Listening
Parent uses bells, rattles, or musical toys near baby's ears to stimulate sound perception and head turning toward sound. The agent coaches the parent to observe whether baby can localize sound, turn toward it, and distinguish between different sound sources.
Opens a guided voice session in TogetherTime.
What you'll need
Baby lying on back, alert and calm. One or two gentle sound-making objects ready — rattle, bells, musical toy. Avoid very loud objects. Quiet room preferred so baby can hear clearly.
How it works
- 1~20s
Hold your rattle or noisemaker about a foot away from your child's right ear — not too close. Give it one gentle shake. Watch your child's face and body. Does they react at all? You might see a freeze, a widening of the eyes, a change in breathing, or a startle. Any sign that they heard the sound counts! Tell me what happens.
Watch for: Baby shows awareness of a sound — startles, freezes, widens eyes, or changes breathing pattern.
- 2~30s
Now let's see if your child can find the sound. Shake your noisemaker gently near their left ear. Does your child turn their head toward the sound? Then try the right side. Does they turn that way too? This head turning toward sound is called sound localization — it means your child's brain is figuring out where sounds come from. What do you see?
Watch for: Baby turns head toward the source of a sound, showing auditory localization.
- 3~25s
For our last observation, put the toy down and try using just your voice. Move to one side of your child and say their name softly. Does your child turn toward your voice? Then try from the other side. Your voice is the most important sound in your child's world — let's see if they can find you! Does your child look at you when you speak?
Watch for: Baby turns toward and looks at the person speaking to them.