Infant

In common terminology, a baby is the very young offspring of human beings, while infant (from the Latin word infans, meaning 'baby' or 'child'[1]) is a formal or specialised synonym.

As a legal term, infancy is more like minority, and continues until a person reaches 18 years of age.

[5] A newborn's shoulders and hips are wide, the abdomen protrudes slightly, and the arms and legs are relatively long with respect to the rest of their body.

[6] At birth, many regions of the newborn's skull have not yet been converted to bone, leaving "soft spots" known as fontanels.

It may be particularly noticeable on the back, shoulders, forehead, ears and face of premature infants.

[8][failed verification] Immediately after birth, a newborn's skin is often grayish to dusky blue in color.

As soon as the newborn begins to breathe, usually within a minute or two, the skin's color reaches its normal tone.

Newborns are wet, covered in streaks of blood, and coated with a white substance known as vernix caseosa, which is hypothesised to act as an antibacterial barrier.

The newborn may also have Mongolian spots, various other birthmarks, or peeling skin, particularly on the wrists, hands, ankles, and feet.

A newborn's genitals are enlarged and reddened, with male infants having an unusually large scrotum.

[9] A crying infant may be trying to express a variety of feelings including hunger, discomfort, overstimulation, boredom, wanting something, or loneliness.

Infants are altricial and are fully dependent on their mothers or an adult caretaker for an extended period of time.

As an infant's diet matures, finger foods may be introduced as well as fruit, vegetables and small amounts of meat.

Children need more sleep than adults—up to 18 hours for newborn babies, with a declining rate as the child ages.

Most industrialized countries have laws requiring child safety seats for babies in motor vehicles.

Infants who were the recipients of negative touch have also been linked with emotional and behavioral problems later in life.

Reproducing and empathizing with their facial expressions enables infants to experience effectiveness and to recognize their own actions more easily (see mirror neurons).

[16] Accentuated pronunciation and melodic intonation make it easier to recognize individual words in a sentence.

[20] However, language development is only achieved if parents react positively (e.g. smile) in response to the infant's babbling.

A high response rate without a connection to the infant's utterances does not lead to language promotion.

[25] Maternal sensitivity plays a particular role in the relationship with the infant and for favorable emotional development.

[26][27][16] In accordance with their basic needs, infants show an inborn behavior of seeking closeness to the mother – or to another primary caregiver – and thus in turn foster an attachment.

Asiana Airlines allows babies to board international flights at 7 days of age.

[33] Infants develop distinct relationships to their mothers, fathers, siblings, and non-familial caregivers.

They have a drop in heart rate, their eyes blinking, increased turning toward the speakers or parent, all of these indicating that they were paying more attention.

Major causes of infant mortality include dehydration, infection, congenital malformation and SIDS.

On the other hand, a country such as Mexico, which spends disproportionately less of its budget on healthcare, suffers from high mortality rates.

[44] In contrast toddler is used to denote a baby that has achieved relative independence, in moving about, and feeding.