Babies represent the circle of life. Their fascinating skills have intrigued scientists who have conducted studies in trying to decipher how they operate the way they do. The biological premise that they hold is unimaginable from discerning the smell of their mother to developing under-water-survival skills. These Facts about babies compile some of the most interesting facets about the world of babies that represent the natural and biological miracle which they truly are.

1 Babies cry with an accent, making it possible to distinguish a French baby from a German baby, based purely on the way they cry.

Babies learn the accent in which their mothers talk and then try to emulate her accent while they cry. This has been observed in a study that was published in the journal Current Biology. Babies, as it is believed, start listening to the voice of their mothers while they are in womb and then try to copy that accent as they are growing up.

A team of scientists had recorded the cries of 60 newborns- 30 born into French-speaking families and 30 that heard German. And it was observed that the German babies cry in a falling melody while the French babies cry in a rising note. These notes match the respective native languages of their parents.(source)

2 Newborn babies, when left to lie on their mother’s stomach for the first hour will crawl up and attach to their mom’s nipple without assistance. They are attracted to the nipple’s similar smell to amniotic fluid.

Newborn babies have a tendency to crawl up to their mother’s areola/nipple almost instinctively when they are made to lie on their mother’s stomach. This movement is known as ‘Breast Crawl” and the reason is the attraction of babies towards the Amniotic fluid. As a fetus inside the womb, the babies are subjected to olfactory learning and get attracted to the smell of amniotic fluid.

The presence of amniotic fluid on baby’s hands also tells us why they keep sucking their hands and fingers.(source)

3 One reason for a mother’s impulse to kiss her newborn baby: the mother ingests the bacteria/viruses on baby’s skin, then her immune cells create antibodies that go into her breast milk, thus protecting the baby from imminent infection.

One reason for mothers kissing their babies besides the obvious reason is the impulse of protecting her newborn child. How a kiss leads to this protection is that when a mother kisses her newborn, she samples the pathogens that prevail on the baby’s face and body which the baby is about to ingest.

These samples are then taken up by the mother’s lymphoid organs like the tonsils, and white blood cells called memory B cells are stimulated and then re-stimulated with each kiss. The B cells so produced then migrate to the mother’s breasts where they produce antibodies that are needed by the baby. These antibodies then travel into the baby’s system through breastfeeding.(source)

4 Babies put anything/everything into their mouths because it’s where their most-developed nerve endings are.

Until the babies are at least 7 months old, they cannot use their hands and fingers to explore objects. However, their mouth has more nerve endings per square millimetre than any other part of their body, therefore, they have a tendency to put everything in their mouth in order to ascertain what it feels like or what it tastes like. It’s because of this reason that the things the babies grab onto head straight into their mouth.(source)

5 Babies smile an average of 200 times a day. The average woman smiles 62 times a day and the average man only 8.

Babies are found to smile an average of 200 times a day. By this comparison, an average woman smiles only 62 times a day and an average man smiles only 8 times a day. Studies depict that a bright smile signifies a person’s health, happiness and financial security.(source)