Baby

10 things you have to know about babies

A baby is full of surprises, and Mother Nature is helping our babies teach us a thing or two before they can even talk.

Dream, dream, dream

Did you know that a baby has emotions in their mother’s womb? With 3D ultrasounds, you can see them yawn, dream and have hiccups. Don’t you wonder what they are dreaming about before even being able to see anything?

Ready to be breastfed

While they are in their mother’s belly, a baby practices to swallow by drinking amniotic fluid, but they never expel any of it during the pregnancy. The waste produced during that time is called meconium. When the baby is born, the mother does not produce milk right away. Instead, she makes colostrum, a honey-like and laxative substance that will help her baby evacuate meconium during their first three days of life.

Sees very little

A newborn baby does not see very well. In fact, in their mother’s womb, they see almost nothing and their vision only begins to develop during their first months. At first, their visual field is limited to 20 centimeters, but it will slowly improve until they see perfectly. Their visual accuracy is not perfect right away either, and it will take four months and a half for your baby to see the tip of a pencil and 18 months before seeing a hair.

Cannot see all colors

At birth, a baby sees everything in black and white, and it will take 5 to 6 weeks before they perceive red and green. They will see blue and yellow after their sixth month, and only if these colors are bright.

Cannot be “spoiled”

Taking your baby in your arms will never spoil them. On the contrary, your presence could reassure them and make them understand that they are safe when you are there.

Adapts to their environment

Between their 6th and 28th week, the baby’s neurons adapt to their world and compensate for their limitations. For example, if a baby cannot hear or if they are not surrounded by sounds, a part of their brain cells allocated to their auditory system will be relocated to other senses to improve their perception and give them better chances of survival.

Remembers the voice of their mother

During pregnancy, a baby hears voices and music. At birth, they will recognize their mother’s voice. Making them listen to the same music over and over during pregnancy could also calm them after birth but using this strategy too often quickly loses its effectiveness.

Has no smell

A newborn baby does not smell like other human beings. That is why we should never leave a baby alone with an animal because the animal could attack the baby to defend its territory, just like they would with any other animal that can be a potential predator. So never leave a baby alone on the ground and near a dog without supervision!

Can lose their hair

Some babies are born with thick and dark hair, and parents are worried when they see it fall during the baby’s first six months. That hair does not necessarily represent the kind of hair that your baby will have for good, neither by color nor by texture. The reason why babies have hair and lose it is the decrease in the level of hormones transmitted by the mother during pregnancy. Such hormones can also cause mini-periods in baby girls.

Grows super fast

In general, a baby who was not born prematurely will double their weight in four or five months and triple it just in time for their first birthday.

Image de Anne Costisella

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