No kneecaps or real tears and over 10,000 taste buds!? Just when you thought your precious little bundle couldn't get any more fascinating! Here are a few interesting facts that you may not already know...
1) Baby blues...
When born a babies eyes are already 75% their adult size. No wonder we cannot stop gazing into them! <3
2) Love the bones of you...
You might think that due to their size, newborn babies would have less bones than us adults right? Wrong! Babies are born with 300 bones which fuse together over time reducing to just 206 as an adult.
3) Crocodile tears
Babies don't have functional tear ducts until they are between 1 and 3 months old, so all that screaming is just noise. But don't worry, it can still wake you up from the deepest of sleep!
4) Mummy I can hear you...
Newborn babies can recognise their mothers voice right from birth! Their middle ear is still full of fluid which muffles most sounds, however this does not stop them from recognising the voice of mummy :) They will respond to mums voice more than any other sound.
5) Birthmarks
Approximately 80% of babies are born with a birthmark. I was shocked as I didn't realise it was so high! According to WebMD their are two different categories of birth marks, red and pigmented. Red birthmarks may appear after birth and take their colour from blood vessels, where as pigmented are always present at birth.
6) Sleeping like a baby...
In the first few weeks of life babies can sleep up to 16 to 17 hours a day! But as we all know this can be in short bursts and is usually between 2-4 hours per sleep. Its hard work being this precious you know!
7) You took my breath away...
This fact absolutely fascinates me! Up to being 7 months old, babies can breath AND swallow at the same time! After 7 months of age we all loose this ability and can only do one at a time. If we try to swallow as we breathe we choke, or as my mum would always say ''Did it go down the wrong way?''
8) Head's up!
A newborn babies head makes up 25% of their entire body weight! Also they will move their heads to the right more than they will move it to the left. Babies will also move their heads to the side when they are full. (If they haven't fallen asleep!)
9) Its all about the taste...
Another one that surprised me is this, babies are born with an around 10,000 taste buds, way more than adults! Not only are these located on their tiny tongues but also on the sides, back and roof of their mouths. Eventually they just disappear!
10) No kneecaps?
That's right, babies don't have hard kneecaps until after they are 6 months old. They just have soft cartilage at first. I remember when my sons kneecaps 'came in' trying to get him into his buggy was a fun task, as soon as he learnt he could lock those legs dead straight!
So there you have it, 10 random yet amazing facts about newborn babies! I hope you found them as interesting as me :)
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Thank you for reading!
Nikita xx
