Babylune

Now You’re Talking

by kate baggott on November 30th, 2006

Yesterday, I popped in to see a friend who was babysitting an 8 month-old who had an especially despondent cry. The kind of keening that triggered my let down reflex and demanded that I pick this child up. She imediately sniffed me and assumed the nursing position. I almost nursed her out of sympathy, but it was a physical reflex before it was an emotional one. Now, I don’t breastfeed strangers’ babies but I was surprised that my body responded so quickly to a child I’d never met before.

Now the intellect can catch up with what the milk ducts know. According to Priscilla Dunstan, an Australian mother, all babies speak the same language.

To quote a report in the Toronto Star:

• (Baby language is) composed of five distinct sounds: Neh, Owh, Heh, Eairh, Eh, meaning, I’m hungry; I’m sleepy; I’m experiencing discomfort (also known as “change my diaper already”); I have lower gas pain and I need to burp.
• The sounds aren’t randomly produced; they arise from a reflex to a physical need, says Priscilla Dunstan, 32, adding she made her discovery after reaching wit’s end with her own crying infant son in 1998.For example, the “Neh” sound is created when a baby gets hungry and cries through the sucking reflex, which pushes the tongue against the roof of the mouth. The “Eh” (I need to burp) sound is made when there’s an air bubble trapped in baby’s chest.

What do you think? Is she right in your experience? Will this information help you tune into what your newborn needs?

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POSTED IN: Baby Care, Breastfeeding