In a prospective study of 23 newborns with preauricular skin lesions, four (17 percent) had abnormal findings on brain-evoked response audiometry. 1 Another study of 178 newborns with isolated preauricular tags found that 23 (13 percent) had mild to moderate sensorineural hearing impairment.
Hunger is one of the most common reasons why your baby will cry (CKS 2014), especially if she's a newborn. The younger your baby is, the more likely it is that she's hungry. Your baby's stomach is small and can't hold very much. So it won't take long before it empties.
Yes, your baby shows early signs of empathy when she cries because another baby is crying, or when, as a toddler, she brings her wailing playmate to you for consolation. It is not until the age of 7, give or take a year or so, that your child's conscience begins to mature enough to guide her actions.