Learning baby speak

Most parents will remember at least a few times when their baby was crying and they just couldn't find a way to pacify him. Wouldn't it be great if you could understand baby speak?

Well, help is available via the Dunstan Baby Language, launched in 2006, and now available in Malaysia. The system, developed by Australian former mezzo-soprano, Priscilla Dunstan, may not help you understand your baby 100% of the time, but it is claimed to work at least half the time.

Uswatun Hasanah Mohd Habib, the only certified educator and reseller of Dunstan in Malaysia, says she watched The Oprah Winfrey Show in 2006 and saw the Dunstan Baby Language being featured there.

“I was then pregnant with my first son and decided to purchase this DVD. I contacted Dunstan online and they said they had no agent in Malaysia so I had to buy it online. I then tried it out on my son and I found that it really works,” explains Hasanah.

She claims it's not difficult to master the Dunstan Baby Language if you keep repeating the instructional DVD.

“I watched it with my husband a few times a day and then when our baby cried we tried to listen and understand which sound he was making.

“Even our helper managed to master it. She was so young – just 19, and I had trouble explaining to her when to heat up the milk and when to get my son to sleep. Maybe she didn't have enough experience with babies because whenever my baby cried she thought he was hungry. So, it caused my milk stock to waste because he wouldn't want it. I was wondering how to teach her that baby needs other things besides milk. I got her to watch this DVD. It took her some time but she managed to get it and it solved most of my problems.

“It gave me the idea to visit nurseries and daycare centres. I managed to visit two or three and the people all gave me very good feedback. They said that after I taught them the Dunstan Baby Language, the staff were just waiting to guess what's the problem when baby cried rather than avoid the fussy babies,” says Hasanah.

She then shared the DVD with the rest of her family members, friends and relatives. She got positive feedback from all of them and even had enquiries on where to buy the DVD kit.

That's when she decided to become a Dunstan educator and reseller.

The language

The principle behind the Dunstan Baby Language is that when sound is added to body reflexes, it results in universal and unique sounds.

Even adults make sounds because of body reflexes – these include hiccups, cough and sneezing. When the diaphragm contracts, it pulls air into the lungs. This triggers a reflex in the throat muscles.

“This is universal regardless of where you live or your language; all of us hiccup the same way and make the same sound.

“It's the same with sneezing, coughing and yawning.

“Hence, it's the same with babies. They produce these sounds as a reflex action. So, it's up to their mother or caretaker to understand what is happening and help them overcome what is causing the reflex sound,” explains Hasanah.

There are five basic sounds according to the Dunstan Baby Language:

Neh – Baby is hungry.
This is the sound that baby makes when the sucking reflex is triggered.

Owh – Baby is sleepy.
Apparently this is the sound that baby makes when yawning.

Eh – Baby needs to be burped. This sound is produced repeatedly in fast succession.
Their abdomen muscles are contracting to push the air out. If baby isn't burped, mothers might find the Eh turning into Eairh when baby has an upset tummy.

According to studies, mothers who react to the Eh sound and burp their baby hardly ever hear the Eairh sound from their babies.

Heh – Baby is experiencing discomfort.
This actually sounds as if baby is panting or like heavy breathing and the “h” sound is quite obvious.
It could be that baby is too hot or too cold or wet. It could be anything that causes baby to be uncomfortable. This is apparently a response to a skin reflex.

Eairh – Baby has an upset stomach or trapped gas in the intestines.
This sound is made when there is trapped air that fails to be released. In addition, baby's movements are jerky and the Eairh sound is very loud and sounds like baby is screaming because it's very painful for baby.

Background

Priscilla Dunstan, the founder, discovered that her baby kept repeating five main sounds for five different needs. She then got help from her father Dr Max Dunstan who was a professor in child education and psychology at the University of New South Wales, Australia. They then designed a programme to validate their system. They went for observation research where they gathered their neighbours, colleagues and friends, with a total of over 400 babies, and every baby was observed making one or more of the five sounds.

When it was proven that other babies were also making those five sounds, they went on to classify the sounds. They then sought intervention research where they hired 30 mothers and taught them the system and the mothers responded with positive feedback. They could hear their babies making those five sounds. The next step was consumer testing for three trials. Each one was 100% successful. They then collected all this data and sent it to Prof Barry Lester of Brown University in the United States.

Prof Lester, who has been studying baby cries for years, wanted to do the testing himself so the US team repeated the tests and trials. They got the same results as what the Australian Dunstan team got.

They then did clinical trials and sent the research papers to US journals and finally a round of international tests was done by The Leading Edge, Australia's leading market research consultancy. Then only was the product pushed out to the public.

For small babies

While the Dunstan Baby Language is actually for babies up till four months, research is ongoing to find out more about the sounds that babies make.

However, most of the testimonies, including Hasanah's own experience, say that babies are still producing one or two of the words until they are about nine months old.

It is only when babies learn to communicate using words that they would stop producing these baby sounds.

Mastering the language

Hasanah explains that parents who want to master this system just have to focus on the sounds baby makes before the crying starts.

“Baby makes all these sounds first and because we don't understand and don't attend to them, they get frustrated and cry. And, when they cry you won't be able to hear the sounds anymore.

“So, once they are making some sounds you have to go and focus and hear which type of sound they are making.

“Of course, babies are not as patient as adults so they might make the sounds one to three times before they start crying.

“But this is only for the first few times until you master the Dunstan Baby Language. After you have done so, you will get used to it and from a distance you will be able to recognise the sounds your baby is making and you can confirm this by looking at baby's facial expression,” she says.

Hasanah explains that how the baby is positioned will also affect the sounds he makes. A baby who is lying down may make sounds that slightly differ from the actual sound according to the Dunstan Baby Language.

There is no other way to master this language than to keep trying and practising.

Benefits

The main benefit of learning what your baby is saying is obviously so that you can settle your baby faster without it turning into an all-night scream fest. This way, you are less stressed, baby doesn't wake up the whole house and you even get more sleep.

The benefits to mothers who learn the word “neh” is that it will help them to not overfeed baby and so that they know when baby is hungry. This way, there won't be milk wastage and it will help mothers to feed on demand.