Fad or fact? Cry analysis
Babies barely have time to just lie on a mat and coo any more, it seems. What with lessons in sign language, trips to the cranial osteopath and massage classes, it's hard to find the space in their busy schedules. But are these techniques just fads playing on the fears of anxious parents and carers or are they really of some benefit?
What your baby's crying means
One of the methods on offer for understanding your child's needs is
the WhyCry baby analyser. This has been marketed as being able to digitally
decode a baby's cries by analysing their pitch, frequency and pattern. The
device illuminates one of five crying 'expressions' telling you whether
the child is hungry, bored, tired, stressed or annoyed.
Does it work?
"On a couple of occasions it was right and I was wrong."
Amanda Longton from Clitheroe, Lancs, used Why Cry with her second child
Bradley, born in December: "With my first child Edward, now 12, I used a
process of elimination to work out why he was crying. With Bradley I usually
knew his cries, but the analyser got it right too. And on a couple of occasions
it was right and I was wrong."
Expert view:
Sue Macdonald, Education and Research Manager for the Royal College of
Midwives, feels the WhyCry could be helpful to some new parents, especially
ones who haven't got friends or family to give them advice: "One of
the benefits is that it gets parents to look at their baby more analytically
and to realise there are more than a couple of reasons why they might be
crying," says Sue. "Research done in Spain showed it did have a
degree of accuracy. The possible downside is that parents might rely on it too
much and panic if following the analyser's advice does not stop their baby
crying."
Also in this section:
Fad
or fact? Baby signing
Fad or fact? Soothing massage
Fad or fact? Gentle cranial manipulation
Next Steps
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