Babies are weird. There’s no other way to put it. These odd yet cute creatures need a little time to get used to, especially as first-time parents not knowing what to expect. Every small little kink will have you asking yourself, “Is something wrong with my baby?” When most of the time, you’re probably just over-reacting to the many wonderful phenomena that newborns go through before they become fully-grown humans. Here’s our list of the most common things new parents might, but have no reason to, freak out about.
1. They can get dry or flaky scalp
A cradle cap might sound like something cute you adorn your newborn with while you ‘cradle’ them to bed, but unfortunately it isn’t. This is when flaking or scaling occurs due to dryness of the skin around the baby’s scalp area. And as gross as it is, it’s quite normal.
To remedy this, try rubbing a little baby oil around the area or using a mild shampoo during bath time. Though no definitive cause has been found, medical experts suggest that due to a child’s hypersensitivity following birth, it could be anything ranging from effects of antibiotics prescribed to the mother just before birth or overactive sebaceous glands due to hormonal imbalances prior to birth.
2. They can be a poop machine
There’s no delicate way to put this. Your newborn will be an over-active poop factory. It’s hard to imagine that so much byproduct comes from such a small package. Baby poop is slightly different from adult poop, in that it might be slightly more liquid and range in color due to the type of food they eat. Don’t be alarmed, as long as the color is somewhere in the yellow-green-brown spectrum of fecal pigment you are probably safe. It’s when the diaper crosses into the blood-red zone that you need to give the doctor a call.
3. They can grow little baby boobs
As mentioned earlier, babies need some time to flush out all the extra hormones prior to and during birth. Some of the side-effects include development of baby breasts. Relax, this isn’t your child skyrocketing into puberty even before you could drop of them off at school without embarrassing them. However, if you do see some inflammation or redness around the chest area with an accompanied fever, the doctor is the only way to go.
4. They can get acne
If I had to choose when I got my acne phase, I would definitely choose when I was a baby instead of puberty. Baby acne is different though. Due to sensitivity in the sebaceous glands and the cocktail of hormones from the mother, a number of skin issues arise post-birth, but usually go away after a few months. Keep in mind that this is different from another common skin condition called eczema, which ranges in seriousness.
5. They can menstruate
Continuing the trend of baby puberty, you might find a little blood in newborn girl’s diaper. This isn’t cause for concern unless it is a frequent occurrence. As mentioned before, it’s those darned hormones that mama gave. A baby girl might go through this in their first few days of estrogen withdrawal but any prolonged bleeding should be given further analysis by a doctor.
6. They can sneeze a lot
It’s precious seeing your own mini-human getting used to the world. With all the foreign curiosities abound, you might find that ‘achoo-ing’ might be more frequent than you’d normally think. Well you’re wrong (and that’s not a bad thing). Babies need to sneeze because most of the time it’ll be their first time in contact with something. Even exposure to bright sunlight might set off a chain of involuntary nasal reactions, and that’s a-okay!
7. They can have a weird head shape
Remember Play-Doh? Think of you’re baby’s tiny head as a big ball of Play-Doh that you must keep intact until they develop harder noggins. All that pushing and shoving through the birth canal needed some give, and this malleability will not end so soon after birth. Too much back-laying or other frequent positions that make contact between the head and a surface might cause a little flattening here and there but there’s nothing life-threatening about it. If you do want to avoid this, hold your children in your arms or rest them on their bellies while they’re awake.
8. They can get swollen genitalia
No, your boy is not naturally gifted he’s just chock full of mama’s hormones and other extra fluids. Same goes for your baby girl, except the swelling occurs in the labia rather than the testes. It’s said that a baby will lose 10% of their weight in the first few days of delivery; if this doesn’t happen with your baby it’s best to seek out a health professional for further advice.
9. They can sleep with their eyes open
This is like what happens when you get one of those baby dolls that close their eye-lids when you lay them down but then they get stuck on the way to being closed. Some babies look like their eyes are having a spaz attack but they are actually in a sleeping phase called REM or rapid-eye movement, which we do too, only with our eyes closed. Your child is not ‘the omen’ and you don’t need to pull out a holy book. It’s just an inexplicable phenomenon just like the amount of poop your baby produces or crop circles or something.
10. They can go cross-eyed
Due to lack of muscles and skeletal definition, sometimes babies look like they’re made purely out of fleshy marshmallow with skin folds here and there, which is probably the reason your newborn might look cross-eyed. Also keep in mind they’re just learning how to use their sensory gifts so cut them a little slack. If it persists as time goes by, a specialist is advised.
11. They can resemble teeny tiny werewolves
If your child looks a little on the hairy side post-birth, you can chill; it’s lanugo, which is actually the fine, soft hair you find on a newborn which will eventually shed. So if you were just about to pull out a razor, please put it down. In utero, scientists say this was used to regulate temperature with some babies shedding while inside the mother.
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Image Credit: Flickr user Chewy Chua.
