Use these helpful tips to foster your baby’s early learning and brain development.
Help your little one reach his full learning potential by exploring daily routines that include talking, reading, singing, and playing.
Know the status of your baby's hearing loss early on. If your baby failed her newborn hearing screening, or she has been diagnosed with hearing loss, Hearing First has resources to help.
Every time you talk, sing, or read to your baby, you're helping new brain connections develop!
Open The Barn Door
by Christopher Santaro
This interactive durable flap book features common animals and the sounds they make. Flap books help babies learn to make predictions and discoveries.
Everywhere Babies
by Susan Meyers
With irresistible rhyming text and endearing illustrations, this board book is an exuberant celebration of playing, sleeping, crawling, and all the wonderful things babies do best.
You Must Never Touch a Spider
by Rosie Greening
The "You Must Never Touch" series features bright illustrations, touch-and-feel features, and silly rhymes to engage multiple senses.
Where is Baby’s Belly Button?
by Karen Katz
This delightful book has vivid pictures and easy-to-lift flaps to encourage interaction with your baby.
Peek-A-Who
by Nina Laden
This colorful Peek-a-Boo board book encourages guessing with each page. As a bonus, there's a fun surprise: a mirror on the last page so babies can see their faces.
Global Babies
by The Global Fund for Children
With photos of babies from all over the world, this book provides an opportunity to describe pictures instead of just reading. By two months of age, babies can distinguish facial features, and they love to look at photos of other babies.
Whose Toes Are Those?
by Jabari Asim
This cheerful rhyming book plays off the classic "This Little Piggy" game that babies love.
Please, Baby, Please
by Spike Lee and Tonya Lewis Lee
A rhythm-filled book that shares the exuberant (and challenging) daily moments of life with a baby.
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?
by Bill Martin Jr. and Eric Carle
This rhyming book with sweet illustrations has predictable and repeatable lines that help develop your baby's memory and guessing skills as well as teach him the names of animals.
Con Pollo: A Bilingual Playtime Adventure
by Jimmy Fallon and Jennifer Lopez
A great book for new dads that also helps babies identify farm animals and the sounds they make.
I Love You to the Moon and Back
by Amelia Hepworth
This delightful book packed with heartfelt quotations and a sweet, gentle rhyme is the perfect way to say “I love you” as your child nods off to sleep.
On the Night You Were Born
by Nancy Tillman
The dreamy words, detailed illustrations, and warm message will make this book a nightly favorite.
The Wonderful Things You Will Be
by Emily Winfield Martin
With a catchy rhythm, whimsical illustrations, and a heartfelt message of love and acceptance, this book makes a great bedtime story.
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood: The Poetry of Mister Rogers
by Luke Flowers
The lyrics of Mister Rogers' famous theme song explore universal topics such as feelings, siblings, everyday life, imagination, and more. It's a perfect book for bedtime or a quiet sing-along.
Little Owl’s Night
by Divya Srinivasan
This sweet story follows a little owl that is exploring the beauty of nighttime. The lovely illustrations introduce your baby to different forest plants and animals as she settles down for the night.
Indestructibles: Baby Night-Night
by Kate Merritt
The Indestructibles series is literally indestructible – chew proof, rip proof and non-toxic – so your baby can “read” (i.e. with her hands and mouth) along with you.
A Book of Sleep
by Il Sung Na
With soothing text and rich illustrations of a starry night, this is the perfect “book of sleep.”
The Going to Bed Book
by Sandra Boynton
This book is all about the bedtime routine, with simple, colorful illustrations of animals getting ready for bed, and rhymes that encourage early literacy.
Goodnight Moon
by Margaret Wise Brown
The rhyming in this bedtime classic helps to build listening, language, and literacy skills all while getting your little one ready for sleep.
How Do You Say Good Night?
by Cindy Jin
By taking its readers to Mexico, Vietnam, Kenya and beyond, this charming board book teaches little ones how to say "good night" in 10 languages.
By 23 weeks, your baby can hear sounds from the outside world, like a dog barking.
Learn about the
Newborn Hearing Screening
Use these helpful tips to foster your baby's early learning and brain development.
Your baby's sense of hearing is essential to brain development, language skills, and learning. When you know the status of your baby's hearing, you can ensure his brain is perceiving all the sounds it needs to grow.
Early
Learning
Toolkit
for moms-to-be
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Why is your newborn’s hearing important?
What is a newborn hearing screening?
When is the test done?
What if my baby's test results are abnormal?
Why is your newborn’s hearing important?
The newborn hearing screening (NHS) is safe, quick, and painless and includes one or two gentle tests that your baby can sleep through.
What is a newborn hearing screening?
Most babies have the NHS before they leave the hospital or birthing center. It's a pass-fail test. Make sure you know your baby's test results before you head home.
When is the test done?
It’s important to schedule a
re-screening as soon as possible! Make an appointment with a pediatric audiologist.
What if my baby's test results are abnormal?
What you can do to foster early learning
During pregnancy
fact
In the hospital
fact
By the time your baby is born, he’s already familiar with the sound of your voice. Reading to your newborn is soothing and encourages brain development.
At home
fact
Hearing is the only sense fully formed at birth. Exposing your baby to different sounds, rhythms, and patterns helps her to learn and develop.
parent tip
Try playing music or singing to your baby as you go about your day.
parent tip
Throw a couple of baby books in your hospital bag so you can get in the habit of reading to your baby right from the start!
parent tip
Narrate your activities to her, sing while changing her diaper, and read a variety of books.
Get inspired: Book and music lists
Here are some of our favorite picks for reading to and listening together with your child.
*Brought to you by the BabyCenter and Hearing First staff
10
Best books for interactive play
10
Best books for bedtime
Spotify playlists: Playtime
Wheels On The Bus
The Happy Song
Banana, Banana, Meatball
by Doggyland
by Imogen Heap
by GoNoodle
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Bedtime
You Belong with Me
Remember Me (Lullaby)
Moon River
by Rockabye Baby!
by Coco
by Sleepyheadz
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