
In basic English usage, an infant is defined as a human child at the youngest stage of life, specifically before they can walk and generally before the age of one. The term "infant" derives from the
Latin word in-fans, meaning "unable to speak." There is no exact definition for infancy. "Infant" is also a legal term with the meaning of
minor; that is, any child under the age of legal adulthood.
A human infant less than a month old is a newborn infant or a neonate. The term "newborn" includes
premature infants, postmature infants and
full term newborns.
Newborns can feel all different sensations, but respond most enthusiastically to soft stroking, cuddling and caressing. Gentle rocking back and forth often calms a crying infant, as do massages and warm baths. Newborns may comfort themselves by sucking their thumb, or a
pacifier. The need to suckle is instinctive (see
suction in biology) and allows newborns to feed.
Newborn infants have unremarkable vision, being able to focus on objects only about 18 inches (45 cm) directly in front of their face. While this may not be much, it is all that is needed for the infant to look at the mother’s eyes or
areola when
breastfeeding. Generally, a newborn cries when wanting to feed. When a newborn is not sleeping, or feeding, or crying, he or she may spend a lot of time staring at random objects. Usually anything that is shiny, has sharp contrasting colors, or has complex patterns will catch an infant's eye. However, the newborn has a preference for looking at other human faces above all else.
While still inside the mother, the infant could hear many internal noises, such as the mother's
heartbeat, as well as many external noises including human voices, music and most other sounds. Therefore, although a newborn's ears may have some
catarrh and fluid, he or she can hear sound from before birth. Newborns usually respond to a female voice over a male voice. This may explain why people will unknowingly raise the pitch of their voice when talking to newborns. The sound of other human voices, especially the mother's, can have a calming or soothing effect on the newborn. Conversely, loud or sudden noises will startle and scare a newborn.
Newborns can respond to different tastes, including sweet, sour, bitter, and salty substances, with a preference toward sweets.
A newborn has a developed sense of smell at birth, and within the first week of life can already distinguish the differences between the mother's own
breast milk and the breast milk of another female.
This is one of my baby photography ..... enjoy it.