Baby growth is amazing! Babies are constantly growing in size and learning new things every day. It’s amazing to see how quickly babies develop and grow during the first few years of their lives when compared to later on in life. For instance, up until age 5, your child can grow as much as 4-5 inches per year. but after that toddler growth slows down considerably until puberty hits around age 12 or 13. Keep reading to learn 10 facts about baby growth and newborn that you never knew before!
Over time, when the baby grows, they will fuse together until they eventually have 206 bones. Babies are born without kneecaps, but develop them around six months of age. A baby’s head is one-quarter of his body size at birth, but it is two-thirds by one year old and 95 percent by adulthood. Babies’ stomachs are only a quarter of their total body weight at birth, but quickly fill up with milk to make up half their bodies by three months old and nearly three-quarters by 12 months old. An infant will double her weight in her first year and increase her height by 50 percent over that same period.
These spots protect a baby’s brain when she’s born. Over time, these spots become harder and eventually close completely. In most babies, these spots start to close around six months old, although some babies have very large spots that never close entirely. This is called an open fontanelle, and it’s pretty common in newborns who are premature or have certain medical conditions like hydrocephalus (water on their brain). But don’t worry! It won’t affect your baby at all. Open fontanelles in babies tend to stay that way unless they need surgery because of a condition that caused them to be born prematurely or with low birth weight. Some people also refer to them as soft spots!
Babies have a focused vision by 3 months old. This means that they can focus on objects from a distance of 8 inches, although their close-up vision is still blurry. At 3 months old, babies experience their first sleep cycle: Up until around three months old, babies spend most of their time in active REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. These first sleep cycles are active because newborns’ nervous systems are hyper-reactive and hypersensitive to stimuli. Between four and six months, babies will begin moving into quiet non-REM sleep as their brains adjust to outside stimulation.
A baby’s hearing is more sensitive than an adult’s, so they are capable of picking up on sounds you don’t even notice. Mothers will tell you that their baby immediately stops crying when a doorbell rings or a dog barks outside. And it isn’t because babies aren’t used to these noises. It’s because they’re more attuned to their environment! Babies’ hearing sharpens as they get older and becomes just as adept as yours at blocking out background noise; but in those first few months, take care not to blast them with loud music or TV! You may also want to be careful with ear-splittingly loud toys and keep phones away from your little ones while they sleep.
It’s called teething and your baby will lose her first teeth around age 6 to 18 months. For some, it happens a little earlier for others a little later. Baby growth is measured in pounds, not inches: Not sure if your baby is growing? Weigh her! But be careful not to compare your baby’s weight with other babies — as they all grow at different rates depending on their size and gender. Most babies gain approximately 10-15 pounds during their first year of life, but you can expect them to double or even triple that amount before they turn 2 years old. So while an average newborn may weigh 7 or 8 pounds, she could grow to 20 by her second birthday!
Your baby’s brain has room to grow. In fact, by age 1, a baby’s brain will have almost tripled in size from birth. But there’s so much more than the sheer size that helps develop and refine your child’s brain. And those early years are crucial for making sure her brain has what it needs to function at its best. For example, over 80% of a baby’s brain develops before she even takes her first step or utters her first word. And most of that development happens during her first year: Language skills emerge between 12 and 18 months. Physical coordination comes between 6 and 9 months. Imagination is born between 3-5 months; social awareness begins at 7 weeks old!
Babies touch a lot of things, but those objects often go straight into their mouths. From toys to mom’s shirts to pencils, babies put everything they encounter into their mouths. Babies do not have a fully developed sense of taste or smell yet, which means it’s hard for them to discern between what is harmful and what is not. Parents should be aware of where they leave things when with their child as they may inadvertently harm him if he puts something in his mouth.
Babies can process new words as early as 15 months old and learn hundreds of words by age two. Even more impressive, a baby’s vocabulary can continue to expand for several years beyond their second birthday. As babies get older, they’ll understand more and more of what’s being said to them even if they don’t say anything back because it takes time for them to master communication skills. At first, a baby may understand only general concepts related to things around them like dogs or milk. But as time goes on, their grasp of language becomes increasingly specific until they start using sentences with multiple words at age two or three. So keep talking! Because talking is how babies learn words.
It’s normal for babies to sleep up to 16 hours a day in their first month. It’s also very normal for them to wake up every few hours at night until they get used to falling asleep independently, which doesn’t happen until well after 3 months. But it may feel like your newborn is getting a short amount of sleep and waking too often at night. To make sure your baby is getting enough shut-eye, try keeping her in a dark room and use blackout curtains or an eye mask. Try swaddling (or wrapping) her so she feels snug and secure. Moreover, try holding her upright against your shoulder or breast instead of lying down flat on her back in bed.
A baby’s skin is so sensitive it can feel the movement of air over it. This sensitivity, however, diminishes as time goes on and the baby growth. For example, a nine-month-old baby only feels 90 percent of what she would if she were younger. That figure drops to 70 percent by age two years old and further still as we age to adulthood. It takes one year for new bones to completely form.: It takes one year for new bones to completely form in babies.
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