8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising: classifying each of the plurality of key child segments into one of: vocalizations; cries; vegetative sounds; and fixed signal sounds; and wherein the key child segment characteristics are estimated using only key child segments classified into at least one of vocalizations and cries.
8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising: classifying each of the plurality of key child segments into one of: vocalizations; cries; vegetative sounds; and fixed signal sounds; and wherein the key child segment characteristics are estimated using only key child segments classified into at least one of vocalizations and cries. 9. The method of claim 8 wherein classifying each of the plurality of key child segments comprises using at least one of rule-based analysis and statistical processing.