Hearing and speech go hand in hand. As a baby grows older her hearing will become more analytical. Familiar sounds will arouse certain emotions.When babies are born their hearing is already developed. In fact the development of inner ear is complete by the 20th week of pregnancy. You must have noticed your baby getting stimulated in you womb when you come across a certain kind of loud noise. So, babies can identify the sounds from the time they are born. They are more familiar to their mother’s voice when they are born as they have been hearing it from the time of the development of their hearing capabilities in the womb.What can my newborn baby hear?In early infancy, babies are startled by loud noises. By the time they are three months old, they merely blink. At four months, they turn towards the source of the sound. Hearing and speech go hand in hand. By three months, most babies will have limited conversations with their parents. Familiar sounds will arouse certain emotions. How does a babys hearing develop?As she grows older, the babys hearing becomes more analytical. She understands that different emotions like anger and love have different voice modulations. Sounds help a child learn to communicate. Speech will develop faster if a child is spoken to and addressed.How can I tell if my child has a hearing problem?Since hearing and speech go hand-in-hand, if your child is not speaking by the time she is 36 months old, you may have to seek medical advice. Deficient hearing may be responsible for a speech problem. Hearing plays an important role in stimulating the brain power of babies. Therefore, hearing problems may also hamper brain development of babies.How can I take care of my baby’s ears?You need to take right care of your baby’s ear in order to prevent hearing problems. Here are some tips that you can follow to take right care of your baby’s ears.Do not put cotton buds or swabs in your baby’s ears for cleaning them.Clean your baby’s outer ears gently by using a soft cloth after bathing her.Do not put things like oil or anything else in your baby’s ears.Avoid smoking in front of your baby. Babies who are exposed to smoke are susceptible to ear infections.Keep your baby away from loud noise.Ear-problems are common in bottle-fed babies so make sure that you avoid bottle-feeding your baby.Try to use other methods of feeding like spoon feeding if breastfeeding is not possible.Do now allow problems like cold and cough to aggravate as it can give rise to ear infection.If you suspect any kind of ear infection, consult your doctor immediately.How to stimulate the development of baby’s hearing?Here is how you can stimulate the development of your baby’s hearing.Play soft and pleasing music for her.Get musical toys in which baby friendly music is played.Talk to her and sing songs for her.Read story books aloud for her.Modulate your voice while talking to her to boost her interest in listening.Do not scare her by making weird sounds.Keep the conversations going by telling her what you are doing while doing your chores.Talking to your baby will help her to grasp the speaking skills faster. You can help her identify different sounds by pointing at them when these sounds are heard. For example, you can point at cats mewing, dogs barking, bells ringing etc. When your baby is tired or over-stimulated she may not respond to certain sounds sometimes. But if your baby is not responding to any sound, you must bring it to the notice of your doctor. Early intervention and right management of such problems is important.