December 19, 2023 | Scott Mazza

Ga-Ga Facts About Babies


Unless you're a fact-loving clone or bot, you probably came into this world as a baby! Return to simpler times and marvel at one of nature’s great miracles with these amazing baby facts.


46. Twinsies

The last few decades have seen a massive rise in the occurrence of twins in the US. In 1980, about one in 50 births was to twins, while in 2009 this number had risen to one in 30—a rise of around 75%.

Babies

45. Sleepytime

A newborn baby needs a lot of sleep. When first born, a baby will only be awake and alert for as little as 3 minutes per hour, and that number is less at night. Too bad new parents can't get that much sleep!

Babies FactsPublic Domain Pictures

44. Lots of Diapers

Newborn babies urinate as often as every 20 minutes—which amounts to a lot of diaper changing!

Motherhood factsShutterstock

43. My, What Big Ears You Have

Although most of a baby's body has a lot of growing to do before they reach adulthood, there is one part of the body that is full grown at birth: the inner ear.

Babies FactsPixabay

42. Big Eyes

Another organ that is almost fully grown at birth is a baby's eyes. The eyes are nearly adult size at birth, around 75%. Eyesight, on the other hand, still has far to go: babies are born very nearsighted but should reach 20/20 vision after only 6 months.

Francis Barber EditorialShutterstock

41. They’re Called Baby Blues For a Reason

Most people, despite whatever eye color they end up with in adulthood, are born with blue eyes. A person's actual eye colour is revealed after about 6 to 12 months.

Babies FactsPexels

40. Baby Talk

Supposedly the word “baby” derives from the first sounds a baby usually makes: ba-ba-ba.

Babies FactsPexels

39. She Looks Just Like You!

Although its common to recognize one parent more than the other in a newborn, the truth is that, at this early point, babies on average actually tend to look like each parent equally.

Babies FactsPexels

38. Natural Swimmers

Babies are born with an innate sense for swimming – they will hold their breath when underwater and understand how to splash and kick. A baby can even be taken swimming as soon as their parents are ready!

Babies FactsPixabay

37. Head of Hair

Some babies surprise their parents by emerging into the world with a beautiful head of dark hair. This hair is however not an actual indicator of what the baby will have as the grow up—a newborn's hair will usually fall out within a few weeks and grow back over the baby's first year.

Babies FactsPxHere

36. Just a Cup

While an average adult will have about 4.5 to 5.5 liters of blood in their body, a newborn baby will only have one cup.

Babies FactsFlickr

35. Swaddled

Still a common baby term, one swaddles a child by wrapping them up tightly and snugly in baby blankets. The action of swaddling actually originates in a tradition from Medieval Europe where guardians wrapped a baby tightly in linen with the hope that it would help the baby's limbs to grow straight.

Babies FactsPixabay

34. Born in a Shirt

About 1 in 800,000 babies are born with a caul (or cowl). A caul refers to a piece of birth membrane that is present on the baby's head or face. A caul is harmless and easily removed, and in many folk traditions even seen as a lucky sign. In medieval and early modern Europe, being born with a caul meant a great life ahead and the protection of fertility against evil spirits. Keeping a baby's caul was thought to protect the owner from drowning—in fact, sailors would often purchase cauls at high prices to keep them safe at sea. The idiomatic phrase “born in a shirt or bonnet” is present in several European languages and refers to the luck signified by a birth caul. So a caul is mostly a good sign—except if you were born with one in Romania—where you’d be thought to be a vampire.

Babies FactsPixabay

33. Power of the Sea

In past European and American societies, babies would often be given coral as a teething aid or rattle. The coral served two purposes; it amused the babies and kept them occupied but also was thought to bring them protection from evil.

Babies FactsWikimedia Commons

32. Baby’s First Poop

The first fecal matter a human baby passes isn’t poop. The excretion is a unique, greenish substance called “Meconium". Its also sticky, and it serves the purpose of preparing the baby's intestine for its first digestion. Once they have passed the meconium, their body will move into more regular bowel movements.

Babies FactsPeakpx

31. Baby Strength

Ever been surprised by how hard that newborn grabs on to your out-stretched finger? Amazingly, babies are actually typically strong enough support the weight of their whole body hanging by simply grasping with one hand.

Babies FactsPexels

30. Primal Fear

Babies have shown an evolutionary response to potentially dangerous situations, which they mainly experience through sound. Babies who hear thunder and lightning, fire, or the sounds of an intimidating animal are likely to respond with a decreased heart rate, increased blinking, and by looking for their parents. Loud noises can also trigger a jump reflex wherein a baby will open their arms and fists wide and pull their knees in, before returning to a more neutral position.

Babies FactsPexels

29. All Organic

After a baby's birth, the initial milk that the mother produces is referred to as colostrum (also known as beestings). Modern medicine acknowledges the nutritional benefits and immune enhancing properties of colostrum, promoting its early consumption by infants through maternal nursing. However, in the Middle Ages, colostrum was considered too risky for a newborn and was typically administered to an older child.

Babies FactsShutterstock

28. Tongue-Tied

Babies are instinctively born with the tendency to "root around" - searching for their mother's nipple by maneuvering their head and mouth. Babies are also usually instinctively adept at milking through sucking, but some babies suffer from a condition called "tongue-tie," where their tongue literally has less ability to maneuver since it is attached too closely to the rest of their mouth. Consequently, tongue-tie can make it challenging to nurse a baby.

Babies FactsPikrepo

27. Mother's Milk Is Best

Before cow and sheep's milk began to be pasteurized in Europe, it was uncommon to give this milk to children. Popular belief claimed that drinking milk from another species would cause the baby to take on the characteristics of that animal. Today cow's milk is usually introduced to a child at around 12 months old.

Babies FactsPikrepo

26. Primitive Instincts

Babies are born with as many as 70 innate movement reflexes. As well as instinctually moving to feed, babies will also make primitive motions for crawling and walking.

Babies FactsPixabay

25. An Alluring Aroma

Babies and their mothers have a very good sense of smell for one another. A baby can correctly identify its mother's nursing pad (by responding more positively when compared to others), and a blindfolded mother can discern her own baby from a group. Plus, a mother smelling her baby may also experience a pleasure similar to that of smelling food when hungry.

Babies FactsShutterstock

24. Mother's Music

When first born, babies do not have very good hearing due to fluid build up. Babies can however recognize their mother's voice and sometimes even music they have heard while in the womb. Dance party?

I Messed Up factsMax Pixel

23. Paired Hearts

Another amazing connection recently discovered between a mother and child pertains to their heart beats: when mom and baby are looking at each other their heart rates adjust to match the other’s in a manner of seconds. Sounds like love!

Babies FactsWikimedia Commons, Robert Whitehead

22. Mouth Feel

Despite the efforts of parents and nannies everywhere, babies are always putting things in their mouths! This may be for two reasons: first, it is thought that the impulse is evolutionary—the more a baby puts in their mouth, the more they may be able to eat. The second reason may be more about inquiry—babies discover the world through their sense of touch and the most sensitive of these receptors are in their mouths.

Babies FactsPixabay

21. Baby Belly

New parents are often tired because their baby needs to feed frequently; this is of course because newborns need lots of nutrients to keep growing. What they may not know is that a newborn's stomach is actually only the size of a hazelnut–so a full stomach naturally doesn't last too long!

Babies FactsShutterstock

20. Victorian Parents

The ever-prudish Victorians were sure that babies who continued to suck on pacifiers or their thumbs for too long were destined to become masturbators (the horror!). To prevent this immoral activity, parents would go to such lengths as securing their babies hands to cribs, or blocking sucking with uncomfortable mittens.

Babies FactsNeedpix

 

19. Big Noggin

It’s pretty common knowledge that a baby's head is huge compared to its body—an adult human's skull is about one seventh of its body, while a baby's is about one quarter. But you may not know that one important protein in baby skull production is named after a slang work for head – Noggin. The protein “noggin” actually keeps the skull from fusing too early, which helps during birth.

Babies FactsNeedpix

18. A Refined Palate

Studies have shown that babies recognize and are drawn to the foods that their mother ate while pregnant. The types and tastes of food that a mother eats affects the amniotic fluid that in turn nourishes the baby—after about four or five months in utero, a mother's taste preferences start influencing the baby. It is also likely that as they grow and start eating adult food, a baby will enjoy the flavors they may have tried while in the womb. Talk about comfort food!

Babies FactsPixnio

17. Fur Coat

Babies are sometimes born with soft downy body hair called lanugo. Lanugo is usually shed and then consumed by a fetus in utero, but in some cases it is still on a baby when born. It disappears a few weeks after birth but can reappear later in life by individuals who suffer from eating disorders.

Babies FactsFlickr

16. Cheesy Wax

Babies are born with a coating of a white creamy substance called Vernix Caseosa–literally Latin for cheesy varnish. This cheesy coating seems to be beneficial to the baby in many ways: including antibacterial properties, maintaining heat, easing through the birth canal and even as a moisturizer.

Babies FactsPxfuel

15. No-Fly List

Many airlines won't allow a newborn baby under seven days old to fly if they’re flying domestically, and some won't allow infants under 14 days to fly internationally. In any case, I'm sure the last place new parents want to be is on an airplane.

Airport Goodbyes FactsShutterstock

14. Yogi Baby

Ever wonder why babies are so flexible? They have more bones at birth than they will as an adult! This is because as babies grow some of their bones will fuse into one larger piece, thus reducing the number of bones overall.

Babies FactsPikrepo

13. Kneecaps Needed

Even though babies are born with more bones than they will have as an adult, one body part they do lack are kneecaps. Kneecap-like cartilage structures will develop at around 6 months.

Babies FactsPexels

12. Baby Weight

If you were a heavy baby, chances are you were born May. Researchers say that babies born in this month weigh the most, but the reason is unclear.

Babies FactsPexels

11. Birthmarks

Most babies are born with some kind of birthmark that either stays with them their whole life or fades as they grow up. Birthmarks are often due to labor, when blood vessel are dilated. Baby birthmarks carry a variety of whimsical nicknames and folklore interpretations: "Angel Kisses" are believed to be gifts from divine entities, "Stork Bites" are considered remnants from the stork that delivered the baby, "Strawberry Marks" are interpreted as the mother's unmet desires, and "Port Stains" are thought to be scars from burns that didn't completely heal from a previous existence.

Babies FactsFlickr

10. Smile!

Although you may think your newborn is smiling at you, a baby’s first smile, as an expression of happiness, only actually occurs at around five weeks old.

Babies FactsPixabay

9. Cry Baby

Just as their first emotion-driven smile doesn't appear until they’re around a month old, a baby’s first emotion-driven cry occurs somewhere between 2 and 4 months. Before then, a baby's tearing is considered basal (for moisture) or reflex (for irritation) tearing, and is mainly a physical response.

Babies FactsPxHere

8. Good Taste

Babies have as many as three times the amount of taste buds as an adult, however they can't taste salt until after they are four months old.

Babies FactsFlickr

7. Leech Lessons

Babies in medieval Europe faced medical treatments that would frighten anyone today. To treat croup, leeches were placed on a baby’s windpipe, and teething babies were also bled.

Babies FactsPxfuel

6. Witch's Milk

Newborn babies, both boys and girls, may occasionally produce milk — it's completely normal and is probably due to the hormones from the mother's body as it gets ready to feed the baby. The folk term for the physiological occurrence, witch's milk, stems from a belief that newborn milk was stolen to feed a witch's familiar spirits.

Babies FactsPickPik

5. They Grow Up So Fast

Similar to newborn lactation, newborn girls may also show signs of menstruation. After being exposed to their mother's high level of estrogen in the womb and then having that exposure abruptly halted at birth, a female baby's body will react as an adult woman's would after a drop in estrogen—she will start to menstruate. Although it can be alarming for parents, this phenomenon is completely normal. It occurs in around 1 in 4 female babies and doesn't usually last more than a week.

Babies FactsShutterstock

4. La Dolce Vita

To ensure a good life, Europeans and parents in the UK would bathe their babies' heads in spirit, or anoint them with a bit of butter and sugar. These sweet substances were thought to foreshadow the sweets to come.

Babies FactsFlickr

3. Do I Hear an Accent?

Children as they learn to speak will naturally mimic the language of their parents, but the language learning process actually begins before birth. Babies first pick up on their mother's accent while in the womb. and, amazingly, this early accent is passed down and shows in how they cry. Studies have shown that a baby's crying reveals patterns that can be connected to characteristics in their mother's language.

Wedding Guests Refused To Hold Their Peace factsShutterstock

2. Mega-Mama

The woman who is thought to have had the most babies of all time gave birth to 69 little ones over her lifetime!

Babies FactsWikimedia Commons

1. Don't Be Afraid

Newborn babies are very vulnerable, and experts warn that if new mothers aren’t careful, they risk seriously infecting their infants with their own fears and psychological problems. Maternal fears are so powerful, children of Holocaust survivors suffered nightmares and flashbacks to events they never experienced. As Dr. Jacek Debiec states of his own studies on maternal fear in rats,“Our research demonstrates that infants can learn from maternal expression of fear, very early in life. Before they can even make their own experiences, they basically acquire their mothers' experiences".

Babies FactsPxfuel

 

Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19


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