Babies are such interesting little creatures. While we goo and gaga at their cuteness, there are somethings that you may not know that are actually quite fascinating!
If babies kept growing at the rate they do in the first year, do you know how tall they would be as adults (uhm huge!)? Do babies really have more bones than adults?
Here are six mind-blowing facts about your baby we bet you didn't know.
More info: getfirstsmile.com
How many brain cells does a newborn baby have?
Newborn babies have about 100 billion brain cells, which accounts for their amazing ability to process information. These cells will fuel a lifetime of learning, creating, discovering, exploring and everything else your child will choose to accomplish.
How many bones are babies born with?
Amazingly, babies are born with 94 more soft, bony structures than you have. These bony structures are made of a rubbery tissue called cartilage. A baby’s pliable body makes for an easier passage through the birth canal and also accounts for some amazing flexibility. As your baby grows and develops, some of these cartilage pieces will fuse together and slowly be replaced by harder bone. The result? A 206-bone frame that will support a lifetime of leap-frogging, limbo-dancing, tumbling, goal-keeping, and loads more.
If babies grew at the same rate as their first year, how tall would they be at age 10?
Talk about leaping buildings in a single bound! At the rate babies grow in the first year, they would be 92 feet tall by the time they reached 10. Lucky for parents, and clothing budgets, a baby’s growth rate slows down starting in year two.
What happens to babies when they look in the eyes of an adult?
It’s like a parent-baby mind meld. When babies gaze into the eyes of an adult, their pupils automatically dilate. The adult, let’s say Mom or Dad, experiences an irresistible wave of attraction. Some call this effect a biologically programmed response to promote bonding. But we like to think of it as a love magnet.
How old are babies when they can tell where a sound is coming from?
Super-tuned ears let newborn babies tell where a sound is coming from as soon as they’re born. They’ll even react to sounds they haven’t heard before. Of course, the first sound they recognize is their mother’s voice.
Your baby is born with multiple types of stem cells that can be stored for future use.
The blood found in your baby's umbilical cord is rich in hematopoietic (blood forming) stem cells, and the umbilical cord itself is rich in mesenchymal (tissue forming) stem cells. Preserving you baby's newborn stem cells helps protect their awesome power and provides your family with the opportunity to access them in the future if they are needed for transplant medicine or as new treatments using these types of stem cells potentially become available.