The complexity of a baby’s cry could give some indication whether he is at increased risk of language delays, according to a new study published in The Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Journal.
The simplest crying ‘melody’ is a single sound that rises and then falls in pitch, like an arc. As infants grow older, they begin crying in more complicated patterns, and intentionally segment the sound with brief pauses – an ability which eventually develops into syllable production and the building blocks of speech.
Researchers in Germany worked with 71 infants, all two months old. Of the babies, 11 had a cleft lip and palate, 10 had a cleft palate only and 50 control infants were unaffected by either disorder.
The researchers found that the infants who cried in ‘simple’ melodies more than half (55 percent) of the time were five times more likely to develop a language delay by age two.
By contrast, only 11 percent of infants who cried in complex melodies more than half the time went on to develop a language delay.
Study authors hope that these results may provide more understanding about early linguistic development and could therefore lead to the development of new treatments for children with speech delays.