Infant App Can Tell Why Your Baby's Crying

Babies cry a lot, but the reason behind their cries isn't always so clear.

A new app, called the Infant Cries Translator app, developed by researchers at the National Taiwan University Hospital Yunlin can help parents get a bit closer to knowing what their baby is fussing over, according to NBC News. 

"The Infant Cries Translator can differentiate four different statuses of sounds of baby crying, including hunger, the diaper getting wet, sleepy and pain," said study author Chang Chuan-yu. "So far, according to the feedback from users, the accuracy of the app we've tested can reach 92 percent for babies under two weeks old. As for the babies under one or two months, the accuracy of the app can also reach up to 84 or 85 percent. Even for the four month old baby, the accuracy can reach 77 percent."

During the study, researchers collected close to 200,000 crying sounds from over 100 new-born babies. They uploaded the sounds onto an online database-analyzing the frequency of individual screams.

Overall, the app has helped researchers help parents determine when their baby might be hungry, sleep or in pain (or has a wet diaper). After six months, however, researchers say that the app will become less effective as the baby becomes more familiar with his or her environment. 

The Infant Cries Translator has been downloadable on IOS and Android via the App Store, and also Google Play, since early 2015 at a cost of $2.99 USD.

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