By Fiona Macrae
London - It could be just the thing to calm frazzled and tearful parents.
A monitor that deciphers babies' cries, distinguishing a sleepy whimper from a hungry wail, is being developed.
The cry translator could also alert parents to hunger, the need for a nappy change or desire for a cuddle.
Japanese scientists have created a computer program that analyses the pitch and pattern of cries.
So far, they have shown it to be accurate in telling painful wails from other cries.
Writing in the International Journal of Biometrics, the Hiroshima International University researchers admit they are relying on parents' assessments because the baby cannot tell them if they are correct.
A spokesman said: "Unfortunately, the parenting handbook does not offer guidance on how to determine what crying means.
"Baby monitors of the future could translate infant cries so that parents will know for certain."
iPhone users already have access to a cry translator developed by a Spanish paediatrician.
It claims to be up to 96 percent accurate but has had mixed reviews.
Siobhan Freegard, founder of the Netmums website, predicted such a device would prove particularly popular with first-time mothers and new fathers.
She said: "It would be very attractive to dads - men like a gadget and also like a solution.
"It might give them more confidence and also get them involved.
"It would also be massively attractive to first-time mums who want to do things perfectly.
"All the parenting books say you will very quickly learn to interpret your baby's cries. But I remember thinking, how? A cry is a cry.
"But it does get easier as they get older."
But the mother of three cautioned that a gadget is no substitute for a mother's intuition.
She said: "Learning to interpret your baby's cries is part of the process of becoming a parent and part of the bonding process.
"Babies can pick up if you and Dad have had a fight - I wonder how it will interpret all these little nuances?
"And it has ticked all the boxes and the baby is still crying, what does it do then?
"Outsourcing parenting really does worry me." - Daily Mail