"Baby" redirects here. For other uses, see Newborn (disambiguation). A 1905 painting by AHS Landor of a Tibetan infant. 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[1] (see also child and adolescent). 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;[2] that is, any child under the age of one or beginning to walk, infants are subsequently referred to as "toddlers" (generally 12-36 months). Daycares with an "infant room" often call all children in it "infants" even if they are older than a year and/or walking; they sometimes use the term "walking infant". Contents 1 The newborn 1.1 Appearance 1.2 The newborn's senses 2 Infant mortality 3 Care and feeding 4 Attachment 5 Bibliography 6 References 7 See also 8 External links The newborn Appearance Newborn infant, just seconds after delivery. A newborn's shoulders and hips are narrow, the abdomen protrudes slightly, and the arms and legs are relatively short. The average birth weight of a full-term newborn is approximately 7 ½ lbs.(3.2 kg), but is typically in the range of 5.5–10 pounds (2.7–4.6 kg). The average total body length is 14–20 inches (35.6–50.8 cm), although premature newborns may be much smaller. The Apgar score is a measure of a newborn's transition from the uterus during the first minutes of life. A newborn's head is very large in proportion to the rest of the body, and the cranium is enormous relative to his or her face. While the adult human skull is about 1/8 of the total body length, the newborn's is about 1/4. At birth, many regions of the newborn's skull have not yet been converted to bone, leaving "soft spots" known as fontanels. The two largest are the diamond-shaped anterior fontanel, located at the top front portion of the head, and the smaller triangular-shaped posterior fontanel, which lies at the back of the head. Later in the child's life, these bones will fuse together in a natural process. A protein called noggin is responsible for the delay in an infant's skull fusion.[4] During labour and birth, the infant's skull changes shape to fit through the birth canal, sometimes causing the child to be born with a misshapen or elongated head. It will usually return to normal on its own within a few days