Newborns Making Faces: What's Normal And What's Not?

Newborns are fascinating little creatures, and their facial expressions can be quite entertaining. But is it normal for them to make so many faces? The answer is yes! In the first few weeks of life, infants have a range of instinctual responses to stimuli such as light and touch, known as primitive reflexes. These include the sucking reflex, the grasp reflex, and the Moro reflex or startle response. Newborns also tend to keep their fists clenched, and their arms and legs held close to their bodies, similar to the fetal position in the womb during the final months of pregnancy. As their nervous systems are still developing, you may notice their arms, legs, and chins trembling or shaking, especially when they're crying or agitated. So, if you see your newborn making a variety of faces, don't be alarmed – it's all part of their normal development.

Newborns make faces due to fluid accumulation and the squeeze through the birth canal

The arrival of a newborn is a moment of great wonder and delight for most new parents. However, it can also be a time of anxiety and uncertainty, especially if your baby doesn't look like what you expected. It is normal for newborns to make faces due to fluid accumulation and the squeeze through the birth canal. Here are some things to know about this fascinating aspect of newborn development:

Fluid Accumulation and the Birth Canal Squeeze

Newborns often have puffy faces due to fluid accumulation in the womb and the pressure of travelling through the narrow birth canal. This can result in a distorted appearance, with folded ears, flattened noses, or crooked jaws. However, these features usually correct themselves over time as the baby gets rid of the extra fluid and the effects of the delivery ease.

The Importance of Touch and Bonding

In the first few weeks, newborns tend to keep their fists clenched, elbows bent, and arms and legs held close to their bodies, similar to their position in the womb during the final months of pregnancy. Holding your newborn close, especially during feeding, encourages bonding and helps to keep them calm and focused on you. Touch is essential for establishing a secure connection and promoting your baby's brain development and emotional growth.

Reflexes and Responses

Newborns are born with instinctual responses to stimuli, known as primitive reflexes, which disappear as they mature. One example is the grasp reflex, where newborns tightly close their fingers when pressure is applied to the inside of their hand. Another is the Moro reflex or startle response, where they suddenly throw their arms out to the sides and then quickly bring them back when startled by a loud noise or bright light.

Breathing Patterns and Sleep

It is normal for newborns to breathe irregularly, with their breathing rate varying widely when they are awake. They may also experience periods of not breathing for about 5-10 seconds, known as periodic breathing, which is more common during sleep. Newborns also spend most of their time sleeping, especially if their mothers received pain medication or anaesthesia during labour or delivery.

Newborn Appearance and Reflexes

The appearance of a newborn can be quite different from what parents expect. Newborns are often covered in blood, vernix (a waxy or creamy substance), and may have a bluish hue due to their immersion in amniotic fluid and the squeeze through the birth canal. They may also exhibit primitive reflexes, such as the sucking reflex and the Babinski toe reflex, where they fan their toes when their heel is stroked.

In summary, it is normal for newborns to make faces due to fluid accumulation and the squeeze through the birth canal. This is just one of the many fascinating aspects of newborn development, and it is a temporary phase as your baby adjusts to life outside the womb. Enjoy these precious moments and seek support from healthcare professionals if you have any concerns.

Newborns have thin skin, making it easy to see blood vessels

Newborns have thin skin, making it easy to see their blood vessels. This thinness also makes their skin colour change more noticeable. At birth, babies are grey-blue until they start breathing, after which they quickly become a normal colour. However, their hands and feet may remain bluish for several minutes or longer. Their hands and feet will turn pale or blue when they are cold, and their face and body may become quite red when they cry.

Newborns are covered in various fluids at delivery, including amniotic fluid and sometimes blood. Nurses or other birth attendants will promptly begin drying the infant to prevent a drop in body temperature caused by the rapid evaporation of moisture on the skin. Newborns are also coated in vernix caseosa, a thick, pasty, white substance made up of the foetus' shed skin cells and skin gland secretions. Most of this will be washed off during the baby's first bath, but you may still find it in the folds of their skin. Any vernix remaining after the baby's first bath can be gently rubbed into the skin.

The hue and colour patterns of a newborn's skin may be surprising to parents. Mottling of the skin, a lacy pattern of small reddish and pale areas, is common. Blueness of the skin of the hands and feet and the area around the lips, known as acrocyanosis, is also common, especially if the baby is in a cool environment. When bearing down to cry or having a bowel movement, an infant's skin may briefly become dark red or bluish-purple. Many newborns also have red marks, scratches, bruises, and petechiae (tiny specks of blood that have leaked from small blood vessels in the skin) on their face and body. These are caused by the trauma of squeezing through the birth canal and will heal and disappear during the first week or two of life.

The top layer of a newborn's skin will flake off during the first week or two. This is normal and doesn't require any special skincare. Peeling skin may be present at birth in some infants, particularly those born past their due date.

Newborn jaundice, a yellowish discolouration of the skin and white parts of the eyes, is a common condition that usually appears on the second or third day after birth and disappears within 1–2 weeks. It is caused by the accumulation of bilirubin (a waste product produced by the normal breakdown of red blood cells) in the blood, skin, and other tissues due to the temporary inability of the newborn's immature liver to clear this substance from the body effectively. Although some jaundice is normal, if an infant becomes jaundiced earlier than expected or their bilirubin level is higher than normal, the doctor will monitor the baby closely.

Newborns have immature eye muscles and can't organise visual images into meaningful shapes

The human face is the first 'object' they recognise. Over the first three months, they begin to recognise particular faces and other things in their world, like their teddy bear. They also start to watch their hands and feet wave in the air and begin to wave their fists towards a desired object or their carer's face.

Babies are born with a number of instinctual responses to stimuli, such as light or touch, known as primitive reflexes. These reflexes include the sucking reflex, the grasp reflex, and the Moro reflex, or startle response. Due to the immaturity of their developing nervous systems, newborns' arms, legs, and chins may tremble or shake, particularly when they're crying or agitated.

Newborns have reflexes such as the Moro reflex, which causes them to throw their arms out to the sides when startled

Newborns have reflexes, or movements, that they make without realising it. One of these is the Moro reflex, also known as the startle response. This causes newborns to throw their arms out to the sides and then quickly bring them back towards the middle of their body if they are startled by a loud noise, bright light, strong smell, sudden movement, or other stimulus. This is a natural response to stimuli, which will disappear as the baby matures.

The Moro reflex is an instinctual response to being startled, and it is completely normal for newborns to make these faces as they adjust to the world around them. It is one of several primitive reflexes that newborns exhibit, including the sucking reflex and the grasp reflex. These reflexes are all part of a newborn's natural development and help them to interact with and understand their environment.

The Moro reflex is often noticed by parents when their baby is startled by a loud noise or sudden movement. The baby will throw their arms out and then bring them back in towards their body, sometimes arching their back as well. This response can be startling for new parents, but it is a normal and healthy reaction for newborns to have. It is also important to note that the Moro reflex usually disappears as the baby gets older and their nervous system matures.

In addition to the Moro reflex, newborns also exhibit other reflexes such as the rooting reflex, Babinski toe reflex, plantar toe reflex, grasp reflex, and tonic neck reflex. All of these reflexes are a normal part of a newborn's development and help them to explore and understand the world around them. As they grow and develop, they will learn to control their movements and these reflexes will disappear.

Newborns can communicate when they are tired or hungry, or awake and alert

In the first eight weeks, infants have no control over their movements, and all their physical activity is involuntary or reflex. They move their bodies while they are awake, but they do not know how to make each part of their body move, or even that all the parts belong to them. They start to work out how to lift their heads when lying on their tummies and kick their legs by about eight weeks. In their third month, they begin to watch their hands and feet wave in the air and also start to wave their fists towards their parents' faces or some other desired object.

For newborns, crying is their only means of communication. It is important to respond to the baby as soon as possible so that they begin to understand that their parents will be there for them. By seven or eight weeks, they begin to discover their voice and make cooing noises and vowel sounds. Even by about eight weeks, they will listen to what their parents say and then make noises back as they 'talk' to them.

Babies usually start making eye contact when they are about six to eight weeks old. They will look at their parents' faces the most, so if a baby doesn't make eye contact by the two-month well visit, it is important to mention it to a pediatrician.

Babies should smile by three to four months old. If not, it could be a vision problem or a problem attaching to parent figures.

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