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Weird Things About Newborns
Filed under: Newborns, Toddlers Preschoolers, Health & Safety: Babies, Development/Milestones: Babies, Day Care & Education, Feeding & Sleeping, Baby-sitting, Research Reveals: Babies, Nutrition: Toddlers & Preschoolers, Expert Advice: Babies, Health & Safety: Toddlers & Preschoolers, Development: Toddlers & Preschoolers, Behavior: Toddlers & Preschoolers, Activities: Toddlers & Preschoolers, Gear Guides: Babies, Gear Guides: Toddlers & Preschoolers, Research Reveals: Toddlers & Preschoolers, Expert Advice: Toddlers & Preschoolers
CNN recently ran an interesting article on common physical characteristics of newborns that can be alarming to new parents. Most people expect the baby to be tiny and red but they don't expect:
- Giant bellybuttons (due to umbilical hernia, generally clears up by age 2)
- Baby acne (occurs when hormonal changes stimulate oil glands in the baby's skin. It usually goes away on its own.)
- Enlarged breasts on boys & girls (caused by exposure to mother's hormones and goes away after a few weeks)
- Crossed eyes (common for the first six weeks of life)
- Third nipple
- Cradle Cap
My list of surprising things about my newborn was a little different and mostly diaper related:
- I had no idea how large and delicate looking the soft-spot on the head would be
- The head was much larger in proportion to the rest of the body than I expected.
- They poop the equivalent of their entire body weight several dozen times a day.
- And it's always runny, like they have a bad case of diarrhea
- Poop is released with a force that defies physics and can be propelled across the room if you happened to be holding their little feet up in the air, wiping an earlier mess.
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ReaderComments (Page 1 of 1)
11-10-2007 @ 4:18PM
Amy said...My second child didn't breathe right away when she was born. They put her on my chest and rubbed her vigorously to stimulate her breathing. Exhausted, I looked at her and cried, "She's purple, and covered with mayonnaise!" She was the most unnatural shade of lavender I have ever seen. Even as a veteran mom, I wasn't prepared for that.
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11-11-2007 @ 10:33AM
Bee said...I wasn't prepared for No2 child's neck muscles; he was born looking like a very small prize fighter. 15 minutes old and he lifted to head to freak me out.
Reply
11-10-2007 @ 7:41PM
Eva said...I had no idea newborns could be so opinionated about feeding methods, clothes, diapers, baths, etc!
Reply
11-10-2007 @ 8:55PM
SKL said...I remember being scared to death the first time my baby sister got the hiccups. Her whole rib cage kept compressing halfway to her backbone. Freaky!
Reply
11-10-2007 @ 11:12PM
mamaloo said...Most surprising for me, a mother of two boys, is that even the littlest of men get morning wood after a good nap.
Son 1: Mom, what are you laughing at? Mom? What's so funny? Did the baby pee on you?
Me: No, honey. I'll tell you when you're a big boy.
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11-11-2007 @ 3:19PM
Gry said...Bee, same thing happened to us. We've called her bull-neck on a semi regular basis, but she is finally starting to even out..
mamaloo, omg too funny! I did not know this!
There wasn't too much that freaked me out about the newborn stage - it's the toddler stage I'm going crazy about.
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