Your Newborn Baby's Body: A Guide to Your Newborn from Head to (Tiny!) Toes - What to Expect

It's time to really get to know your brand-new bundle of joy up close and personal. To do that, let's take a tour of your newborn.

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Heidi Murkoff, creator of What to Expect, is here to guide you through every stage of your baby's life. Watch all of our first year videos: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1K0LmLma0ZECOBlSaRcBBYiMDFWugdMJ

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Transcript:

Not that you've been able to take your eyes off her since the moment she arrived, but now it's time to really get to know your brand-new bundle of joy up close and personal. To do that, let's take a tour of your newborn, sweet head to tiny toes.
Right away, remember that healthy babies come in all kinds of packages, and depending on how your baby package was delivered, a long, tight squeeze through the birth canal or a quick lift from the abdomen, he may have arrived with a few somewhat strange souvenirs of the trip, like a cone-shaped head or a smushed-in nose or puffy eyes. All of these, like so many newborn features, are completely temporary.
Taking it from the top, most babies arrive top-heavy. In fact, your baby's head is about one-quarter of her total length. Her hair may be anywhere from a sprinkling of fuzz to a full mop ready for a trim. If she doesn't have much hair, blood vessels may be visible in a blue road map across her scalp. Because a newborn's skin is thin, it usually has a pale pinkish cast from the blood vessels beneath, no matter what his future skin color will be. His eye color may keep you guessing for at least three to six months, though dark brown-eyed babies will likely keep those darker peepers.
He may also be covered with a cheesy coating that protected him while soaking in amniotic fluid. Earlier arrivals will have more cheese. Later arrivals may have none. Early arrivals will also be fuzzier, covered with more of the downy prenatal fur that will be shed within a few weeks.
Your freshly-delivered baby comes equipped with all of her senses and is ready to roll them out. Touch, which makes your gentle caresses and skin to skin snuggles oh so comforting. Sight, the better to see you with and to return your eye-to-eye gaze with. Hearing, which has been developed for months now and is eagerly listening for the voices she knows best; yours. Smell, which directs a baby to mom's breast, and taste, which sends her back for more.
Mother Nature pulls out all of the stops when it comes to newborn reflexes. Some seem to shield a baby from harm, like when he swipes at something covering his face, a reflex that's meant to prevent suffocation. Others seem to guarantee that a baby will get fed, like rooting. Check it out. If you gently stroke your baby's cheek, she will turn in that direction, mouth open and ready to feed. This reflex helps her locate the breast or bottle and secure a meal, sort of like a feeding GPS. The sucking reflex also helps her feed.
When startled by a sudden loud noise or feeling of falling, baby will show his Moro or startle reflex; reflexively extend his legs, arms, and fingers, arch his back, then draw his head back into the chest, fists clenched, startling for you, but completely normal. The grasping reflex occurs when you touch your baby's palm. Her tiny fingers will curl around and cling to your finger. Stroke your baby's foot from heel to toe and you'll spy the plantar reflex. Her toes will flare upward and her foot will turn in.
After about the fourth day, you may see baby's walking reflex. Held upright on a flat surface, supported under the arms, a newborn may seem to be taking steps, but before you post your baby's feats on two feet, keep in mind that this reflex doesn't predict early walking.
Even with all these neat newborn reflexes, your brand-new little one isn't ready to take on the world alone. That's where you come in. Are you a newbie too? Not to worry. You're all your baby needs and the best parents he's ever known. No, babies don't come with operating instructions. That's okay, just follow the most important instruction of all and the one that comes naturally; love your baby. The rest will follow.

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