We’re used to thinking of infants as helpless beings whom we have a duty to teach everything—absolutely everything. That’s true, but only partly! Infants have incredible characteristics and abilities that every human being loses as they grow older. Ready to be amazed? Read these ten incredible facts about infants—you’ll be left speechless.

Here are ten things you probably didn't know about newborns.

1. Neonates have more bones than adults

The body of a newborn has more than 300 bones. Adults, by contrast, have only 206. Why is that? And more importantly, why does the number of bones decrease as we grow? Simply put, many bones fuse together to form a single bone. The skull, in particular, is very flexible: over time, the so-called fontanelles close, and the skull becomes like that of an adult.

2. They can breathe and swallow at the same time

This is a “superpower” that newborns have in the first three months of life . It happens because, at birth, the larynx sits higher than it does in an adult. This is very convenient for them: they can continue to breathe even while being fed.

3. Babies know how to swim

They spend nine months in the womb, surrounded by amniotic fluid, so at birth they’re true little fish. That’s why it’s often recommended to take them to the pool right away : thanks to these skills, they quickly learn to feel confident in the water. They can even hold their breath underwater for long periods, but it’s a skill they lose quickly.

4. Initially, everyone has blue eyes, then the eye color changes—why?

All newborns initially have gray-blue eyes. The process that leads to the final coloration of the iris is usually completed by around one year. And contrary to what many parents think, that initial gray-blue doesn’t necessarily mean a child will have blue eyes. The color of the iris depends on melanin, which at birth is not yet active because it’s triggered by light—something that obviously isn’t present inside the mother’s womb. With low levels of melanin, a child usually has blue eyes. As melanin increases in the iris, eye color can shift to green, gray, hazel, brown, or black.

5. They initially cry without tears

Babies usually cry without tears. Tears , in fact, appear about a month after birth . But why does this happen? The nasolacrimal duct is a thin canal that starts at the edge of the lower eyelid and reaches the inside of the nose to drain tears into the throat, and at birth this canal is often blocked.

6. They have many more taste buds. Even on the tonsils!

The taste buds in a newborn's mouth cover a large surface area, extending to the tonsils and the back of the mouth. This allows them, through sucking, to recognize immediately the sweet taste of breast milk , and eventually the bitter and sour tastes, too—a survival mechanism passed down to us through evolution. They don’t recognize salty flavors, however, which usually starts around 5 months old.

7. They explore the world through the mouth

It's not that babies put everything in their mouths because rattles, toys, or similar items taste good; it’s simply that a child’s hands and eyes aren’t very sensitive in the first years of life. So little ones use the many taste buds in their mouths to discover new things—not just food...

8. Babies are very strong

Scientists have discovered that a newborn baby, thanks to the so-called grasp reflex, is able to lift an object as heavy as themselves . It’s believed that this ability is closely linked to the common genetic heritage we share with monkeys. Not surprisingly, baby monkeys must cling to their mother’s fur in early childhood in order to travel through the jungle on their backs.

9. They start dreaming even while they are in the womb

Some studies show that children start dreaming as early as the eighth week of pregnancy . But what do they dream of? Babies in the womb are surrounded by a sound universe made up of the mother’s heartbeat, noises coming from the stomach, and external sounds that, although muffled, still reach the fetus. It’s therefore likely that these very noises, which accompany them throughout the nine months, are the protagonists of their dreams.

10. They are growing very quickly!

Children grow at a very rapid pace during their first year of life. They can grow up to 25 or 30 centimeters , depending on their sex and their unique genetic characteristics. The brain grows in an even more astonishing way: within the first year of life, it actually doubles in size! A fun fact: if growth didn’t slow down over time, your little one would reach nine meters in height as an adult!