A crying baby is trying to express himself. Perhaps he is tired, uncomfortable, wet, bored, thirsty, hungry, overwhelmed, in pain, or any combination of the above. Sometimes he cries for no explainable reason. The average newborn cries for one to two hours a day, some babies more or less. Crying generally peaks at around six to eight weeks of age and starts to decrease when they are four or five months old.
Parents may choose to go through a checklist of sorts to try to identify the source of the babies crying, such as checking if he is hungry, needs a change, wants a cuddle, and so on. However both parents and baby can feel more satisfied and less frustrated if the need is met efficiently and prior to the cry escalating into full distress.
Understanding the Pre-Cry Signals is Easier When Closer to Baby
Parents who are physically close to their babies may notice that usually before the baby begins to cry, he gives a preemptive cry signal. Pre-cry signals are little cues or noises that a baby makes to express a need. If recognized early, the caregiver can assess the signals and help to satisfy or soothe the baby.
To interpret pre-cry signals is similar to evaluating adult body language, the non-verbal cues that express feelings or emotions. Body language can convey a lot of information about a person. Many people can decode another adult’s body language on a subconscious level. Statistics can differ, the Albert Mehrabian study (Mehrabian, 1972), generalized that spoken words count for only around 7% of the message a person communicates.
Since much of the understanding of body language occurs without even noticing, when a parent carries or wears their baby then there is the potential to feel more attuned to the child's needs. This stems from parenting styles such as attachment parenting, natural infant hygiene and other baby-led daily routines.
Examples of Body Language and Pre-Cry Cues in Babies
It is also helpful to recognize where baby is at in the context of his daily routine or sleep/ wake/feed/play cycle in decoding his body language. For example, if baby just woke after a long nap and then starts to look away, perhaps he is bored rather than tired.
Here are a few examples:
- Raising arms to indicate he wants to be picked up
- Purposefully avoiding eye contact could mean he wants to be alone or is tired
- Rubbing eyes and irritable behaviour could also mean he is tired
- Smiling generally occurs after 6 weeks of age to respond to his parents' attention
- Shoving his fist or objects in mouth, bringing his hand to mouth or sucking movements can indicate hunger
- A bright, alert face, wide eyes and reaching out could mean he wants to play
Dunstan Baby Language Program Helps Decipher What Baby Needs
It is important to remember that what baby wants and what baby needs are the same thing. The Dunstan Baby Language Program is based on interpretations of infant cries by Priscilla Dunstan who has a photographic memory for sound. After the birth of her son, Priscilla was compelled to recognize the meanings of five key sounds a baby makes to communicate his basic needs.
These sounds and their meanings are:
- Neh, "I'm hungry"
- Owh, "I'm tired"
- Heh, "I'm uncomfortable”
- Eairh, "I have lower gas pain"
- Eh, "I need to burp"
Decode Baby Cries with Apple iPhone Cry Translator
The Technology giant Apple launched the Cry Translator in late 2009, an application that can be used to identify and translate five different sounds. Within 10 seconds of listening to the baby cry, the application suggests that the baby is hungry, sleepy, stressed, annoyed or bored. The accuracy of the results is cited on its website at 96%. The crying analysis and research for the Cry Translator does not appear to correlate with the Dunstan Baby Language program.
In an article that appeared in the The Telegraph on January 21, 2010, “iPhone App 'Translates a Baby's Cries'”, Nick Collins writes that “Parenting experts said they feared the technology on the Apple phone could discourage mothers from relying on their instinct and experience.” Although some parents may welcome the Cry Translator to help understand their babies cries, many would disagree with this fear.
Babies Cry Out For Understanding as Parents Try to Decipher the Meaning
Babies cannot meet their own needs directly, all they can do is express it and generally this is through crying. By remaining alert and close to their baby, parents may have opportunity to tune in and notice his pre-cry cues and signals. Anyone who feels understood, regardless of age, will feel more content.
Parents are no doubt aided at times by the various resources and tools on the market to help bridge the communication gap with the pre-verbal baby. This is not to assume that parents will rely on technology over their own instincts and experience. Ultimately, parents can not understand every cry, nor meet every need, however parents will continue to strive to do their very best to let their babies know they are there for them.
Bianca Lacharity - Every day I count the blessings in my life. My daughter, my husband, my mother, friends, family, community, breath, physical health, ...
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