgles and coos
6 months old
A baby:
- makes laughter-like sounds
- starts to make sing-song vowel sounds (for example, ‘a, a’, ‘muh’, ‘goo’, ‘der’, ‘aroo’, ‘adah’)
9 months old
A baby:
- makes sounds to communicate they want to be friendly or show they are annoyed
- babbles (for example, ‘da da da’, ‘ma ma ma’, ‘ba ba ba’)
- is visibly happy when babbling loudly and tunefully
- starts to imitate other sounds like coughing or smacking lips
12 months old
A baby:
- babbles loudly, often in a rhythm that sounds like a conversation
- may start to use one or 2 recognisable words
15 months old
A baby:
- makes lots of speech-like sounds
- uses 2 to 6 recognisable words meaningfully (for example, saying ‘teddy’ when seeing or wanting the teddy bear)
18 months old
A baby:
- makes speech-like sounds with a conversational rhythm when playing
- uses 6 to 20 recognisable words
- tries to join in nursery rhymes and songs
24 months old
A child:
- uses 50 or more recognisable words appropriately
- puts 2 or more words together to make simple sentences (for example, ‘more milk’)
- joins in nursery rhymes and songs
- talks to self during play, even if not understandable to others
30 months old
A child:
- uses 200 or more recognisable words
- uses pronouns (such as ‘I’, ‘me’ or ‘you’)
- uses sentences, even if many lack adult structure
- talks recognisably to self during play
- asks questions
- says a few nursery rhymes
36 months old
A child has a large vocabulary, recognisable to everyone.
Reacting to sounds checklist
This information was adapted with permission from B. McCormick, 1982.
Shortly after birth
A baby:
- is startled by a sudden loud noise such as a hand clap or a door slamming
- blinks, opens eyes widely, stops sucking or starts to cry to such sounds
1 month old
A baby:
- starts to notice sudden, prolonged sounds like the noise of a vacuum cleaner and may turn towards the noise
- pauses and listens to noises when they begin
4 months old
A baby, even when they cannot see the source of a sound:
- goes quiet or smiles at the sounds of a familiar voice
- turns their eyes or head towards a familiar voice
- shows excitement at sounds (such as voices, footsteps and so on)
7 months old
A baby, if not too busy with other things:
- turns immediately to a familiar voice across the room
- turns immediately to very quiet noises made on each side
9 months old
A baby:
- listens closely to familiar, everyday sounds
- searches for very quiet sounds made out of sight
12 months old
A baby:
- shows some response to own name
- may respond to expressions like ‘no’ and ‘bye bye’ even when any accompanying gesture cannot be seen
If you think your child may have hearing difficulties
If at any stage in the baby or child’s development you think they may have difficulties hearing, contact your health visitor or doctor.