The First-Time Parent Quiz

For individuals as unpredictable as babies, preparation is the best strategy. Should anything go wrong, be ready to move with information about where the nearest hospital is, how long it takes to get there, and who you should ask for.

A baby's skin is like when you leave a pool - you've just been surrounded by liquid, so it's going to be a little drier than usual when it hits the outside air.

In most cases, you'll have thirty days to include your newborn under your health insurance. That said, your baby's automatically enrolled when born, so he or she won't be without health insurance as soon as they're born.

14-17 hours of sleep a day (not all at once) is the average. Keep in mind, though, that babies are unique, and this is an average.

This cost can be ameliorated by using cloth diapers or trying other, more eco-friendly variations. Keeping waste out of landfills will be good for baby in the long run, too!

The average cost of food or formula for a new baby in his or her first year is about $1,100. First foods for babies often include baby cereals, banana, sweet potato or avocado.

The average newborn baby can only see between 8-12 inches in front of them. Babies are technically nearsighted at birth. Most do not develop depth perception until between their third and fifth months of life.

Babies actually develop hearing in the womb, as early as 18 weeks. By 25-26 weeks, babies can respond to sound in the womb.

The soft spots (or fontanels) are protected by membranes that means they can handle some gentle touching. If you see a baby's soft spot palpitating a little, that's no worry. It's probably just blood flowing through the area.

A baby will be able to lift their head by the end of the first month. There are some simple exercises you can do with your baby to strengthen their neck. One exercise is moving toys slowly out of their field of vision, so they gently move their neck and follow them.

60% of a baby's metabolic energy supports its brain. The infant brain is incredibly busy building knowledge about the world.

Babies' hearing is best attuned to a higher-pitched voice in their first year of life. Talking to your infant in a "baby talk" voice has actually been found to stimulate infant mental activity.

At three months, most babies aren't able to crawl. That development comes between six to ten months.

Babies generally start walking by fourteen to fifteen months. Allowing your baby to walk barefoot actually helps the baby develop balance. Feeling different textures with their feet stimulates the infant brain.

Babies can only see in black and white until about four months of age. One study of babies who could see color found that blue and purple were the preferred shades.

Babies' taste buds are developed when they're born. That said, it might take up to half a year for them to learn to detect salty tastes.

It takes little ones between half a minute and two minutes to react to stimuli. Babies differ, person to person, in the amount of stimuli they can take in.

A baby's brain is one half the size of an adult brain by the end of their first year. The brain will be about 80% of adult brain size by the end of their second year.

Babies are generally ready for solid foods at 4-6 months. If you choose to breastfeed a baby, they are perfectly healthy on breast milk alone up until that age.

It takes three to four months for the hair your baby is born with to fall out, before their next hair comes in. It's completely normal if that next hair is a different color than the first.

Newborns have more bones than adults, 270 to an adult human's 206. Your baby's skeleton actually won't finished growing until that baby is 25 years old!

Babies are born with knee cartilage. That cartilage gradually ossifies, or turns to bone.

A baby's eyes are the same size at birth as during the rest of their life. Maybe that explains why adults find those eyes so enchanting.

Babies aren't born knowing the difference between day and night; their circadian rhythms will develop over the course of their first year.

Babies aren't born knowing how to breaststroke, but they are born with two reflexes that make it seem as if they can swim. These are the reflex to hold their breath underwater, and the "swimming reflex," which is merely a reflexive moving of the arms and legs.

Babies' smaller stomaches necessitate frequent feedings. It's average for a newborn to eat 8-12 times in a 24 hour period.

Babies' poop is black when first born, and shades of yellow, green, or brown, dependent on whether they're breastfed or formula-fed.

Any sort of screen time may damage a newborn's ability to learn language, and their short-term memory. One study found that it didn't matter what kind of TV (educational, entertainment) kids watched - it still had a bad effect.

Playing music that's too loud and fast can be overstimulating, or a hurt a baby's ears. Watch out for decibel levels above 85.

Sleeping on their back is the safest position for a baby, and has been known to reduce the risk of SIDS, or Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.

It's safest for a crib to be kept empty. Large blankets and pillows are suffocation risks.

Large crowds, and crowded spaces, are too much for a baby in its first few months. Also, since the threat of any infection to an infant is especially great in the first two months, crowds are also a health hazard.

Any amount of standing water in a sink or tub can be a danger for a newborn. Since very young infants still have weak neck muscles, even small amounts of water can be drowning hazards.

A baby should be in a rear-facing seat until they're at least twenty pounds. The American Academy of Pediatrics goes so far as to say a child should use a rear-facing seat until they're two years old.

Babies can't taste salt when they're born. It will be several months before they learn that ability.