Why is my newborn baby crying? Interpreting your Baby's Cries

Crying Jules

The Secret Language of Babies: The Five Cries of Newborns

Priscilla Dunstan, who was featured on the Oprah show, claims she has a photographic memory for sound. She can hear textures, colors and a resonance in a voice. She used these skills with her newborn son and began to see patterns in his cries. She has used this new-found knowledge to research the cries of over 1000 babies and has found five distinct cries that are universal; she found that babies of different races and culture all have the same five cries. She claims this similarity is because all of the cries are based on reflexes, and since we all have the same reflexes the sounds are the same.

The following five cries are similar, but if you listen carefully they can be distinguished. These five cries are only present in babies from 0-3 months old and are most pronounced during a baby's pre-cry.

When you've finished reading about all of the cries, test yourself with the baby cries below.

Cry #1: Neh="I'm hungry"

"Neh" is the "I'm hungry" cry of a newborn. It is based on the sucking reflex. A newborn has a strong sucking reflex, and when they combine this reflex with a cry the result is "neh". When you hear this cry, nurse or give your newborn a bottle.

Cry #2: Owh="I'm Sleepy"

The cry to express tiredness is "owh". The "owh" sound is based on the yawning reflex. The first "ow" sound can be long and pronounced. When you hear this cry help your baby go to sleep. We always found that the more tired our babies became the harder it was for them to go to sleep. Look for other clues of sleepiness: rubbing the eyes and yawning.

Cry #3: Heh="I'm experiencing discomfort"

The cry "heh" is used when a newborn is feeling discomfort. This sound is different than the "I'm hungry" cry because there is a strong "h" sound at the beginning. If you hear this cry in your newborn, they may need their diaper changed or be put in a new position.

Cry #4: Eair="I have lower gas"

When babies have lower gas pain they often pull their legs towards their chest and make the cry sound "eair". We always found that when our newborns had gas they liked a bit of pressure on their tummies. We would either lay them on our legs perpendicularly and rub their backs or hold them in the elbow of our arm with our elbow supporting their head and their legs straddling our arm. (Be sure that your babies head is always held securely.) This can also be a good time for a baby massage with slow circular motions on your baby's tummy. Gas tablets or medicines never worked for our girls.

Cry #5: Eh="I need to burp"

You'll know when your newborn baby needs to burp if you can hear the "eh" in his/her cry. This cry is short and is repeated over and over; "eh, eh, eh." When you hear this sound gently place your baby on your chest with their head over your shoulder and gently pat them on the back.

The Dunstan Baby Language DVD: Learn more with this DVD by Priscilla Dunstan

	The Dunstan Baby Language (DVD, 2006, 2-Disc Set) Current Bid: $19.89
	Dunstan Baby Language DVD EUC Current Bid: $6.99

Helpful Tips

Your baby's cries are identified easier during the pre-cry stage before the baby become hysterical. Try to Listen, Decide and Act before the cries becomes too difficult to distinguish.
React to the dominant word. If you hear more than one word being said, pay the most attention to the most dominant sound/word.
If you can't understand the cry, change the position of your baby; e.g., put them over your knee, shoulder, or on your lap.
It's natural for babies to use more words than others. Don't worry if some words aren't being said as often.
Listen for the distinctive sound in each word, e.g., the "N" in "Neh".
If you can't understand the word and feel distressed, just comfort your baby as best you can and listen for the word next time.

What is this newborn telling you?

How about this one?

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Andy 4 weeks ago

All very helpful but where are the answers to the two You Tube clips?

Sam 2 months ago

These cry sounds at 100% spot on, I currently have my 4th newborn & have used these interpretations for my last 3 children. I'll be forever grateful for this info as my last 3 cry rarely, feel more secure & are easy to settle.

lisa 3 months ago

My baby cries at nappie changes as if she is in pain n at bath times she cries until she is red in the face until I'm finish she onlý stops when I pick her up,just wondering why

tm4 3 months ago

i just looked this up to see which cry my baby was doing and it sounded mostly like "eh" so I patted her back and she burped and stopped crying!!!!! So cool!

cllano 3 months ago

This is really helping me help my newborn. Thanks!

Hanna 7 months ago

I don't think this is true for all babies... I heard about this before we had our daughter, so I listened for different cries. But she just used neh (or rather nah, nah, nah) for all her needs. Maybe because hunger was what bothered her most... (And still is, at 6 months)

Claire 12 months ago

This was really helpful and then I found this great device. It's called whycry and shows why the baby's crying.

pisethz 12 months ago

that's wonderful to know as I am starting to notice my newborn baby language when I refer to your tips here. thanks for sharing.

Debby Bruck Level 7 Commenter 14 months ago

Wonderful hubpage. I would like to see many more examples and answers so we could really learn and understand the sounds of each type of cry.

Rosie69 14 months ago

When my sons were newborn I found with each child (they are 4 years apart) that cries were of a different tone. Generally we found that high pitched cries were associated with discomfort and pain - Colic, tummy ache or generally unwell. lower more broken cries associated with hunger, nappy needing changing etc. We also found that playing classical music soothing, combined with a mobile over the cot rotating really helped get baby off to sleep.

When children are a little older holding their hand by the bedside really helps with singing or soothing music. I am a firm believer that children should stay in their own bed. You must make children realise this is where they go to sleep and be firm. My son still listens to classical music at night, he is now 10! he says it helps him think about the day he has had and he loves music!

Jessica-Kay 16 months ago

i had this page open when my patner and i were trying to settle our little one, and i really cant tell what cries he was making.