120 free Baby trivia questions with answers — science & nature quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
This baby trivia quiz is about babies themselves: how newborns are built and behave, what happens in the first year, and the surprisingly recent history of the things we use to feed, carry, soothe and dress them. It is written for adults, from new parents to grandparents to anyone who wants to look clever at a christening. If you are planning a party and want games rather than facts, our baby shower quiz is the one to use. The easy end covers what most people half-know: how many baby teeth there are, what the soft spot is called, which company makes Pampers, why the pacifier is a dummy in Britain and a binky in America. Then it gets into the specifics: what an Apgar score actually measures, why a newborn's first stool is dark green, which people have the highest twin rate on Earth, who the real Gerber Baby was, when the first baby monitor and the first stroller were built, and how many nonuplets have ever survived birth. Every answer was checked against the encyclopaedia entry for the topic before publishing, and the sentence that supports it is stored with each question.
30 of 120 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01How many teeth make up a full set of baby teeth?
20
Five per quadrant, ten per jaw; adults end up with 32.
Q 02Which of a baby's first set of teeth usually erupt first?
Lower front incisors
They typically appear between 6 and 10 months; the upper second molars come last.
Q 03Which of these animals does NOT get just one set of baby teeth followed by adult teeth?
Elephant
Elephants, kangaroos and manatees are polyphyodonts, replacing teeth throughout life.
Q 04Around what age does teething typically begin?
Six months
It continues, on and off, until roughly two and a half years.
Q 05Do erupting teeth actually cut through a baby's gums?
No, gum cells die and separate
Hormones make cells in the gum die off so the tooth can pass through.
Q 06What is the informal name for the membranous gap in a baby's skull?
Soft spot
The medical word is fontanelle; the big diamond-shaped one at the front lasts up to 18 months.
Q 07What shape is the anterior fontanelle at the top front of a baby's head?
Diamond
The smaller posterior one at the back is the triangle.
Q 08The anterior fontanelle usually closes by what age?
9 to 18 months
The posterior one ossifies within six to eight weeks of birth.
Q 09How many main bones make up an infant's skull?
Five
Two frontal, two parietal and one occipital, joined by flexible sutures.
Q 10The word 'infant' comes from a Latin word meaning what?
Unspeaking
Neonate, from neonatus, is the medical term for the first 28 days.
Q 11In medicine, a newborn is a 'neonate' for how many days after birth?
28
The term applies whether the baby is premature, full term or late.
Q 12Babies born before how many weeks of gestation are called premature?
37
Full term is 39 to 40 weeks; beyond 42 is post term.
Q 13What is the average birth weight of a full-term newborn in developed countries?
3.4 kg
Roughly seven and a half pounds, though anything from 2.7 to 4.6 kg is typical.
Q 14What usually happens to a newborn's weight in the first week?
Q 21The waxy coating on a newborn's skin is mostly made of what?
Water
About 80% water, with lipids and proteins making up 10% each.
Q 22What is the fine, soft hair sometimes covering a newborn's body called?
Lanugo
It usually sheds before birth, and the fetus swallows it along with amniotic fluid.
Q 23The name of the fine hair on a fetus comes from the Latin for what?
Wool
The finer hair that replaces it is called vellus.
Q 24What is a newborn's very first stool called?
It drops by 3-7%
Fluid that filled the lungs is resorbed and passed, and feeding takes a few days to get going.
Q 15What colour is a newborn's skin often in the moments right after birth?
Grayish to dusky blue
It reaches its normal tone within a minute or two of the first breaths.
Q 16What is the normal head circumference of a full-term newborn?
33-36 cm
The head is very large in proportion to the body, and the cranium huge relative to the face.
Q 17Once a baby learns to walk, what is it usually called instead?
Toddler
The word marks relative independence in getting about and feeding.
Q 18What is the name of the instinctive behaviour by which a newborn seeks out the nipple?
Rooting
It comes bundled with the sucking reflex, which does the actual feeding.
Q 19What is the name for the waxy white coating on a newborn's skin?
Vernix
The Latin means, roughly, cheesy varnish.
Q 20In the Latin name for a newborn's waxy skin coating, what does 'caseosa' mean?
Cheesy
Vernix means varnish; the term was first published in 1846.
Meconium
It is sticky like tar, dark olive green and almost odourless.
Q 25What colour is a newborn's first stool usually?
Very dark olive green
Later stools turn yellow as digested milk takes over.
Q 26What is the thick early milk produced in the first days after birth called?
Colostrum
It is packed with antibodies; in farm animals it is called beestings.
Q 27What is the traditional Old English word for a farm animal's first milk?
Beestings
Calves denied it almost always die, because they get no antibodies through the placenta.
Q 28How soon after birth does the WHO recommend that breastfeeding begin?
Within the first hour
Only about 44% of infants worldwide were exclusively breastfed for six months in 2015-2020.
Q 29For how long does the WHO recommend exclusive breastfeeding?
Six months
The only usual addition is a vitamin D supplement.
Q 30Which hormone is the main driver of milk production?
Prolactin
Progesterone blocks it during pregnancy, which is why milk does not come in early.