Fun and Interesting Baby Facts!

*Babies have 300 bones, but a grown adult has 206.

*Babies are born with cartilage for kneecaps that will eventually harden into the bony ones we have as adults.

*80 percent of babies are born with birthmarks.

*Babies triple in weight the first year and grow approximately an inch per month in the first six months!

*A newborn’s head is 25 percent of its weight.

*Babies turn their heads to the right more than the left.

*A baby can swallow and breathe at the same time.

*The last sense a baby develops is sight.

*Because their tear ducts are still developing, babies cannot cry tears when they are newborns. This will change around 2 to 4 months.

*Just after birth, babies see mostly black, white and shades of gray.

*Infants prefer to look at faces instead of objects and can see about 8 to 12 inches in front of them.

*Babies have around 10,000 taste buds—and not just in their mouth! They have taste buds on their tonsils and back of the throat too!

*Bitter and sweet are the first tastes babies can distinguish.

*Babies can’t taste salt until around 5 months.

*A newborn baby’s tummy can only hold about 1 teaspoon of liquid.

*Babies are born with a natural ability to swim and hold their breath, but this disappears soon after birth.

*Human babies are the only species that smile at their parents.

*Babies laugh an average of 300 times per day compared to adults who laugh 60 times per day.

*Infants’ breathing is irregular, fast and sometimes pauses (for 5 or 10 seconds) altogether!

*The first poo, called meconium, doesn’t stink! That’s because babies don't have the gut bacteria yet that makes it smelly!

Julie Collett writes from her home in Overland Park. Even with four children of her own, she learned a few things from writing this article!

As always, please consult your health care provider with any questions or concerns.