Newborn babies are a whole universe. They differ from us so much that I can’t even believe!
Did you know that children are much more perfect creatures than adults? From the outside it may seem that they only do what they eat, sleep, regurgitate and drag everything into their mouths. But no, in fact, newborns know exactly what and why they are doing at any given time. Which adult can boast of this? We have an advantage: we are not so helpless. But that’s just it. healthy-food-near-me.com found 25 more facts about babies that will surprise anyone.
1. Children are born without knee caps
Yes, this is not a typo. In newborns, this joint is replaced by cartilage, which gradually forms into a calyx. This process lasts about six months. Therefore, before that, the kids crawl on their hands, and not on all fours. And yet – children are born, already being able to crawl. And it’s not a joke! When a newborn baby is placed on the mother’s belly, he is able to reach her breast unaided within an hour.
2. May children are the heaviest
Many believe that the heaviest babies are born in January – holidays, gluttony, all that. But no. Statistics say that the heaviest children are from May. They are, on average, 200 grams heavier than babies born in other months. By the way, the biggest newborn was a boy who was born in China in 2016. He weighed 17 kilograms!
3. Newborns don’t cry
Seriously. Yes, they scream. This is the only way that babies can express their dissatisfaction with what is happening. But don’t cry! Their tear ducts will not form until three weeks later. Then the real crying will begin. By the way, some children let their first tears start only at 4-5 months. But this is rare.
4. Babies have more bones than adults
In a newborn, the skeleton consists of 300 bones. An adult has 206 bones. Cool, huh? This is because some bones fuse together during growth. For example, the bones of the skull – it actually consists of several parts. This is necessary so that the baby’s head can pass through the woman’s birth canal. The bones of the skull are completely fused into one box when the fontanelle is overgrown.
5. “Stork spots” are normal
80 percent of children are born with these specks, which are called wine, stork bites, and angel kisses. So relax – this is not pathology. Birthmarks are caused by the dilation of the capillaries during childbirth. Sometimes spots appear within days or even weeks after birth. And then they disappear with the same success.
6. Sensory perception in infants is developed in the same way as ours
From birth, babies hear as well as adults. And the sense of smell is even better developed than ours. The baby is able to instantly recognize the voice of the mother, even against the background of other voices. But this is the only sound he recognizes. Everything else surprises the baby, because it is new.
But children cannot boast of one hundred percent vision. Babies are born short-sighted, and not everyone perceives colors. This is because the brain is not yet able to process visual information. After a few weeks, vision returns to normal.
7. Children lose their hair
A baby can be born black-haired, but there is no guarantee that he will remain so. In the first few weeks of life, the baby’s hair falls out and is wiped off. And during the year new ones grow. So a baby can be born blonde with straight hair, and by the second year turn into a curly brown-haired woman.
8. Babies experience the world by touch
Why do children pull everything into their mouths? Not only because their teeth are teething and their gums itch. Around the baby’s mouth is the most tactile area. Therefore, they explore the world in this way – with their mouths.
In addition, babies have many innate reflexes – about 70. Some are forgotten as they grow. For example, if you hold the child upright, so that the feet touch the surface, he will begin to walk. And children also jump a lot – this is a fright reflex. This is how children react to loud noises, for example, or to the sensation of falling when you toss them slightly.
9. Babies sleep all the time
And if they are not asleep, then they want to sleep. Children feel sleepy all the time. For the first months, the baby is awake for only three minutes per hour – and this is during the day, less at night. This is because at this time the brain is actively developing and spends most of the child’s energy on it.
10. The baby does not know how to smile
You will see the first conscious smile only when the baby is a month, or even two. In the meantime, the baby shows you the smile of the Buddha. When a person’s face is completely relaxed, it folds into a slight smile, like an oriental deity. Some people believe that smiling is the natural state of the human face.
11. The child has an innate taste for music.
What the mother listened to during pregnancy will be listened to by the baby. True, only the first four months. Then he will begin to form his own taste. Until then, even your favorite dance track can play the role of a lullaby.
12. Infant regulates your heart rate
Israeli scientists have found that when a mother and her newborn baby look into each other’s eyes, their hearts begin to beat in unison. But the pulse of a child is much faster than that of an adult – about 180 beats per minute. A few hours after birth, the frequency drops to 140 strokes, and by the year – to 115.
13. Children are “programmed” to pull everything into their mouths.
Not only because the area around the mouth is the most sensitive area. The French found out that children are born with the desire to drag everything into their mouths. If the kid cannot chew the dog’s tail or your keys yet, this does not mean that he does not want to! He was born for this.
14. Children have a sharper taste.
Babies have three times more taste buds than adults. As many as one hundred thousand. Taste papillae are formed in the womb. Therefore, expectant mothers in the third trimester are advised to try different types of food so that the child can feel their taste. With age, excess receptors disappear. It’s a pity.
15. Babies laugh 300 times a day.
Average. For comparison, adults allow themselves to giggle a maximum of 60 times a day. Still, kids know how to enjoy life much better than we do.
16. Babies cry with an accent
It sounds strange, but true. Even in the wordless cry of a baby, linguistic shades can be discerned. So, children prefer to roar in the language spoken by their mother. In the last trimester of pregnancy, unborn babies are already learning to distinguish between languages.
17. Babies have mustaches
Oh my god, that sounds awful. But there is no mistake here either. Around the fourth month of pregnancy, a mustache begins to grow in the unborn baby. Then this fluff spreads to the entire body of the baby. This hair is called lanugo. They fall out even before the baby is born.
18. Newborn girls have periods.
This is probably the most terrifying fact about babies. In the womb, the fetus absorbs estrogen. After birth, the level of this hormone in the baby’s blood remains quite high. Therefore, newborn girls can have lochia, lactation and even something like menstruation. And sometimes – oh my God, it’s terrible – blood can come out of the nipples.
19. Children can breathe and swallow at the same time.
Try drinking water from a bottle. Have you noticed? You held your breath. And children do not have to do this. Up to seven months, babies can both breathe through their nose and swallow. Therefore, there are difficulties with feeding if the baby has a runny nose. He simply suffocates while eating.
20. Babies are sociable.
Even if they cannot speak, this does not mean that the baby is not able to communicate. He is fluent in sign language. When a child waves his arms and legs, claps his hands, points with a pen at something, he communicates with you. We just don’t always understand this. By the way, the more physical manifestations of communication a child has, the faster he will begin to speak. And psychologists believe that it will also grow as a freer person. Therefore, it is evil to swaddle children tightly.
21. Babies prefer women
They like to hear a female voice, because it is higher. Many people instinctively go into a higher tone when interacting with a child. It really works – babies love to hear this kind of voice.
22. Child’s eye color changes
Born with deep blue eyes – turned into a gray-eyed teenager. What to do – all children are born blue-eyed. The melanin responsible for eye color does not develop before birth. And only after six months it becomes clear what color of eyes the child will have.
23. Children are disproportionate
You already noticed this. We will only add numbers: the head is a quarter of the total body length, and the brain is 10 percent of the total weight. The rest of the body will gradually catch up with the head.
24. The child is equally like both parents
The general impression may say that in front of you is a copy of mom or a spitting image of dad. But if you start comparing noses, eyes and chins, it turns out that the child is equally like mom and dad.
25. Newborn triples weight in the first year
At first, the baby can gain one kilogram per month, then the growth rate slows down. Usually, by six months, the baby weighs twice as much as at birth. And by the year – three times. If the growth rate did not decrease, then the children would grow up to 450 kilograms by the age of five.
By the way
Pregnancy and childbirth – this area of human life has many records. For example, the smallest baby in the world who managed to survive was a girl from America, who was born weighing 245 grams. The oldest mother is an Indian woman who gave birth to twins at 74 years old. And the most large woman is a Russian peasant woman, whose name history has not preserved. It is only known that during her life she gave birth to her husband Fyodor Vasiliev 69 children.