10 Interesting Newborn Facts
This article lists 10 interesting facts for new born babies. These are very informative facts for mother’s to be, as well as for all mothers out there.
FEET:
The newborn’s feet may appear to be quite flat. This is because the baby is born with a pad of fat in their arch area, which disappears around 2.5 years of age, when their arch will become more apparent. It is also normal for their feet to be turned in, out and up. This happens because of the cramped conditions of the womb, and so their feet should straighten out soon.
LEGS:
The newborn’s lower legs may appear curved in. This is because of the cross-legged position the newborn had to adopt in the last weeks of pregnancy, when conditions of the womb were very cramped. Their upper legs may also appear bowed. The baby’s legs will straighten out once they have been walking for a while.
STOMACH:
The size of the newborn baby’s stomach is very small. A 3.5kg baby can only hold 50 to 75ml of fluid at a time. This is why the baby will need small feeds quite regularly.
HEART:
A normal adult heart beats at about 75 beats per minute. The newborn baby’s heart beats at a pace of 130 to 140 beats per minute. It is so much faster than an adult’s heart because their body is so much smaller. This means that the blood travels through their body faster, and increases their heart rate.
LUNGS:
The newborn breathes 30 to 40 times a minute, while an adult breathes around 15 times a minute. So the baby might seem to be panting but this is normal and nothing to worry about.
EARS:
The newborn is programmed to respond to human voices, especially the mothers. This is because the baby has been listening to you throughout your entire pregnancy, and when the baby is out of the womb, they will respond to your voice, because it is familiar to them.
HEAD:
There are soft spots on the baby’s head. These are called Fontanelles. The soft spots are there because the bones of your baby’s skull have not yet joined together completely – they were designed to give way during birth and will gradually join together as the baby grows.
HANDS:
Newborns tend to keep their fists clenched, with their knees drawn up close to their body, in a position similar to that of the foetal position. In addition, it may seem like the newborn has very soft and pliable fingernails, but they are actually quite sharp, and can thus scratch the baby quite badly. The baby does not really have control over their arms and hands so it is best to keep them trimmed to avoid the baby catching their nails on their delicate skin.
NOSE:
The bridge of the newborn baby’s nose is flat at birth. Later on it matures and this is why babies have “button” noses. The baby is also born with a strongly developed sense of smell. In fact, smell is one of the senses that actually develop in the womb. After birth, the baby’s strong sense of smell helps them bond with you.
EYES:
The baby’s vision is very poor at birth. They can only see about 20 to 30cm in front of them. That is far enough to see your face when you hold the baby in the crook of your arm to feed the baby. In addition, even though the baby might cry a lot, the baby does not actually produce any tears. The baby is able to produce enough moisture to lubricate their eyes, but they will only produce real tears between 3 and 12 weeks of age. This is when psychic tearing kicks in; the kind that represents emotional distress.
[YOUR BABY MAGAZINE DECEMBER 2008]
