Alaskalink.US LOGO     March 28, 2024   Links | Photo | Alerts Home | Add to Favorites | Terms of Use | Mail     Contact US 
 
|   Family |   For Men |   For Woman | Children |   Reunion |   Divorce |   Links |   Attorney's |
 
 Search the Web
 
  
Children

  For Parents
  Baby
  Toddler
  Age 2 and Up
 

Why newborns look so funny

Few newborns are beauty contest winners, which isn't surprising when you consider what they've been through. But is it really normal for their heads to be so pointy and their genitals so swollen? Here's the scoop on what newborns are supposed to look like and why they look so strange.

Physical characteristics

Newborns have big heads, no necks, short legs, and distended torsos. In fact, they can look a lot like E.T. (or Mr. Magoo). Because the average newborn has spent about 12 hours squeezing through the birth canal, his head may be misshapen or kind of pointy. (C-section babies, who don't travel the birth canal, have an edge in the looks department -- their heads don't get squeezed, so they come out nice and round.)

There's no need to be overly concerned by the so-called fontanels or soft spots on your baby's head. These are openings in your baby's skull that allow the bones to compress enough to fit through the birth canal during labor. The rear fontanel takes about four months to close, while the front one takes between nine and 18 months. Also expect your baby's genitals to be somewhat swollen from the extra dose of female hormones he got from mom just before he was born. (The extra hormones cause these changes in girl babies, too.) His face may also be swollen from the trauma of squeezing through the birth canal.

Your baby's arms and legs may look oddly short -- that's normal. He's spent so much time curled up in the tight space of the uterus that he needs time to adjust to his new freedom. His arms and legs will uncurl within a week or two after birth. In the meantime, he may find swaddling -- being wrapped up snugly in a blanket -- comforting.

Skin

Newborn skin varies in appearance according to how far into your pregnancy your baby was born. Premature babies have thin, transparent-looking skin that may be covered with lanugo, a fine, downy hair. They'll also still be coated with vernix, a cheesy white substance that protects your baby's delicate skin while he's in the amniotic fluid. The farther along you are when your baby is born, the less lanugo and vernix he'll have, but his skin may peel for a few days after birth.

Babies of all races and ethnicities are born with fairly light, often pinkish skin -- the pink tint comes from the red blood vessels, which show through your baby's still-thin skin. According to pediatrician Anne Beal, author of The Black Parenting Book, your baby's true skin color will develop gradually, over the course of his first year.

About 30 to 40 percent of all babies are born with milia, small white or yellow dots on their faces that look like tiny pimples. These usually disappear within three or four weeks without any special treatment. If your baby has small pus-filled bumps that leave dark brown marks when they burst, it's probably pustular melanosis, a newborn rash more common in African-American babies. There's no need to treat it. The marks will disappear by the time your baby is 3 or 4 months old.

Birthmarks -- including Mongolian spots, angel kisses, and stork bites -- are also common. They come in a wide range of shapes, sizes, and colors and can show up anywhere on a child's body. Certain types of birthmarks may not show up for several days or weeks after a baby's birth. Most birthmarks are harmless and many go away on their own in the first few years of life, though some are permanent.

Finally, if your baby's skin gets a yellowish tinge in the first few days of life, he may have a slight case of jaundice, as more than half of normal, healthy newborns do. It's usually nothing to worry about, but you should mention it to your healthcare provider. Jaundice usually goes away within a week for full-term babies, but often hangs around slightly longer in preemies.

Hair

Be prepared for some surprises when it comes to hair. Dark-haired Caucasian couples have been thrown for a loop by children born with bright red or blond hair, and fair-haired couples have been rewarded with Elvis Presley look-alikes. And then there are the parents who bemoan their baby's baldness. The rule of thumb seems to be that newborn hair doesn't actually have much bearing on what your child's hair will eventually turn out like. Babies born carrot-tops can turn into blondes, raven-haired newborns can grow up with fair tresses, and blondes often turn into brunettes. For African-American babies, the big surprise tends to be texture, Beal says. For example, if your child is born with large curls, you can probably expect them to get tighter (and his hair texture to get a bit coarser) in his first six months of life.

Eyes

Most Caucasian babies, though certainly not all, are born with dark gray-blue eyes that can take weeks or months to reveal their true color. Many African-American, Asian, and Hispanic babies are born with dark gray-brown eyes that don't change color significantly, but some may start out with hazel eyes that get darker as they approach 6 months. Basically, the eye color you see after age 6 to 9 months will probably stick around, although some children who start out with blue eyes can end up with green eyes after a few years.

Changes to expect during the next six weeks

By the time your baby is 6 weeks old, most of his newborn skin conditions -- jaundice, milia, and so on -- will probably have cleared up. If not, they will soon. His umbilical cord will have fallen off, leaving him with an adorable little belly button. And after his first few days of life, he'll be gaining weight rapidly (an average of about 3.5 to 10.5 ounces per week), which means he'll get plumper, his skin will fill out, and he'll start to look like a "real" baby.

Even if your baby was born with a full head of hair, he may begin to lose some or all of it in the first few weeks or months. Don't worry -- it will come back, although it may look different when it grows back in. Many babies also develop bald spots from resting their heads against bedding and other surfaces, but these spots will eventually fill out as he starts spending less time on his back.

 
 
 
@ Copyright 2019, all Rights Reserved by Alaskalink.US  Terms and Conditions | Submit a Site | Contact Us