# Could you have recognized your young baby in a room full of other newborns? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 29, 2010, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-have-recognized-your-young-baby-in-a-room-full-of-other-newborns/541213 "2010-05-29T19:15:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-have-recognized-your-young-baby-in-a-room-full-of-other-newborns/541213/41 "2010-06-01T07:03:18Z")
Yes. In fact, she was taken to the NICU a few minutes after birth and I had no problem knowing which baby was her when I got down there (the incubators had labels, but you had to hunt them out). We spent this weekend with my sister-in-law and their new baby, 8 weeks old. To my GF, the baby just looked ‘like a baby,’ which is something she’s often commented before - she really can’t tell the difference at all. To me they have very clear differences. Most likely this is because I have a child, so have spent ages looking not only at my own baby, but at other people’s babies, babies in books, babies on TV, etc, so have learnt to distinguish the differences. Some people have difficulty recognising faces easily, and they’d be the only parents I’d expected to have trouble identifying their own baby. If I hadn’t seen her at all it would have been much harder. It still wouldn’t have been impossible - scan pictures aren’t that clear, but they do give you something to go on. I can clearly see the lines of her nose and cheekbones on there. > [@Mighty\_Girl](#): > > My daughter was born in a small clinic and was the only child there. On top of that she was almost 12 lbs at birth. Woah! Is she the reason for your screen name? ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-have-recognized-your-young-baby-in-a-room-full-of-other-newborns/541213/42 "2010-06-01T21:42:59Z")
I have never ever ever seen a baby that in any way looked like either of its parents, at least when it comes to facial features. I mean, it just seems patently obvious to me that a baby which had ears that looked just like it’s grandfather’s ears (or what have you) would be crazily weird looking… like something from a terrible CGI movie. And yet so many people in this thread, who I assume are not insane or liars, have made that claim. I wonder whether some people automatically insert a “when adjusted from how-that-feature-looks-on-a-grownup to how-that-feature-looks-on-a-baby” filter into such statements and thoughts, which some of us just don’t have at all. ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-have-recognized-your-young-baby-in-a-room-full-of-other-newborns/541213/43 "2010-06-01T21:50:11Z")
Our son was just shy of 11 pounds and something like 26 inches at birth, so I’m pretty sure I’d’ve been able to pick him out of a lineup. We had a whole bunch of really cute baby clothes that he was never able to wear because we was too big for them the day he was born. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-have-recognized-your-young-baby-in-a-room-full-of-other-newborns/541213/44 "2010-06-02T12:49:53Z")
Gosh, no sweat. Babies do look different from each other. ---
**Author:** ![badbadrubberpiggy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/57b2e6/32.png) [@badbadrubberpiggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/badbadrubberpiggy)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-have-recognized-your-young-baby-in-a-room-full-of-other-newborns/541213/45 "2010-06-02T13:39:25Z")
I don’t actually have a baby yet (due in August), but I said I probably would. Babies used to pretty much all look alike to me, but I think that’s because I just didn’t pay as much attention as I do now. They actually do look different, especially after seeing so many of them lately. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-have-recognized-your-young-baby-in-a-room-full-of-other-newborns/541213/46 "2010-06-02T13:59:30Z")
> [@Dangerosa](#): > > by the time they are six they apparently become deaf to the sound of their mother’s voice). Hmm… my daughter got an early case then. > [@scifisam2009](#): > > Woah! Is she the reason for your screen name? No. My daughter is almost 5, and I have been here… :: count fingers :: er, longer than that. 🙂 > [@MaxTheVool](#): > > I have never ever ever seen a baby that in any way looked like either of its parents, at least when it comes to facial features. I mean, it just seems patently obvious to me that a baby which had ears that looked just like it’s grandfather’s ears (or what have you) would be crazily weird looking… like something from a terrible CGI movie. > > And yet so many people in this thread, who I assume are not insane or liars, have made that claim. I wonder whether some people automatically insert a “when adjusted from how-that-feature-looks-on-a-grownup to how-that-feature-looks-on-a-baby” filter into such statements and thoughts, which some of us just don’t have at all. Of course these things are “adjusted for size and shape”. My daughter, for example, had the same deep “dimple” between the upper lip and the nose as my husband. She also had the same eyebrows, same shape of the mouth, and same birthmarks (stork bite), they both still have their stork bites. When you’ve been watching somebody for a long time (my husband) and study somebody so carefully (my newborn), then the similarities are readily apparent. > [@Suburban\_Plankton](#): > > Our son was just shy of 11 pounds and something like 26 inches at birth, so I’m pretty sure I would’ve been able to pick him out of a lineup. We had a whole bunch of really cute baby clothes that he was never able to wear because we was too big for them the day he was born. My daughter had nothing that would fit when she was born, so the nurse cut off the legs of her onesie, fixed her diaper with surgical tape, and we waited for a friend to bring some new clothes for our daughter. Nothing we bought prior to her birth was used, and her bassinet lasted all of a week before she was hitting both ends. By the time she shed her umbilical cord she already had a new, big baby crib. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-have-recognized-your-young-baby-in-a-room-full-of-other-newborns/541213/47 "2010-06-02T19:14:23Z")
After seeing her born and carrying her to the nursery? Absolutely. First and easiest, she had (and still has) a little birthmark on her left knee. After that, I’d know her by her feet and profile; the profile I’d seen in the ultrasounds was pretty darn distinctive. And finally, from day one, she “squeaked” every time she breathed; I still call her “Squeaky” sometimes, three years later. If I’d never seen her? Not as easy, but I think so. She has my father’s nose, clearly enough that many folks commented on it. There was also that profile, mentioned earlier, and the long, skinny legs I’d seen on the ultrasounds. I’d be able to pick her out from the chubby-legged babies, for sure. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-have-recognized-your-young-baby-in-a-room-full-of-other-newborns/541213/48 "2010-06-02T19:21:58Z")
I’m shit for recognizing faces, but I could pick out each of my sons in the hospital nursery the day after they were all born. Damnedest thing. ---
**Author:** ![Jelly\_Roll](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Jelly\_Roll](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jelly_Roll)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-have-recognized-your-young-baby-in-a-room-full-of-other-newborns/541213/49 "2010-06-02T21:46:04Z")
I didn’t have a lot of time with my daughter after she was born because I was busy trying to die after childbirth, so they whisked her away after I held her for only 10 minutes. But I spent that 10 mintues studying every detail of her face, so I’m confident that I could have recognized her in a room full of other newborns. Additionally, she had the biggest feet in the nursery, so I could have identified her by her feet alone. Plus, she has a red birthmark on the back of her head, which was easy to see when she was a bald newborn. But even if I couldn’t see her, I could definitely have recognized her cry and I still can. When I pick her up from the church nursery, there might be several kids crying and/or making noise, but I can recognize her cry right away and know exactly which room she’s in (they move her around sometimes, depending on teacher load, etc.). ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Woo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7c8e57/32.png) [@Dr.Woo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Woo)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-have-recognized-your-young-baby-in-a-room-full-of-other-newborns/541213/50 "2010-06-02T22:38:24Z")
Could and did. Picked him out in a huge nursery full of babies. The fact that he was one of only about 10 caucasian babies in the nursery somewhat reduces that feat of observation, but I was spot on. ---
**Author:** ![Audrey\_Levins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Audrey\_Levins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Audrey_Levins)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-have-recognized-your-young-baby-in-a-room-full-of-other-newborns/541213/51 "2010-06-02T22:50:42Z")
A friend of mine had identical twin girls, and it still baffles me that she can tell them apart from across a crowded room and knows which one to yell at. (They’re toddlers now.) She says they have distinct personalities, which doesn’t surprise me, but they LOOK utterly identical and I fail to understand how she manages to tell them apart at a glance. ---
**Author:** ![Audrey\_Levins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Audrey\_Levins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Audrey_Levins)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-have-recognized-your-young-baby-in-a-room-full-of-other-newborns/541213/52 "2010-06-02T22:51:52Z")
(Obviously I am not a mother.) 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2010, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-have-recognized-your-young-baby-in-a-room-full-of-other-newborns/541213/53 "2010-06-03T02:18:24Z")
Oh, yeah, and I’m not even good with faces. When the twins were born (not identical, but they were the same size) they were mostly shapeless blobs and I had no trouble telling them apart. In fact, a few weeks ago I ran across some photos taken at the hospital, and 24 years later, I can still recognize which was which. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2010, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-have-recognized-your-young-baby-in-a-room-full-of-other-newborns/541213/54 "2010-06-03T03:06:56Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > I first met my niece when she was less than a week old and despite spending hours with her, would not have been able to identify her by looks from other babies. I first met my niece when she was less than twelve hours old and after the first look would have recognized her anywhere. Same with my younger nephew. (My older nephew was weeks old when I met him, so that isn’t really germane.) This was with my blood relatives; my spouse’s nieces and nephews, I don’t remember that instant recognition - I think I had to see them at least twice. > [@](#): > > No, you’ve seen the child before, and then maybe it’s taken to one of those hospital nurseries … Or maybe you’ve come to pick your three week old up at daycare, and need to figure out which baby to take home. > > … they all look pretty much the same to me\* for the first couple of months, … I suppose it’s possible that you might not be able to pick out your baby in a room full of new-borns in identical incubators through a pane of glass from at least six feet away (do they still do that?) after a very short meeting after a long and harrowing delivery (and I understand that all deliveries are long and harrowing), Maybe. All babies do seem to look like nothing but stress and confusion immediately after birth. After three weeks? That is extremely unlikely and if it happens, you should probably go to a neurologist. You’ve heard the saying “All babies look like Winston Churchill”? It’s a lie. Some look like Bob Hoskins. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2010, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-have-recognized-your-young-baby-in-a-room-full-of-other-newborns/541213/55 "2010-06-03T12:21:37Z")
> [@Jelly\_Roll](#): > > I didn’t have a lot of time with my daughter after she was born because I was busy trying to die after childbirth, so they whisked her away after I held her for only 10 minutes. But I spent that 10 mintues studying every detail of her face, so I’m confident that I could have recognized her in a room full of other newborns. > > Additionally, she had the biggest feet in the nursery, so I could have identified her by her feet alone. Plus, she has a red birthmark on the back of her head, which was easy to see when she was a bald newborn. > > But even if I couldn’t see her, I could definitely have recognized her cry and I still can. When I pick her up from the church nursery, there might be several kids crying and/or making noise, but I can recognize her cry right away and know exactly which room she’s in (they move her around sometimes, depending on teacher load, etc.). I think there’s something to that whole biological bonding thing. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2010, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-have-recognized-your-young-baby-in-a-room-full-of-other-newborns/541213/56 "2010-06-04T02:45:50Z")
> [@j66](#): > > You’ve heard the saying “All babies look like Winston Churchill”? That’s a saying, seriously?! We used to call my daughter Winston when she was a baby. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2010, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-have-recognized-your-young-baby-in-a-room-full-of-other-newborns/541213/57 "2010-06-04T11:27:16Z")
> [@Mighty\_Girl](#): > > That’s a saying, seriously?! We used to call my daughter Winston when she was a baby. I find my kids tended to look like Don Rickles. ---
**Author:** ![maggenpye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecc23a/32.png) [@maggenpye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maggenpye)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2010, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-have-recognized-your-young-baby-in-a-room-full-of-other-newborns/541213/58 "2010-06-05T07:45:42Z")
I recognized all the bits that resembled her father. Everyone else said she looked just like me and the photos say they’re more right than I was (she still has his ears, though). She smelt like fresh buttered toast and had the most ‘dignified’ cry in the whole ward. All the other babies squalled horribly, which may just be bias. ---
**Author:** ![InterestedObserver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@InterestedObserver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InterestedObserver)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2010, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-have-recognized-your-young-baby-in-a-room-full-of-other-newborns/541213/59 "2010-06-06T20:39:27Z")
I had mine at home, so no chance of them getting mixed up with a roomfull of other newborns 😛 but yeah, I would have. I held and examined them closely immediately following birth and took note of certain things (my son’s eyes were dark gray, DD’s were dark brown, both had distinct features I recognized as coming from me or their dad). And if my examination of this group of strangers included the ability to HEAR and SMELL them, I would absolutely be able to pick mine out. My own babies had a very distinctive (to me) smell I’d know anywhere. (all young babies have that WONDERFUL smell to the top of their heads…like milky puppy breath…but it varies enough that I could easily tell the difference between my baby’s head and the head of anyone else’s…MINE smelled the best, of course. 🙂 And from the time they were born I could differentiate the sound of my own baby’s cry/voice from that of any other baby. Been to gatherings with several other new moms and at the first peep from one of the sleeping babies in the room or even in another room, one mom (the RIGHT mom;)) will jump up, knowing it is HER baby calling, and all the other moms know it ISN’T theirs. BUT, in a situation where a mom and new baby were separated almost immediately, it is possible that the mother would not be able to pick hers out. It’s happened before. ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2010, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-have-recognized-your-young-baby-in-a-room-full-of-other-newborns/541213/60 "2010-06-06T21:11:39Z")
I’ll be bullish and say “Yes, of course”. My daughter’s head was a bit conical right after delivery, the doctors having tried to suck her out when she got stuck 😛 But aside from that, her face when just born sticks in my mind more than at any other stage between then and the way she looks now. I look back at all my old photos and think “Ah yes, she looked like that”, but her new born/couple of days old face just pops back to mind so easily. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-have-recognized-your-young-baby-in-a-room-full-of-other-newborns/541213.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-have-recognized-your-young-baby-in-a-room-full-of-other-newborns/541213.md?page=4)