If you’ve ever held a screaming, crying infant for hours (and hours and hours and hours on end) until you were ready to start screaming and crying yourself, then you might just want to nominate Priscilla Dunstan for sainthood. Back in November of 2006, this Australian mother appeared on the Oprah Winfrey show to unveil a system she created for “translating” newborns’ seemingly senseless cries and siren wails into signs that parents can learn to recognize, and therefore respond to more effectively.

The Dunstan Baby Language system (tested on more than 1,000 infants around the world) is based on her theory that all newborns 0-3 months produce certain universal ‘sound-reflexes’ to express basic needs, such as hunger, gas or tiredness. It teaches parents how to identify these sounds, even before their baby starts crying hysterically, so they can respond to their baby’s needs more effectively, thus drastically reducing their own exhausted whimpering.

Dunstan was born gifted with an eidetic memory, (like a photographic memory, but for sound). From the age of five, Priscilla could hear a Mozart piece once, then play it back on her violin in its entirety, note for note. After touring Europe and Australia as a concert violinist, Priscilla spent over ten years honing her talent in the opera world; from this, she gained a deep understanding of the human voice and the nuances of sound it can produce. When Priscilla became a mother, her intuition, along with her rare ability and experience, enabled her to hear her infant son’s cries in a way the average new mom would not. “I believed he was trying to tell me something. After careful listening, I began to hear distinct patterns in his cries, which were continuously repeated.” Noting combinations of sounds in a journal, Priscilla explored various settling techniques and carefully observed Tom’s reactions. Eventually, she was able to connect specific cries with specific needs. “Initially I thought this was something special between Tom and me, but once I overheard the same sounds from other babies, I immediately realized the potential impact of this breakthrough.”

She tested her theory with babies of friends and family, and found the same results. Eight more years of independent research further verified Dunstan’s findings. There appear to be five “words” that all babies say—regardless of race and culture—to communicate specific needs:
Neh © ="I'm hungry"
Owh © ="I'm sleepy"
Heh © ="I'm uncomfortable"
Eair © ="I have lower gas"
Eh © ="I need to burp"
According to DunstanBaby.com, research found that use of the system results in happier, more content babies who sleep longer and cry less. This, of course, results in happier, more content parents too, and seems to make a remarkable difference in new parents’ levels of confidence and self-esteem. The box set includes five DVD lessons (one for each baby “word”). Each is taught by Dunstan and offers tools to identify a word and the need attached to it, along with settling techniques and parenting tips.

Research by Leading Edge International Research Group (Australia) and Brown University (USA), yielded these results:

- 90% of mothers believe that the language is valuable and would recommend it to other parents while 100% of first time mothers reported it was highly valuable.
- 70% found their baby settled down faster after using the system
- 70% felt more confident as a mother
- 50% reported unbroken sleep for themselves and their baby
- 2 out of 3 fathers reported reduced levels of stress, greater paternal involvement in the baby’s care, and more positive marital relationships

More information about the Dunstan Baby Language system is available online at www.DunstanBaby.com, where you can also purchase the system itself.