Babywatching

By Desmond Morris - Unbekoming Book Summary

A secure babyhood provides the basis for a successful adulthood. No baby can be loved too much. – Desmond Morris

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I’ve written about Desmond Morris’s impact on us as parents before.

Sleep - Lies are Unbekoming (substack.com)

I thought I would take a break from all the poisoning and butchering that I normally write about and, a bit like watching a cat or baby video to calm and cleanse the mind, I could do my version of that which is to produce a Q&A Summary of his wonderful book Babywatching.

A reminder of the perfection of their creation.

A perfection that needs no intervention.

With thanks to Desmond Morris.

Babywatching book by Desmond Morris (thriftbooks.com)

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Babywatching By Desmond Morris Unbekoming Interactive Book Summary

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Babywatching by Desmond Morris

32 Questions and Answers

Question 1: How do human babies enter the world compared to other animals?

Human babies often enter the world with great difficulty compared to the young of other animals. The bipedal posture of humans puts conflicting demands on the female pelvis, requiring it to be a compromise between a birth canal and locomotion support. This constricted passageway, along with the large head of human babies, makes birth a challenging process often requiring medical assistance. In contrast, many animals like giraffes and orangutans seem to give birth more easily without apparent distress.

Question 2: Why do babies cry when they are born?

Babies cry when born primarily as a reflex action to help initiate breathing and clear fluid from their lungs as they transition to the outside world. The extreme pressure change of passing through the birth canal compresses then expands the chest, forcing air in and resulting in a cry upon exhalation. Gentle birthing methods that allow the baby to transition gradually can minimize crying, showing it's not necessarily an inevitable part of birth.

Question 3: What is the purpose of the vernix caseosa covering newborns?

The vernix caseosa is a white, greasy substance coating the skin of newborn babies. Its primary purpose is to act as a lubricant, allowing the baby to pass more easily through the birth canal. The vernix forms in the last weeks of pregnancy from sebaceous gland secretions and dead skin cells. It may also help prevent skin infections in the first days after birth before the baby's immune system is strong. Some choose to leave the vernix on the baby for a time rather than washing it off immediately.

Question 4: How long does it take for the navel to heal after birth?

After the umbilical cord is cut at birth, a small stump remains attached to the baby's navel. This stump dries up, darkens, and typically falls off on its own within 5-10 days after birth. After the stump detaches, the navel will have a raw appearance for a few more days before fully healing over. The entire process from birth to a fully healed belly button usually takes around two weeks. Keeping the area clean and dry (with minimal clothing rubbing) helps it heal properly.

Question 5: Why do babies yawn when they are born?

Yawning in newborns is a reflex action that helps them take in large breaths of oxygen as they begin breathing air. It's not due to fatigue like adult yawning. The deep inhales induced by yawning help expand and clear out the lungs. Overly medicalized births with lots of infant crying can override the natural yawn reflex. Allowing the baby to transition peacefully will often result in these big, reflexive birth yawns that assist the initiation of independent breathing.

Question 6: What causes some babies to be born with hair?

Some babies are born with a fine, downy layer of hair called lanugo covering their body, especially on the back, shoulders and face. This is actually a normal part of fetal development, as all babies grow lanugo around the 5th month of gestation. For most, it is shed in the womb prior to birth and replaced with thicker terminal hair. However, in some cases, especially premature births, the lanugo is still present, making the baby appear unusually hairy. It will fall out naturally within a few weeks after birth.

Question 7: What are a baby's typical vital statistics at birth?

The average baby is born after a gestational period of 266 days from fertilization (280 days from last menstrual period), though anywhere from 240-293 days is considered a term pregnancy. Typical newborn weight is around 7.5 pounds (3500 grams), and length is approximately 20 inches (51 cm). A baby's head circumference is disproportionately large, about 1/4 of total body size. The brain is a quarter of its adult weight, the heart under an ounce, and body composition around 70% water at birth.

Question 8: Why do babies have a soft spot on their heads?

The soft spots on a baby's head, called fontanelles, exist because the bones of the skull develop in plates that don't fully fuse until later. At birth, these bony plates are softer and separated by membrane-covered gaps, especially at the front and back of the top of the head. This allows the baby's skull to compress and mold slightly to fit through the narrow birth canal. After birth, the fontanelles allow space for the rapid brain growth of infancy before hardening and closing, typically by 18-24 months old.

Question 9: What is unique about a baby's pupils compared to adults?

A baby's eyes have proportionally larger and more dilated pupils compared to adults. This is an adaptive feature to make the baby appear more appealing and promote bonding and attentive care from parents. We subconsciously view large pupils as attractive and inviting. So the enlarged pupils of infants trigger a strong nurturing instinct in adults. Babies also have a greater percentage of light-colored irises than the adult population, further accentuating the pupils.

Question 10: When do a baby's teeth typically appear?

Babies are usually born without visible teeth, though in rare cases (about 1 in 2000) they may have a tooth or two already erupted, known as natal teeth. For most infants, the first teeth to emerge are the lower central incisors around 6 months of age. However, the normal range is quite broad, from as early as 4 months to as late as 14 months for first tooth emergence. The remaining baby teeth come in gradually over the next 18-24 months in a relatively predictable order, with all 20 primary teeth usually in by age 3.

Question 11: How strong are newborn babies?

Newborns have very little strength and muscle control in most of their body. However, they are born with a surprisingly powerful grasp reflex in their hands. A newborn can hang and support its entire body weight from an adult finger it is gripping. This reflex is so strong it persists even if the baby's thumb is being grasped inside its fist. The strength fades after a few months as voluntary grasping develops. The reflex is thought to be a vestigial instinct from our primate ancestors whose infants clung to their mother's fur.

Question 12: How well developed is a baby's vision at birth?

A newborn's vision is relatively blurry, especially at distances beyond about 12 inches. They can make out light, shapes, and movement, but have trouble focusing their eyes together on far-away objects. However, their close-up vision is much better. Within a couple months, babies can fixate on a parent's face and make steady eye contact when held. Visual acuity and depth perception continue improving over the first year. Color vision is also present at birth, though the ability to distinguish pale shades develops later.

Question 13: What is the extent of a baby's hearing abilities as a newborn?

Babies can hear even before birth, with a fetus responding to loud noises by 24-28 weeks gestation. At birth, a newborn's hearing is quite acute, able to distinctly recognize its mother's voice from other female voices. Babies startle to loud noises and calm to soft, rhythmic sounds. They can also localize sound, turning their head toward a noise source within minutes of birth. If a sound seems to come from a different place than a face they're looking at, it confuses and upsets them, indicating an inborn expectation of sound/sight coherence.

Question 14: How sensitive is a baby's sense of smell?

A baby's sense of smell is quite keen and seems to be one of the earliest and most important senses developmentally. Within days of birth, a baby can recognize the scent of its own mother, especially her breastmilk. They show a clear preference for clothing carrying their mother's smell over other scents. This early olfactory bonding goes both ways - a mother can identify her own baby by scent alone within hours of birth if they have had skin-to-skin contact. Smell is a powerful, instinctual sense that helps keep mother and baby connected.

Question 15: What types of tastes do babies prefer?

Babies are born with a strong, innate preference for sweet tastes. They vigorously suck and lick things that taste sweet, while showing disgust and aversion to bitter, sour and savory flavors. Breastmilk is quite sweet, so this preference helps steer the infant toward its natural food source. Babies actually have more tastebuds than adults, and their distribution extends beyond the tongue onto the cheeks and throat. This makes them "super-tasters" geared intensely toward their sweet, milky diet in early life.

Question 16: How do babies react to a loss of balance?

When a baby suddenly feels off balance, as if falling, it instinctively flings out its arms and legs while opening its hands as if to grasp for support. It may also cry out. This is called the Moro reflex and it's a vestigial instinct seen in primate infants who cling tightly to their mother's body fur to keep from falling. Human babies don't have anything to grasp, so the reflex is largely non-functional, but still observable, especially if the baby is startled. The reflex fades by around 4-6 months old as voluntary movement control develops.

Question 17: What challenges do babies face in regulating their body temperature?

Babies have a harder time than adults maintaining homeostatic temperature control for several reasons:

• They cannot remove clothing or blankets if too hot or add layers when cold.

• Newborns don't shiver to generate heat and have little ability to sweat and cool off.

• Babies have a high surface-area-to-volume ratio and lack insulating body fat, predisposing them to rapid heat loss.

• Premature babies struggle even more with temperature regulation as they lack the brown fat insulation normally developed in the final weeks of gestation.

• A baby's body composition is 70% water, which conducts heat more readily than fat or other tissues.

Question 18: What are the main reasons babies cry?

The seven main causes of infant crying are:

1. Pain from injury, illness or physical discomfort

2. Wetness or irritation from a soiled diaper or clothing

3. Hunger and desire to feed

4. Loneliness and need for physical closeness/attention

5. Overstimulation from excessive noise, light or activity

6. Understimulation and boredom, especially in older babies

7. Frustration over inability to perform a desired action

Crying serves as a catch-all distress signal to bring a caregiver to attend to the baby, at which point the specific cause can be narrowed down. Babies should never be left to "cry it out" as a form of discipline - crying always indicates a need that should be sensitively met.

Question 19: How well can mothers recognize the crying of their own babies?

Studies show that mothers develop the ability to distinguish the cry of their own baby very quickly. With a normal birth and close contact, moms achieve this recognition within 48 hours, some as early as 2 days postpartum. In a test, 22 out of 23 mothers accurately identified a recording of their own baby's cry after just 3 nights rooming in together. Moms are so attuned they can often tell from the tone of the cry whether their baby is hungry, lonely, in pain, etc. This sophisticated perception helps meet the infant's needs specifically and efficiently.

Question 20: What actions help comfort a crying baby?

The most effective comforting techniques mimic aspects of the soothing, secure environment of the womb. These include:

• Holding the baby close against the body in a tight, soft embrace

• Gently swaying, rocking or swinging the baby in your arms

• Talking or singing to the baby in a soft, repetitive, rhythmic voice

• Wrapping the baby cozily in a blanket or swaddle

• Providing gentle tactile stimulation like stroking the skin or patting the back

• Offering a nipple or pacifier to promote calming through sucking

The key is consistent physical closeness, as feeling alone and untouched is very distressing for young infants. Promptly meeting the baby's need for contact helps them feel secure.

Question 21: Why is it that human babies weep, unlike other animals?

Humans are the only species besides elephants to shed emotional tears, especially as infants. One theory is that the tears contain stress hormones and serve an excretory function to help restore chemical balance after an intense cry. The other thought is that the tears are a visual signal of distress. The wet face of a weeping infant triggers an instinctive urge in parents to comfort and soothe the child. The glistening tears accentuate the round, babylike features and make ignoring the cry almost impossible. Weeping likely serves both a physiological and communicative role unique to human bonding.

Question 22: What triggers cause babies to smile?

Babies display three distinct types of smiles as they develop:

1. Reflex smile - brief and unprovoked, occurring spontaneously during the first month, often during sleep

2. Social smile - extended, expressive smiles in response to general social stimuli like voices, faces, and tactile interactions starting around 1-2 months of age

3. Attachment smile - smiles specifically directed toward primary caregivers/family that emerge around 4-6 months and indicate the formation of specific attachments

Smiles are generally triggered by social contact - the sight, sound and touch of friendly human faces and voices. It is an innate behavior, as even blind babies smile on cue despite never having seen a smile.

Question 23: At what age do babies typically start laughing and why?

Most babies laugh for the first time around 3-4 months of age. The trigger is often a familiar adult (usually a parent) doing something sudden and mildly startling but harmless, like making a silly face, blowing a raspberry, or pretending to drop the baby then catching them. The laughter seems to come from a place of brief surprise or fear followed by relief that all is well. It's like a physical "cry of joy" similar to weeping being a "cry of sorrow." As babies get older, laughter also erupts from the sheer glee of mastering new skills or recognizing a humorous (to them) mistake.

Question 24: How do babies suck and feed in their early months?

Newborns are born with an instinctive sucking reflex and will automatically begin to suck on objects that touch their lips or cheeks. Rather than a vacuum-type suction, the mechanics of breastfeeding actually involve compressing the areola rhythmically between gums/tongue and the hard palate to express milk. Babies do gentle "flutter" sucking to stimulate letdown, then slower, deeper draws once the milk flows. The tongue ripples front to back in a wave-like motion to efficiently strip milk from the nipple. Breathing is coordinated with the suck/swallow reflex to prevent choking.

Question 25: What are the benefits of breast milk?

Breast milk contains special antibodies in the first few days after birth that protect the newborn from infections until its own immune system develops. Cow's milk, used in infant formula, is less easily digested by babies and more likely to cause allergic reactions like eczema compared to human breast milk.

Question 26: How were babies traditionally weaned before commercial baby food existed?

In traditional societies, babies were often weaned using a method called "premastication" or the "kiss-feed." The mother would chew food into a soft pulp and then transfer it directly into the baby's mouth, either on a fingertip or lip-to-lip. This allowed the baby to get used to new food textures and flavors alongside breastmilk. Gradually, small chunks of food softened by cooking or mashing would be introduced until the child could eat table food. This method is still used in some cultures today, and is similar to how other primates and mammals wean their young.

Question 27: What causes babies to burp frequently after feeding?

Burping occurs when babies swallow air along with milk during feeding. This air gets trapped in the stomach and causes discomfort and bloating until it is expelled. Bottle-feeding tends to cause more burping than breastfeeding because it's easier for the baby to gulp air from the bottle nipple. If milk flows too quickly or the bottle is tipped too high, the baby may suck in air. Breastfed babies can also take in air if they latch shallowly or come on and off the breast frequently. Burping helps relieve the pressure and makes room in the stomach for more milk. The air comes up easier if the baby is held upright and patted or rubbed on the back.

Question 28: How do babies signal that they are full and satisfied after feeding?

Babies give several cues to show they are done feeding:

• Turning the head away from the breast or bottle and refusing to latch/suck

• Spitting out or pushing away the nipple/bottle with the tongue

• Clamping the lips shut and refusing to open for more

• Falling asleep and ceasing active sucking/swallowing

• Fidgeting, squirming or trying to sit up and pull away from the caregiver

• Putting hands in front of face as if to block the nipple

• Making cooing/sighing sounds of contentment

Older babies may also use hand signs like pushing the spoon/food away or shaking their head "no." It's important not to force a baby to keep eating past the point of natural satiety.

Question 29: How much sleep do babies need compared to adults?

Newborns sleep around 16-17 hours per day in their first weeks, compared to 7-9 hours for adults. By 3 months, babies still sleep 14-15 hours, and 12-13 hours by a year old. Sleep is sporadic at first, spread in short chunks throughout the day and night. Gradually, longer consolidated night sleep emerges. By 6 months, babies do about 70% of their sleeping at night. Daytime naps shorten and occur 2-3 times per day. Sleep is crucial for a baby's rapid brain development, growth, and memory consolidation in the early years.

Question 30: Where is the ideal place for babies to sleep?

In tribal societies, infants nearly always sleep with their mothers and remain in close body contact as much as possible during both night and day. Babies kept in such close proximity to their mothers do not display prolonged bouts of screaming and crying as opposed to babies isolated in a separate nursery. If the baby feels isolated from its protectors, it may cry incessantly until it is once more in close physical contact with them. Co-sleeping, where the baby sleeps in the same bed as the parents, is beneficial for both the baby and the mother.

Question 31: Do babies experience dreams during sleep?

Yes, babies likely dream vividly and frequently! We know they experience active REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep, the stage associated with vivid dreaming in children and adults. In fact, newborns have a higher percentage of active REM sleep than any other age group, spending about 50% of their sleep time in REM, compared to only 20% for adults. REM sleep may help the developing brain process information and facilitate neural connections. Though we can't know the content of their dreams, it's thought babies may reprocess sensations and experiences from their waking hours, cementing new knowledge during sleep.

Question 32: Why do older babies often become attached to a special object like a blanket or stuffed toy?

Around 9-12 months, many babies fixate on a specific soft item like a blanket, stuffed animal, or doll. These "transitional objects" help bridge the gap between the security of the parent and the big, unfamiliar world. Cuddling the treasured object is comforting and helps babies regulate distress, especially during times of separation like bedtime. The item acts as a symbolic stand-in for the parent when they can't be there. Babies often rub the lovey on their face and suck/chew it for self-soothing. The chosen object is thought to be imbued with the familiar smell and "essence" of home, easing the transition to independence. This phenomenon tends to peak in the toddler years before tapering off.

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