Baby Language Expert: Priscilla Dunstan
For millions of sleep-deprived mothers around the world, this woman’s findings could be a miracle! Priscilla Dunstan, a mom from Australia with a special gift, says she’s unlocked the secret language of babies.
When Priscilla was a toddler, her parents discovered she had a photographic memory for sound. At age 4, she could hear a Mozart concert on the piano and play it back note for note.
Priscilla says her gift has helped her hear a special “second language” beyond English, allowing her to detect moods and even diagnose illnesses! “Other people might hear a note but I sort of get the whole symphony,” Priscilla says. “So when someone’s speaking, I get all this information that other people might not pick up.”
That mysterious second language took on an astounding new meaning when Priscilla became a mother to her baby, Tom. “Because of my gift for sound, I was able to pick out certain patterns in his cries and then remember what those patterns were later on when he cried again,” Priscilla says. “I realized that other babies were saying the same words.”
Here is the short version:
- Neh=”I’m hungry”
- Owh=”I’m sleepy”
- Heh=”I’m experiencing discomfort”
- Eair=”I have lower gas”
- Eh=”I need to burp”
Those “words” are actually sound reflexes, Priscilla says. “Babies all around the world have the same reflexes, and they therefore make the same sounds,” she says. If parents don’t respond to those reflexes, Priscilla says the baby will eventually stop using them.
Priscilla recommends that parents listen for those words in a baby’s pre-cry before they start crying hysterically. She says there is no one sound that’s harder to hear than others because it varies by individual. She also says some babies use some words more than others.
The Dunstan Baby Language DVD is currently available. Visit www.dunstanbaby.com to order your copy.
And NO, I do not have children, I just find this extremely interesting. I was an au pair for a while, but for babies who were talking / starting to talk. It’d be interesting to try this out though, so those of you with babies, let me know if it works please? 
Sources: Oprah
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this is just amazing! btw, i’ve never known anyone from south afric before so, i think it’s cool!
keep on blogging…
I’m sceptical. If this were for real, not just a plan to make money, there would be endless applications, which means every postnatal researcher would be on this in a flash. I could be wrong.
How does the baby know to diagnose lower gas? And what’s the baby talk version of “I am experiencing intestinal distress, brought on by digestive difficulties. Please take me to a physician, or at least a sober vet.”
Anyhow, it reminded me of this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_8yPap-k_s
I have 3 kids. And this is interesting for sure, but probably just like most Verimark products (i.e. you’ll do just as well without it). Babies only need so much however, so when they start to be discomfortable, you just quickly run through your mental checklist… are they hungry, thirsty, to warm, to cold, sick?? It’s pretty easy really, you don’t have to learn to identify any specific sound, or have a photographic memory. Most mothers are able to tell the differences in their babies crying, after some time you just KNOW what is just a cry and when it is more serious.
Here’s the problem though. Once your second child arrive, forget everything you thought you knew and learned by raising the first one. Kids are NEVER the same!! I think it’s nature’s way of keeping us on our toes…
Hope you have a wonderful day!