Do you understand your baby's language? Well, maybe you didn't realize he or she had one. According to Priscilla Dunstan, the founder of Dunstan Baby Language , they do, and YOU can actually learn to understand what they're saying.
Maybe it reminds you too much of the horse whisperer or that guy who talks to dogs, but we have to admit- this story is fascinating. Priscilla was actually gifted in sound from an early age. She could play back an entire Mozart piece on the violin after only hearing it once, and toured Europe and Australia as a concert violinist. Her ability to hear and memorize is what helped her to recognize the sounds her son Tomas was making and start to record and keep notes about them. After eight years of research, and studies in different countries and with different nationalities, the Dunstan Baby Language was introduced...
Priscilla Dunstan was on Oprah and I had my husband watch the segment w/ me. I thought her theory made sense (i.e. when a baby is hungry they thrust their tongue forward making the "Neh" sound), but my husband was doubtful. However, our baby was fussy in the middle of that night. My husband said "I think he's saying he needs to burp" recognizing the verbalization he'd seen on the show. Well I burped the baby and problem solved. We continued to use what we learned. Though the reflexes start to dissapear so these signals only work for about the first three months.
I was really skeptical when I heard about this baby "language", but I also saw the Oprah show, and referring to these sounds as reflexes makes much more sense. During my antenatal classes, a few midwives did mention that many parents become attuned to their baby's cries and learn to distinguish between, say, a hungery cry and a nappy cry. Must admit, I never really figured it out. But I'm pregnant with twins so I'll definitely be testing Dunstan's theory when they come out--I'm gonna need all the help I can get!
what a coincidence, i was talking about this today, but couldn't remember the name or sounds. thank you for the links! i have 2 new babies in my family.
Babytalk has some videos of Priscilla explaining her process. Pretty interesting stuff!
http://www.parenting.com/parenting/babytalk/article/0,19840,1562338,00.html