Babies are surprising little creatures that will never cease to amaze us. At KneeBouncers, we strive to understand how babies and toddlers develop, learn, and play. And we use that information to create developmentally appropriate and fun games! But even after 20+ years of studying their development, we still get surprised by the new things we learn. We’ve gathered 11 fun facts about babies that we found fascinating and may even surprise you!
11 Fun Baby Facts
1. A baby born in May is heavier than babies born in other months! I can attest to this, having given birth to an 8.5-pound baby in April and a 10-pound baby in May! Research shows that May babies, on average, weigh 7 ounces more than those born in the other eleven months.
2. Babies cannot produce tears until they are three weeks old. They can scream and make plenty of noise before that, though!
3. A baby can learn sign language before they learn a verbal language. They learn the meaning of waving goodbye, hugging, and kissing long before they can speak.
4. Babies do not have kneecaps when they are born!
5. Your baby shares their birthday with at least 9 million other people worldwide.
6. Babies are born with poor vision but can recognize their mothers immediately, primarily through scent and the sound of their mom’s voice. A baby’s most developed sense at birth is smell. If the mom’s partner talks to the baby a lot in utero, they may recognize their voice, too!
7. Reading to your baby is essential! Reading to your child at any age will develop their linguistic and literacy skills. Thinking of teaching your baby a second language? Research shows you should start at birth and that dual language learners have higher self-esteem, better-developed social-emotional skills, and increased creativity and problem-solving skills (to name a few benefits!)
8. Children laugh on average 300 times daily, adults only 60.
9. Babies are born with 60 more bones than they’ll have as adults.
10. Affection and connection with your baby make their brain bigger. Skin-to-skin contact is essential for newborns, so even dads, partners, and mothers who decide to bottle feed engage in skin-to-skin snuggle time.
11. Your baby’s weight will double in the first five months of life.
For more fun facts about newborns, click here!
Want to learn what comes next in your child’s development? Check out our list of 10 surprising Toddler Facts and Fascinating Facts About Four-Year-Olds!
Updated August 10th, 2023, by L. Elizabeth Forry
