182 Fun Facts About Baby Shower

Roughly how many bones does a human have at birth, before some fuse together?

About 270: a newborn has roughly 270 bones, many of them partly cartilage; the skull plates, sacrum and other pieces fuse over the years down to the adult total of 206.

A newborn's kneecap is made of what?

Soft cartilage: a newborn's patella is entirely cartilage and only begins ossifying into bone between about ages three and five, one reason toddlers crawl on hard floors without complaint.

What is the everyday name for the fontanelles, the membranous gaps between the bones of a baby's skull?

Soft spots: fontanelles are the membrane-covered gaps between a baby's skull bones; the diamond-shaped anterior one at the top front usually closes between about 9 and 18 months.

The word "infant" comes from a Latin word meaning what?

Unspeaking: infant comes from the Latin infans, 'not speaking' (in- plus fari, 'to speak'); in Roman usage the word covered any child too young to talk.

In developed countries, what is the approximate average birth weight of a full-term newborn?

About 7.5 lb: the average full-term newborn weighs around 7.5 lb (3.4 kg); boys average slightly heavier than girls, and birth weight roughly doubles by about five months.

How many primary (baby) teeth does a child grow in total?

Teething usually starts around six months and the last of them come through by about two and a half.

What is the waxy white coating on a newborn's skin at birth called?

Vernix: vernix caseosa is the cheese-like white coating that protects fetal skin from amniotic fluid; lanugo is the fine downy hair, and the chorion is a fetal membrane.

Over the first two weeks of life, how many hours a day does a newborn sleep on average?

16-18: newborns sleep about 16-18 hours a day in the first two weeks, but in two-to-four-hour stretches broken by feeds, which is why new parents look the way they do.

By roughly what age has the umbilical cord stump usually dried up and dropped off?

If it is still hanging on after three weeks, doctors will want a look, since it can hint at an immune problem.

The Apgar newborn score was devised in 1952 by a doctor in which specialty?

Anesthesiology: Virginia Apgar, an obstetric anesthesiologist at Columbia, devised the score in 1952; her surname later became a backronym for Appearance, Pulse, Grimace, Activity, Respiration.

What is the maximum Apgar score a newborn can receive?

10: each of the five Apgar criteria scores 0, 1 or 2, so the maximum is 10; the check is done at one minute and repeated at five minutes.

The rooting reflex helps a hungry newborn do what?

Find the nipple: stroking a newborn's cheek makes it turn toward the touch and open its mouth, helping it locate the nipple; the reflex fades by around four months.

When you place a finger in a newborn's palm, the fingers close around it. What is this response called?

A fetus can do it in the womb from about 28 weeks, and it fades between two and six months as real fine-motor control arrives.

The Moro reflex, in which a baby flings its arms out then pulls them in, is a response to what?

A sudden loss of support: Ernst Moro described it in 1918, eliciting it by striking the pillow beside the baby's head; a brief head-drop is the classic trigger, and it fades by about six months.

Human babies in their first half-year share which instinctive response with seals, otters and dolphins?

The diving reflex: cold water on the face slows the heart and shunts blood to the core, and babies under about six months reflexively hold their breath when submerged, as seals, otters and dolphins do.

The first milk a mother produces, rich in antibodies, is called what?

Colostrum: the thick, yellowish first milk is packed with antibodies, especially IgA, and is produced for the first few days before mature milk comes in.

Around what age do babies enter the 'canonical' babbling stage of distinct vowel and consonant sounds?

Six months: canonical babbling, repeated consonant-vowel strings like ba-ba-ba and da-da-da, typically begins around six to seven months, and its absence by ten months is a flag for hearing problems.

The crusty, oily scaly patches sometimes seen on a baby's scalp are commonly known as what?

Cradle cap: the greasy yellowish scales are infantile seborrhoeic dermatitis of the scalp; it is neither painful nor itchy and usually clears on its own within months.

Which people are recorded as having the highest rate of twin births in the world?

The Yoruba of Nigeria: southwest Nigeria records the world's highest twinning rate, roughly 45 per 1,000 births; one theory blames a local yam containing a natural phytoestrogen that may prompt double ovulation.

Identical twins develop from how many fertilised eggs?

One: identical (monozygotic) twins form when a single fertilised egg splits; fraternal twins come from two separate eggs, which is why they can be a boy and a girl.

In which year did Olivia become the most popular name given to baby girls in the United States?

2019: Olivia overtook Emma as the most-given US girls' name in 2019, ending Emma's five-year run at number one in the Social Security Administration's annual count.

The American baby boom generation is usually defined as people born between which years?

1946 and 1964: Pew, the US Census Bureau and Merriam-Webster all define boomers as those born from 1946 to 1964, the post-war surge in births that peaked in 1957.

The modern baby shower became popular in which period?

The mid-20th century: the modern baby shower, gifts and games for the expectant mother, took off in the post-war baby boom of the late 1940s and 1950s, when the birth surge created demand for cribs and prams.

The 2008 blog post credited with starting gender reveal parties revealed a baby's sex using what?

A cake: Jenna Karvunidis's 2008 blog post described cutting into a cake with pink icing inside; by 2019 she was publicly regretting the increasingly extravagant trend she had started.

In European folklore, which bird is said to bring babies to new parents?

German versions had the bird finding babies in caves or marshes and carrying them home in a basket or in its beak.

Architect William Kent built an early baby stroller in 1733 for which aristocrat's children?

The Duke of Devonshire: Kent's 1733 carriage for the 3rd Duke's children was a shell-shaped basket on wheels meant to be pulled by a goat or small pony, a forerunner of the pram.

In 1946 Marion Donovan made the "Boater", an early waterproof diaper cover, out of what?

A shower curtain: Donovan cut up a shower curtain to make the waterproof 'Boater'; it went on sale at Saks Fifth Avenue in 1949, was patented in 1951, and she sold the rights for a million dollars.

Pampers began in 1961 after P&G's Victor Mills tired of changing whose cloth diapers?

His grandchild's: Mills, a P&G chemical engineer, disliked changing his newborn grandchild's cloth diapers and set his team on a disposable alternative; Pampers test-launched in Peoria, Illinois in 1961.

Ann Turner Cook, the model for the famous Gerber Baby drawing, grew up to work as what?

A teacher and novelist: Cook taught English in Tampa for decades and wrote mystery novels in retirement; neighbour Dorothy Hope Smith's charcoal sketch of her has appeared on Gerber jars since 1928.

Sophie the Giraffe, the squeaky rubber teether, was launched in 1961 in which country?

France: Sophie la Girafe went on sale on 25 May 1961, the feast day of Saint Madeleine Sophie Barat, which gave her the name; she is made in Rumilly, Haute-Savoie.

The teddy bear takes its name from which US president?

Theodore Roosevelt: the toy took off after Clifford Berryman's November 1902 cartoon of Roosevelt refusing to shoot a tethered bear in Mississippi; Brooklyn shopkeeper Morris Michtom then sold 'Teddy's bears'.

Cabbage Patch Kids famously came with a birth certificate and what other paperwork?

Adoption papers: each Cabbage Patch Kid came with a birth certificate and adoption papers for the new owner to sign; Coleco's mass-produced version set off the 1983 holiday toy stampede.

The first baby monitor, the Radio Nurse of 1937, was made by which company?

Zenith: Zenith's Eugene McDonald commissioned the Radio Nurse after the Lindbergh kidnapping; the Bakelite receiver sat in the parents' room, paired with a 'Guardian Ear' transmitter by the crib.

Kewpie dolls began life as baby-cupid cartoon characters drawn by which American illustrator?

Rose O'Neill: her Kewpies first appeared in the Ladies' Home Journal in December 1909, and paper-doll versions came before the German-made bisque dolls of 1912.

In November 2020, which children's song became the most-viewed YouTube video of all time?

'Baby Shark': Pinkfong's 'Baby Shark Dance' overtook 'Despacito' in November 2020 and in January 2022 became the first YouTube video to pass 10 billion views.

Which Sesame Street Muppet is famous for singing to his rubber duckie?

Ernie: 'Rubber Duckie', written by Jeff Moss and first sung by Ernie in 1970, reached number 16 on the Billboard Hot 100 that year.

Who voices the title character in the 2017 animated film The Boss Baby?

Alec Baldwin: he voices the suit-wearing infant Theodore Templeton; the film, loosely based on Marla Frazee's 2010 picture book, was nominated for the Best Animated Feature Oscar.

How old is Grogu, better known as Baby Yoda, during the first episode of The Mandalorian?

50: Grogu is 50 years old when the Mandalorian finds him in the 2019 first episode; his species ages so slowly that half a century leaves him an infant, and the character is mostly puppetry and animatronics.

In The Simpsons, which Hollywood star voiced Maggie's first word in the episode "Lisa's First Word"?

Elizabeth Taylor: she voiced Maggie's single word, 'Daddy', in the 1992 episode; Maggie otherwise rarely speaks, and the sucking of her pacifier is her trademark sound.

In the 1989 comedy Look Who's Talking, who provides the voice of baby Mikey's thoughts?

Bruce Willis: he voices Mikey's thoughts, heard only by the audience, while John Travolta and Kirstie Alley play the grown-ups; Roseanne Barr voiced baby Julie in the 1990 sequel.

Which Star Trek actor directed the 1987 hit Three Men and a Baby?

Leonard Nimoy: Spock himself directed it, and it was the top-grossing American film of 1987, beating Fatal Attraction, with Tom Selleck, Steve Guttenberg and Ted Danson as the three men.

The baby on the cover of Nirvana's Nevermind is swimming toward what?

A dollar bill on a fishhook: four-month-old Spencer Elden, son of a friend of photographer Kirk Weddle, was shot in a Pasadena pool in 1991; the bill and hook were added afterwards.

Which two-day-old did Time call "the most famous baby in the world" in January 2012?

Blue Ivy Carter: born 7 January 2012, her cries feature on Jay-Z's 'Glory', released two days later, which made her the youngest person ever credited on a Billboard chart.

Prince George of Wales was born in July 2013 at which London institution?

St Mary's: George was born on 22 July 2013 in the Lindo Wing of St Mary's Hospital, Paddington, where his father William had been born in 1982.

Bamm-Bamm, the super-strong toddler in The Flintstones, is the adopted son of which couple?

Barney and Betty: the Rubbles found the baby left in a basket on their doorstep and adopted him; his name comes from what he yells while swinging his club.

Binky, a common American name for a pacifier, started out as what?

A brand name: Binky was trademarked around 1935 by the Binky Baby Products Company of New York, and the name spread to pacifiers generally in American usage.

"Rock-a-bye Baby" is believed to have first appeared in print around 1765 in which collection?

Mother Goose's Melody: the rhyme appeared there around 1765 as 'Hush-a-by baby on the tree top', with a footnote moral warning 'the proud and ambitious, who climb so high that they generally fall at last'.

Anne Geddes, famous for photographing babies as flowers and vegetables, was born where?

Australia: Geddes was born in Home Hill, Queensland, in 1956 and later built her studio in Auckland, New Zealand; she taught herself photography at 25 on her husband's Pentax.

The ancient practice of wrapping a baby snugly in cloth so its limbs cannot move much is called what?

Swaddling: wrapping an infant tightly in cloth is ancient, shown in Renaissance paintings and in the Gospel of Luke's nativity; historically bands were wound on top to restrict movement further.

Victorian bridal showers reputedly took their name from gifts tumbling out of which item?

A parasol: in the Victorian custom, small gifts were tucked inside a parasol that was opened over the bride so they 'showered' down on her, and the name passed to baby showers.

Traditionally, a baby shower was given only for which child in a family?

The first: traditionally a shower was thrown only for a family's first baby, since later children could use the hand-me-downs; smaller 'diaper showers' are common for subsequent babies.

According to Miss Manners, who should typically host a baby shower?

A close friend: Judith Martin's Miss Manners column holds that a friend, not a relative, should host, since a family member giving a shower looks like begging for gifts on the family's behalf.

Pre-birth baby showers are held late in pregnancy, but usually not in the final few weeks, for what reason?

The baby might arrive early, so showers steer clear of the last few weeks in case of a preterm birth; many societies hold no pre-birth celebration at all.

In the Netherlands, a newborn is celebrated by serving rusks topped with what?

Sugar-coated aniseed: 'beschuit met muisjes', rusk with sugared aniseed 'little mice', is served to visitors after a birth, pink-and-white for a girl and blue-and-white for a boy.

Which ancient Greek ceremony marked a baby's integration into the household days after birth?

Amphidromia: around the fifth or seventh day the baby was carried at a run around the household hearth, admitting it to the family; the public dekate on the tenth day gave it its name.

At a Korean first-birthday 'dol' celebration, the baby is traditionally prompted to do what?

Grab an object that predicts its future: in the 'doljabi', items such as thread, money, a pencil or rice are laid out, and the one the baby grabs is read as predicting long life, wealth or scholarship.

In the Islamic tradition of Aqiqah, what happens after a birth?

An animal is slaughtered and meat shared: in Aqiqah, usually on the seventh day, a sheep or goat is sacrificed, the meat shared with relatives and the poor, and the baby's head is shaved.

A smaller shower for a family's second or later baby is nicknamed what?

A sprinkle: a 'baby sprinkle' is a scaled-down shower for a second or later child, on the theory that the parents already own the big items and need only a sprinkling of essentials.

A 'sip and see' party differs from a baby shower in being held when?

After the baby is born: a sip and see, popular in the American South, invites friends to drop in for a drink and meet the newborn, so the guest of honour is the baby rather than the bump.

What phrase do some families use to discourage shower gifts?

'Your presence, not presents' is how some families wave off gifts, and some organise a blessing ceremony in place of a shower.

An Egyptian baby shower is called 'Sebouh', a name meaning what?

Week: Sebou' comes from the Arabic for seven, since it is held on the seventh day after birth; the baby is carried in a sieve that the family shakes gently while salt is sprinkled.

What is a baby shower called in South Africa?

They usually happen in the sixth month and are often a surprise.

An Armenian 'qarasunq' baby celebration is held how many days after birth?

40: 'qarasunq' comes from the Armenian word for forty, and the party, a mixed gathering of relatives and friends, marks the end of the traditional forty-day seclusion of mother and newborn.

When is the Chinese 'manyue' celebration held?

One month after birth: manyue means 'full month'; the red egg and ginger party marks the baby surviving its first month, and pre-birth showers are considered unlucky in China.

In Hmong 'Puv Hli' ceremonies, what is tied around the baby's wrist?

White yarn or strings: at the Hmong 'Puv Hli' (full-month) ceremony, white strings are tied around the baby's wrists to bind its soul to its body; the paternal grandparents or father host it a month after birth.

An Iranian 'sismooni party' is held when?

1-3 months before birth: sismooni is the layette of cot, clothes and toys traditionally provided by the mother's family, presented at a party in the last months of pregnancy.

Nepal's Pasni celebration marks a boy's 6th month or a girl's which month?

Fifth: Pasni, the Nepali rice-feeding ceremony, is held in the fifth month for girls and the sixth for boys, marking the baby's first solid food of rice pudding.

Which two wildfires were started by gender reveal party effects?

Sawmill Fire and El Dorado Fire: a target-shooting gender reveal ignited Arizona's Sawmill Fire in 2017, and a smoke-generating pyrotechnic started California's El Dorado Fire in 2020, which killed a firefighter.

Louise Brown, the first baby conceived by IVF, was born in 1978 in which English town?

Oldham: Louise Brown was born by caesarean at Oldham General Hospital on 25 July 1978, the work of Patrick Steptoe and Robert Edwards; Edwards received the 2010 Nobel Prize for developing IVF.

Ultrasound for fetal sex is typically done at around how many weeks?

It can be reliably done from roughly 65 days.

Until 2024, which country barred doctors from revealing a fetus's sex before 32 weeks?

South Korea: a 1987 law meant to curb sex-selective abortion banned disclosing fetal sex; it was eased to allow it after 32 weeks in 2008, and the Constitutional Court struck the ban down in February 2024.

Which is a Canadian English word for a pacifier?

Soother: Canadians say soother, Americans pacifier or binky, and Britons and Australians dummy; 'dodie' is an Irish and northern English nursery word for it.

A 17th-19th century English 'coral' was a teething toy often mounted in silver as the handle of what?

A rattle: 'coral and bells' rattles paired a silver handle and bells with a coral teething stick and a whistle; coral was believed to ward off evil and lend the child strength.

Which woman developed the two-part Paddi disposable nappy system from 1947?

Valerie Hunter Gordon: she sewed the first Paddi, a washable outer garment holding a disposable pad, after her third child's birth in 1947; Boots agreed to stock it in 1950.

Since 2008, at least 40 countries have banned baby bottles made from plastics containing which chemical?

Bisphenol A has been banned from baby bottles in at least 40 countries since 2008; the substitutes BPS and BPF may pose similar risks.

Which sculptor created a duck sculpture in the 1940s that became a rubber duck classic?

Peter Ganine: the Russian-American sculptor patented his floating duck design in 1949 and it sold more than 50 million copies; the rubber duck entered the National Toy Hall of Fame in 2013 alongside chess.

How many Friendly Floatees bath toys spilled into the Pacific in a 1992 storm?

28,800: the container lost from the Ever Laurel in January 1992 held 28,800 toys in equal numbers of blue turtles, yellow ducks, red beavers and green frogs, which oceanographers tracked for years.

Which teeth are usually the first baby teeth to erupt?

Lower central incisors: the two bottom front teeth usually erupt first, between about 6 and 10 months, followed by the upper central incisors a month or two later.

In Yoruba tradition, what name is given to the first-born of a pair of twins?

Taiwo: Yoruba custom names the first twin Taiwo, 'the one who tastes the world first', and the second Kehinde, 'the one who comes after'; Idowu is the child born next.

Identical twins that split after how many days of development are likely to be conjoined?

Non-conjoined monozygotic twins form up to day 14.

Which composer wrote the most famous lullaby, 'Wiegenlied', in 1868?

Johannes Brahms: he wrote 'Wiegenlied' (Op. 49 No. 4) in 1868 for his friend Bertha Faber on the birth of her second son, weaving in a tune she had once sung to him.

Which poet wrote 'The Star', the source of 'Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star'?

Jane Taylor: 'The Star' appeared in Rhymes for the Nursery (1806), the collection she wrote with her sister Ann; its first verse became 'Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star'.

'Twinkle, Twinkle' is sung to a French melody that which composer wrote variations on?

Mozart: his twelve variations on 'Ah! vous dirai-je, maman' (K. 265) date from the early 1780s; the French tune itself was first published in 1761.

'Hush, Little Baby' is thought to have been written in which region?

Southern United States: the lullaby is a traditional American folk song, thought to originate in the Southern United States, in which the mother promises a mockingbird, then a diamond ring if the bird won't sing.

The opening of Teletubbies shows a giggling baby's face in place of what?

The sun: each Teletubbies episode opens and closes with a giggling baby's face set inside the sun over Teletubbyland; the series debuted on the BBC in March 1997.

What full name does Baby Yoda eventually take in 'The Mandalorian'?

It was revealed in 'Chapter 13: The Jedi'.

Roughly how much did the Grogu puppet reportedly cost to make?

$5 million: actor Adam Pally, who played a scout trooper who punched the puppet, said Jon Favreau told him it had cost $5 million; the figure has never been officially confirmed.

Which studio designed the Grogu puppet?

Legacy Effects: the Los Angeles studio founded by Stan Winston's former team built the animatronic puppet, operated by two technicians on set and accented with CGI.

Who wrote the 1947 bedtime classic 'Goodnight Moon'?

Margaret Wise Brown: she wrote 'Goodnight Moon' in 1947 with illustrations by Clement Hurd; the New York Public Library famously refused to stock it for decades because its head children's librarian disliked it.

Which screenwriter wrote the 1994 flop 'Baby's Day Out'?

John Hughes: the Home Alone writer-producer scripted it, and it bombed in the US but became a cult hit in India, running for months in Kolkata cinemas.

What is baby Bink's full name in 'Baby's Day Out'?

Bennington Austin Cotwell IV: the nine-month-old heir, nicknamed Bink, lives in a Chicago mansion and is kidnapped by three bumbling crooks posing as photographers.

Which 1998 film introduced Tommy Pickles' baby brother Dil?

The Rugrats Movie: the 1998 film introduced Tommy's baby brother Dil Pickles, voiced by Tara Strong; 2000's Rugrats in Paris then added Chuckie's stepsister Kimi.

'Rugrats' was the second of which trio of original Nickelodeon animated series?

Nicktoons: Rugrats premiered on August 11, 1991 as the second of the three original Nicktoons, after Doug and before The Ren & Stimpy Show, all launched the same day.

Who created the Baby Einstein franchise?

Julie Aigner-Clark: a former teacher, she shot the first Baby Einstein video in her basement in 1996; the videos pair simple objects with reorchestrated classical music, and Disney bought the company in 2001.

Gerber began in 1927 in which Michigan town?

Fremont: Daniel Frank Gerber's Fremont Canning Company began selling strained baby food in 1928 after his wife Dorothy hand-strained peas for their daughter Sally.

Which company markets Huggies diapers?

Kimberly-Clark: the maker of Kleenex launched Huggies in 1978 to replace its earlier Kimbies brand, taking on Procter & Gamble's Pampers.

A bassinet is designed for babies from birth to about what age?

Four months: bassinets are outgrown at around four months, or as soon as the baby can roll over or push up, when most move to a crib or cot.

Which Johnson & Johnson scientist pioneered talcum baby powder in the 1890s?

Frederick Barnett Kilmer: J&J's scientific director sent talc to a doctor to soothe plaster-cast irritation, and Johnson's Baby Powder followed in 1894; he was the father of the poet Joyce Kilmer.

Which German toymaker developed the teddy bear at the same time as Morris Michtom?

Richard Steiff: Margarete Steiff's nephew designed the jointed 'Bär 55 PB' in 1902 and showed it at the Leipzig toy fair in 1903, where an American buyer ordered 3,000.

Which company did Morris Michtom found after his teddy bears took off?

Ideal Novelty and Toy Co.: Michtom and his wife Rose founded Ideal in 1907 on the success of their bears; the company later made the Shirley Temple doll and Betsy Wetsy.

Meconium's name derives from a Greek word for which plant?

Poppy: meconium comes from the Greek mekonion, 'poppy juice', because Aristotle thought the tar-like substance kept the fetus asleep, like opium.

Which color is a newborn's meconium usually?

Very dark olive green: made of swallowed amniotic fluid, bile, mucus and shed cells, meconium is tarry, sticky and almost odourless, and is passed within the first day or two.

Which two doctors first presented kangaroo mother care in Bogotá in 1983?

Rey and Martinez: Edgar Rey Sanabria and Héctor Martínez Gómez developed skin-to-skin care for premature babies at Bogotá's Instituto Materno Infantil when incubators ran short; the WHO endorsed it in 2003.

Roughly what share of new mothers experience the 'baby blues'?

70-80%: up to four in five new mothers get the weepy, moody 'baby blues', starting a few days after birth and lifting within about two weeks; lasting symptoms point to postpartum depression.

The postpartum period is typically considered to last how long?

Six to eight weeks: the postpartum period, when the uterus returns to its pre-pregnancy size, is conventionally taken as six to eight weeks; the WHO calls it the most critical yet most neglected phase for mothers and babies.

Who published the first English nursery rhyme collections, Tommy Thumb's Song Book, in 1744?

Mary Cooper: the London publisher issued Tommy Thumb's Song Book and its sequel Tommy Thumb's Pretty Song Book in 1744; Newbery's stepson Thomas Carnan registered 'Mother Goose's Melody' in 1780.

After infancy, the anterior fontanelle is known by what anatomical name?

Bregma: once the anterior fontanelle closes, the junction of the coronal and sagittal sutures is called the bregma; the posterior fontanelle's site becomes the lambda.

Within how many weeks after birth does the posterior fontanelle usually close?

6-8: the small triangular posterior fontanelle usually closes by about two months, while the larger diamond-shaped anterior one takes until around 18 months.

Which combination of blood vessels does a human umbilical cord normally contain?

Two arteries, one vein: the single vein carries oxygenated blood from the placenta to the fetus and the two arteries carry blood back, all cushioned in Wharton's jelly.

In 2014, roughly how many US children needed ER treatment for baby-walker injuries?

About 2,000: a 2018 Pediatrics study counted 2,001 walker-related ER visits in 2014, down from more than 20,000 in 1990; the American Academy of Pediatrics has called for an outright ban.

Which US agency sets mandatory safety standards for cribs and playpens?

Consumer Product Safety Commission: the CPSC's 2011 crib rules banned traditional drop-side cribs after dozens of infant deaths, and it sets the mandatory standards for play yards and bassinets as well.

Which aeronautical engineer designed the lightweight folding stroller in 1965?

Owen Maclaren: the former Spitfire undercarriage designer patented his aluminium folding buggy in 1965 after his daughter complained about hauling a heavy pram on flights from America; it weighed about 3 kg.

Which sculptor designed the 1937 Radio Nurse baby monitor?

Isamu Noguchi: the sculptor designed the Radio Nurse's Bakelite receiver, which he likened to a kendo mask, while the matching 'Guardian Ear' transmitter sat by the crib; the design is in MoMA's collection.

What term do critics of gender stereotyping prefer over 'motherese'?

Parentese: researchers favour 'parentese' or 'infant-directed speech' over 'motherese' because fathers and other caregivers use the same high-pitched, sing-song, exaggerated speech with babies.

Which sleep position most effectively reduces the risk of SIDS?

On the back: the US 'Back to Sleep' campaign launched in 1994 (renamed 'Safe to Sleep' in 2012) roughly halved SIDS deaths, and Britain's 1991 campaign cut them by about 80 percent.

For how long does the WHO recommend exclusive breastfeeding?

Half a year of exclusive breastfeeding is the WHO recommendation, followed by complementary foods alongside breastfeeding for up to two years and beyond.

Medically, a neonate is an infant in the first how many days after birth?

28: a neonate is a newborn in the first 28 days of life, the period of highest infant mortality; 'premature' refers instead to birth before 37 weeks of gestation.

A baby born at how many completed weeks of pregnancy is classed as 'late term'?

41: since 2013 ACOG has divided term into early (37-38 weeks), full (39-40), late (41) and post term (42 and beyond), because outcomes differ week by week.

Which amino acid disorder launched newborn screening programs?

Phenylketonuria: Robert Guthrie's 1963 heel-prick blood test for PKU launched routine newborn screening; affected babies look normal at birth but cannot metabolize phenylalanine, and an early low-protein diet prevents brain damage.

By what percentage does a term newborn's weight typically drop in the first 5-7 days?

3-7%: a term newborn typically loses 3-7 percent of its birth weight in the first week, mostly fluid, before breastfeeding becomes fully effective, and regains it by about two weeks.

By the end of which week of gestational age is the embryo referred to as a fetus?

Tenth: from the end of the tenth week of gestational age (eight weeks after fertilization) the embryo is called a fetus; the major organs have formed and growth rather than organogenesis dominates.

Which US law defines infant formula as a food simulating human milk?

Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act: the FFDCA, as amended by the 1980 Infant Formula Act, defines infant formula as a food for special dietary use simulating human milk, and gives the FDA power to set its nutrient requirements.

Honey is kept from babies under one year because of the risk of what?

Infant botulism: honey can carry Clostridium botulinum spores, which an infant's immature gut cannot suppress; the spores germinate and produce a toxin causing weakness and poor feeding, so honey is withheld until one year.

Born near Callander, Ontario in 1934, the Dionne quintuplets were the first quintuplets known to have done what?

The identical Dionne girls were the first quintuplets known to have survived their infancy; Ontario later made them wards of the Crown and a tourist attraction.

In the 1938 screwball comedy Bringing Up Baby, what kind of animal is Baby?

A leopard: Baby is a tame leopard that Katharine Hepburn's heiress foists on Cary Grant's paleontologist in Howard Hawks's 1938 comedy; a second, wild leopard causes the chaos.

Which real New York apartment building stood in for the Bramford, the couple's new home in Rosemary's Baby (1968)?

The Dakota: the Dakota's exteriors on Central Park West played the Bramford, though the building would not allow filming inside, so the interiors were built on a soundstage; filming began in August 1967.

In Edgar Wright's Baby Driver (2017), why does the getaway driver Baby constantly listen to music?

To drown out his tinnitus: a childhood car crash that killed his parents left Baby with ringing in his ears, so he plays music constantly, and the film's action is cut to his playlists.

How many weeks did Sir Mix-a-Lot's 'Baby Got Back' spend at number one on the Hot 100 in 1992?

Five: 'Baby Got Back' topped the Hot 100 for five weeks in July and August 1992, finishing as Billboard's number-two single of the year behind Boyz II Men's 'End of the Road'.

Nadya Suleman, dubbed 'Octomom', gave birth to the first surviving octuplets in which year?

2009: Suleman's octuplets, conceived by IVF, were born on 26 January 2009 in Bellflower, California, and all survived; she already had six children, which fuelled the controversy.

Sophie the Giraffe, the 7-inch squeaky teething toy sold since 1961, is moulded from which material?

Sophie is a 7-inch giraffe of hevea rubber, squeaking since 1961 and a staple of French nurseries.

Which actor's Baby Driver performance earned a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy?

Ansel Elgort: his turn as the music-obsessed getaway driver earned a 2018 Golden Globe nomination; the film itself won the BAFTA for Best Editing.

Which US city is the setting of Baby Driver?

Baby Driver is set in Atlanta, where Miles drives for the kingpin Doc's robbery crews to pay off a debt for stealing a car.

A 1918 American trade journal advised dressing baby boys in which 'more decided and stronger' color?

Pink was the pick for boys in Earnshaw's Infants' Department, which called blue 'more delicate and dainty' and so prettier for girls. Historian Jo Paoletti found today's pairing was not dominant in America until the 1950s.

Which nursery rhyme did Thomas Edison recite in 1877 to make the first recording on his new phonograph?

Mary Had a Little Lamb was Edison's test piece for the machine. He re-enacted the recitation in 1927, and that later recording still survives.

In which country do men dressed as devils leap over rows of babies during the El Colacho festival?

Spain has held El Colacho in the village of Castrillo de Murcia since 1620. Babies born in the past twelve months lie on mattresses in the street while the costumed 'devils' jump over them.

In which fish does the male carry the eggs in a pouch and give birth to the young?

Seahorse fathers take up to 1,500 eggs from the female into a brood pouch on the tail and feed the embryos there. Why the males do the carrying is still unknown.

In 1930s London, wire 'baby cages' were hung outside apartment windows to give infants what?

Fresh air was the goal, because open air was believed to fight tuberculosis in crowded cities. Eleanor Roosevelt fixed a wire box outside a New York window for her baby daughter Anna's naps.

What did Martin Couney exhibit to paying visitors at his Coney Island sideshow, 'The Infantorium'?

Premature babies in incubators were the attraction, at 25 cents a look. Couney is credited with saving more than 6,500 of them at a time when such infants were widely written off as 'weaklings'.

In J. M. Barrie's Peter Pan, what is born whenever a baby laughs for the first time?

A fairy is born from each first laugh in Barrie's story. On stage, Peter begs everyone in the audience who believes in fairies to clap their hands and save Tinker Bell.

In the best-known version of the rhyme 'Monday's Child', the child born on which day is 'full of woe'?

Wednesday is the unlucky day in modern versions, and cartoonist Charles Addams named Wednesday Addams after the line. An 1887 printing gave the woe to Friday's child instead.

Which land animal carries its calf for about 22 months, the longest pregnancy of any mammal?

Elephant pregnancies run to around 22 months, almost two years, and a mother usually waits about four years before giving birth again.

What name is given to a baby kangaroo, which is about the size of a lima bean at birth?

Joey is the word, and the newborn usually stays in its mother's pouch for about nine months. Adult males are known as boomers and females as flyers.

Which animal gives birth to a blind, toothless cub weighing only about 1/800 of the mother's weight?

Giant panda cubs weigh only 90 to 130 grams at birth, proportionally the smallest newborns of any placental mammal.

What is a young swan called, the bird mistaken for an 'ugly duckling' in Hans Christian Andersen's tale?

Cygnet comes through Old French from the Latin cygnus, meaning swan, with a diminutive ending added.

A leveret, born fully furred and with its eyes open, is the young of which animal?

Hare young are born above ground with no burrow to hide in, so they arrive ready to fend for themselves. Rabbits, by contrast, are born blind and hairless.

Which spiny mammal has a baby called a puggle, which sucks milk from pores on its mother's skin?

Echidna mothers lay a single leathery egg into a pouch, and the puggle hatches about ten days later. It stays in the pouch until its spines start to grow.

What is the name for a baby llama, which can stand and walk within an hour of birth?

Cria is also the word for young alpacas, vicuñas and guanacos. Alpaca mothers usually have just one after a pregnancy of 11 to 12 months.

A squab, long eaten as a delicacy from China to Egypt, is the young of which bird?

Pigeon chicks are called squabs, a word that probably comes from a Scandinavian term for loose, fat flesh. They reach adult size in about a month, before they can fly.

What name is given to the fine, soft hair that covers a fetus and is usually shed before birth?

Lanugo is the first hair a fetus grows, appearing at around sixteen weeks. Babies who still have some when they arrive lose it on their own within a few weeks.

Peekaboo delights babies who have not yet grasped which idea, first studied in infants by Jean Piaget?

Object permanence is the understanding that things still exist when out of sight. Piaget tested it by covering a favourite toy with a blanket and watching whether the baby searched for it.

What name is given to bouts of crying in a healthy baby that last over three hours a day?

Colic has no known cause and is equally common in bottle-fed and breastfed babies. It tends to peak at six weeks and fade by three to four months.

Which newborn condition is treated with light therapy, after an English nurse noticed sunlight helped?

Jaundice turns a newborn's skin and eyes yellowish as bilirubin builds up in the blood. Mild cases are generally harmless and clear up on their own.

What was Little Miss Muffet eating as she sat on her tuffet in the nursery rhyme?

Curds and whey are the solids and the liquid left when milk curdles. The tuffet in the verse probably meant a grassy hillock, not the low seat it is often drawn as.

Which nursery rhyme character is usually drawn as an egg, though the verse never actually describes one?

Humpty Dumpty probably began as a riddle whose answer was 'an egg', so the lines never give it away. Lewis Carroll fixed the image in Through the Looking-Glass in 1871.

Which 1990 hit, built on a Queen and David Bowie bassline, was the first hip-hop single to top the Hot 100?

Ice Ice Baby by Vanilla Ice lifted the bassline of 'Under Pressure', whose writers received no credit or royalties until after it had become a hit.

Which Motown group took 'Baby Love' to number one in both America and Britain?

The Supremes made it the second of five consecutive US chart-toppers, and with it became the first Motown act to score more than one American number one.

Which lullaby opens George Gershwin's opera Porgy and Bess, sung by Clara to her baby?

Summertime sets words by DuBose Heyward, who wrote the novel behind the opera. In the last act Bess sings it to the same baby, orphaned after a storm kills both parents.

Which birth attendant's title comes from Middle English words meaning 'with woman'?

Midwife joins mid, meaning 'with', and wif, meaning 'woman': the person who stays with a mother while she gives birth. The 'wife' in the word is the helper, not the mother.

What word for a newborn's set of clothes and accessories comes from a term for a small box?

Layette once meant a small box or coffer. In the 1920s, expectant mothers and their relatives often knitted a matching set of blanket, hat, sweater and booties.

Which 1990s legal series featured the 'Dancing Baby', an early internet sensation, in its fantasy scenes?

Ally McBeal borrowed the 3D-animated infant after it had spread online as one of the first viral videos in 1996. A popular version set it dancing to 'Hooked on a Feeling'.

Which 1990s puppet sitcom starred Baby Sinclair, who loved hitting his father Earl with a frying pan?

Dinosaurs grew from an idea Jim Henson had in 1988 for a sitcom about a prehistoric family. It reached ABC in 1991, the year after his death.

Which Stevie Wonder song opens with the sounds of a newborn and celebrates the birth of his daughter Aisha?

Isn't She Lovely appears on Songs in the Key of Life, and its closing section mixes in a recording of Wonder bathing Aisha as a toddler.

Which candy bar, launched in 1921, did its maker claim was named after President Grover Cleveland's daughter?

Baby Ruth arrived just as Babe Ruth's fame was rising, and 17 years after Ruth Cleveland had died. Many saw the official story as a way to avoid paying the slugger royalties.

Which snack vegetable did farmer Mike Yurosek create in 1986 by cutting down misshapen full-size ones?

Baby carrots sold in bags are really two-inch sections of large carrots, scraped down and rounded at the ends. Yurosek's idea was meant to reduce food waste.

Into what did 18-month-old Jessica McClure fall in 1987, prompting a 58-hour rescue shown live on US television?

A well in her aunt's backyard in Midland, Texas, trapped the toddler about 22 feet down. Rescuers had to drill a parallel shaft through rock to bring 'Baby Jessica' out.

At Japan's Naki Sumo festival, wrestlers hold babies in the ring and compete to make them do what?

Cry first and the baby is usually named the winner. The 400-year-old custom rests on the belief that a loud wail wards off evil spirits, and on a proverb meaning 'crying babies grow fastest'.

Virginia Dare, the first child born in the New World to English parents, arrived in 1587 at which colony?

Roanoke, in what is now North Carolina, did not endure: its settlers vanished, and nothing more is known of Virginia's life. Dare County is named in her honor.

Which country's Esperanza Base was the 1978 birthplace of Emilio Palma, the first person born in Antarctica?

Argentina airlifted his mother to the base when she was seven months pregnant, and his father led the army detachment there. Guinness lists him as the first person born on the continent.

Which reflex, normal in babies but a warning sign in adults, makes the big toe rise when the sole is stroked?

Babinski is the name, after neurologist Joseph Babinski, who described the response in 1896. The upturned toe has been spotted in a Botticelli Virgin and Child painted in the 15th century.

Sailors once prized which rare membrane, found covering a newborn's head, as a charm against drowning?

Caul births happen in fewer than 1 in 80,000 deliveries, and the harmless membrane is simply lifted away. Folklore held that owning one brought good luck.

Newborns cannot shiver effectively, so which heat-producing tissue, about 5% of body mass, keeps them warm?

Brown fat burns energy to make heat with no shivering needed, and in newborns it lies along the upper spine and toward the shoulders. Hibernating mammals are rich in it too.

Which animal behaviour pioneer argued that 'baby schema' features like big eyes make adults want to nurture?

Konrad Lorenz called the pattern Kindchenschema and saw it as an evolutionary adaptation: infant-like looks release caregiving in adults, which helps ensure the young are looked after.

Which boy's name topped America's baby name charts every year but one from 1954 to 1998?

Michael slipped to second only in 1960, when David edged ahead. Jacob finally ended the run in 1999 and stayed on top until 2012.

In which country did parents protest a naming-law fine by giving their son a 43-character name?

Sweden's courts rejected Brfxxccxxmnpcccclllmmnprxvclmnckssqlbb11116, supposedly pronounced 'Albin', and upheld the 5,000-kronor fine. The parents called the name an artistic creation.

Which Nordic country's maternity package, issued since 1938, is known abroad as the 'baby box'?

Finland first gave the package only to low-income parents, then to every expectant mother from 1949. A 2013 BBC story brought the box international attention.

In Roman legend, which animal suckled Romulus and Remus after the infants were abandoned by the Tiber?

A she-wolf nursed the twins in a cave later known as the Lupercal, and the image has been a symbol of Rome since at least the 3rd century BC.

Which Greek hero, while still a baby, strangled two snakes that a goddess sent into his nursery?

Heracles grabbed a snake in each hand and throttled them, while his twin brother Iphicles cried in fear. Hera had sent the serpents.

In Britain, 'wetting the baby's head' traditionally means a new father marking the birth by doing what?

Having a few drinks with a group of friends is the tradition, often at a local pub. A similar gathering for American fathers-to-be is known as a diaper party.

What Italian name is given to the chubby, often winged infants of Renaissance art, revived by Donatello?

Putti are often called cherubs, although in traditional theology a cherub is one of the most senior angels. The figure had vanished in the Middle Ages before Donatello brought it back in the 1420s.

In northern India a baby shower is called 'godh bharai', a name that literally means filling what?

The lap gives the ceremony its name across most of northern and central India. In the Punjab region the event is also known as rīt.

What name is given to a young eel, which was once sold fried as a cheap dish in Britain?

Elver is thought to be a corruption of 'eel fare', the old name for the spring run of young eels up the Thames.

What is the medical name for 'milk spots', the tiny keratin-filled cysts common on newborn babies' faces?

Milia need no treatment: in children they often disappear by themselves within two to four weeks. They can also turn up on the roof of the mouth.