JFF Does Anyone Else Think Newborns Aren't Cute?

When my kids were born, I thought they were beautiful. But when I look back at the first pictures of those same moments, they look awful: red, puffy, and crying. But gee, at the time they seemed impossibly cute. I was definitely cooing over the little buglets.

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This is like a Seinfeld episode.

Well some are cute some are not.
But yes, I have seen adorable newborns! Mine!
LOL

I also don't think all newborns look alike.

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lol it's funny how everyone thinks THEIR newborn was so beautiful. (haha) at the time when my daughter was born of course i thought she was cute!~ But, like someone else said, looking back at photos, umm no she was not cute until a few months later. LOL she's 9 now. i totally agree with you.

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Well, MY newborns were GORGEOUS, of course! Everyone else's? Not so much! And that's the way it ought to be, right?

:)

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my son looked like a prize fighter when he was born. all black and blue and swollen. But still, the prettiest thing I've ever seen.

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I used to think all newborns were cute... until I saw my friend's baby picture. She and her mother kept saying she was an ugly baby and I was up hauled by them... until they showed me her picture. OMG I now know that there are ugly babies out there, lol. There definitely are cuter newborns than others, even among my own children, lol.

K. B
mom to 5 including triplets

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Personally, I think the scrunched up red face IS cute! Of course, both of my babies were adorable when they were born, heehee :) To each his own, I guess.

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Not sure if it's about them being cute as much as it is about them being so tiny and new. It's a new life, that's exciting and enough to get me weak in the knees for them.
C. :)

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I think 99% of them are adorable. I used to do research with newborns, so I saw quite a few. They all looked different to me.
Of course none were as cute as mine!

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Some are, some arent, but even the most homely looking ones are adorable to me!

How can you resist something so innocent and sweet? Something so tiny and sweet smelling? I love newborns!

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Babies (and children) are people, some are more attractive than others!
I think most newborns are cute because I love that teeny, tiny stage, especially their little mouths, fingers and toes :)

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I love newborns! All of my friends are pregnant or giving birth today and so I have been surrounded by pictures of them.
I do have to admit that when I went into the nursery to hold my son I totally thought this other baby was my son, but thank goodness the nurse was directing me!!!

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Me and my sister were both pregnant w/ little girls at the same time. My sister ended up giving birth first, 11 days before me. When i first saw my niece of course i thought she was cute and loved her instantly, but when my daughter was born and i saw how beautiful she was, i was like, 'damn, my niece is kinda fugly in comparison!'. LOL I feel horrible saying that, buuttt, come on! However, they're both 18months old now and both my daughter and niece are absolutely beautiful!!!
And yes, now that i have my own kid i do pay attention to other babies. And yes, some are quite ugly as newborns!

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Totally agree with you. And I am due in 17 days!! I mean when my son was born, of course I thought he was so precious and couldn't take my eyes off of him. Now I look back (he's 3.5) and think how MUCH cuter he is now. It definitely takes a while for them to actually be cute and grow into themselves. And I 100% agree about them looking alike!

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All babies are precious but some are not as cute as others. I have seen some very beautiful newborns (mine being two of them). I have also seen some that were not so attactrive early on but they too were cute in their own way.

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hhhmmmm...there are some newborns who are just too damn cute!! there are others that you go - hhhhhhmmmmmm.....

my son was in presentation position for the last two months of my pregnancy so he looked like a cone head! :) Now? great shaped head and truly handsome!!!

My second son? hmmm...purple and blue - yeah - it was not good. Now? 9 years old and handsome!!!

My GFs daughter - oh my word - beautiful from the day she was born - black hair and bright blue eyes!!! clear skin and just beautiful!!!

Another GF? he son's head looked like it was for a 3 month old instead of a newborn...oh well....totally handsome now!!

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Think about it...if you were in liquid for 9+ months being fed through a tube and then either be pushed out or extracted out of your nice warm loving home you wouldn't look so good either! Just kidding!!!
Here is my story on cute or not so cute newborns. My son is adopted internationally, so we saw a newborn picture of him and lets just say...he looked like a newborn. Everyone said what a beautiful boy he was...yada, yada, yada. I thought everyone was being kind. Of course I was over the moon regardless if he was cute or not. Fast forward 6 months later when we picked him up...he was the most beautiful boy in the world!

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I've seen a bunch of cute newborns, but also a bunch of odd looking newborns. I'd say it's about 50/50 for me. I loved how my son looked as a newborn. He looked just like my dad and his dad. No denying which side of the family he resembles!

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lol Yes, I have seen some ugly newborns! Some are cute, some are not. The red, scrunched up ones are definitely not cute. ;) Thank God mine didn't look like that when they were born! lol I am sure I would have still thought they were adorable, but still...

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I thought my daughter was adorable, but I thought my friends baby looked like an alien. I think the difference is weight. My daughter was 7 lbs 8 oz, and her daughter was 5 lbs 3 oz, and you could see all her bones. I think the heavier a kid is, the better they look, but that's just me. Then again, I nevered liked babies and really still don't. I love mine, I give them all the attention and love they could need or want and then some, but other people's kids, I'm not interested. Everyone would say it would change after I had kids, but it didn't, still don't like babies. Now when they can start really laughing and interacting, I love them. I'm probably the opposite of most people. I love toddlers.

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My ex used the line about Winston Churchill, too!

My daughter had a pretty severe "conehead" at first from being pushed out for over three hours! So when I first saw her, I was a little taken aback, I have to admit. That and she was screaming and red-faced. But very soon, she turned beautiful! :-)

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Some cute, some not so much, love them all :)

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well, MY newborn was gorgeous!!!!!!!!

Just kidding.

I actually really stressed about this. I mean to the point that I had to have an actual conversation with my Dr about would he please take extra care to get all the goop off her before he passed her to me because I didn't want to be grossed out by my own baby.

Mostly - I think newborns are scaly. and peeling. I always want to bust out the lubriderm. and pop those little bumps they get.

But newborns are also lovely. and cute. and innocent. and beautiful. :-)

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Yep Ive seen some really homely newborns. My sister is the first to admit her girls were not too cute for a few months. I agree, (secretely to myself) My kids were ok, but not so gorgeous as a few days later. But I have seen several that the instant they were born, and cleaned up, they were beautiful. Some just are. My grand daughter is adorable now but her poor little head was so bruised and mushroom shaped, swollen from a terribly hard stuck-past-the-pubic-bone-breach-c-section delivery. So, some are, some not so much, some grow into their beauty, some grow out of their cuteness,,lol and if you think they all look alike, try going to the newborn page of a hospital website and start looking at their going home pictures. its a crack up how different they all are.

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my daughter was super cute. my son...not so much. although i thought so at the time :). i see plenty of cute ones. and some not so cute. i do agree that some get better looking as they get older. :)

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I sure thought my daughter and grandson were cute from their first minute in the light of day. Sure they were a bit squashed and squinty, and those cheeks were ridiculously large for those little blotchy faces. But they were MY baby/grandbaby, and that qualified them right there for being the most adorable creature that every breathed.

Other babies? Depends on how close to them I become. If I get to cuddle them for awhile, they become pretty darn cute.

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I agree with you....ALL babies are adorable but newborns are just not that cute!

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LOL when I first read the question, I was like "WHAT?" LOL! Like you were just crazy and mean. But really... when I REALLY REALLY think about it, all babies are NOT cute. I am partial to mine... they all 4 were darling c-section babies. But I have seen some babies with a loooong cone shaped head and some with just really high foreheads. LOL! But they ARE all precious, funny looking or not. hehe They all make those cute baby noises and smell sooo good!

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My first son was absolutely beautiful! People who hardly knew us, but I sent pictures to, had his up on their refrigerators because he was such a lovely newborn. Some told me their own babies didn't look so lovely!

My second son was black and blue and swollen due to being stuck for so long face-up. He looked like he had been beaten with an ugly stick, poor little guy! I didn't care, I was SOOOO glad he was out of me, alive and that I was still there to hold him after a long and arduous birth experience! Bless his heart, his ears were bigger than his older brother's and stuck out like Dumbo's! And he had a little jaundice after he got home and was so red (the doctor called him ruddy.)

When he was just shy of a year, I used a gift certificate for a portrait that was due to expire, waiting THAT long for his hair to grow long enough to cover those ears. Fast forward 16 years, and his head has grown into those ears and he is a good looking boy. His older brother is still very handsome too.

I think I was JUST as astonished that my first son was as beautiful as my second son was awful looking!! I know what you mean about them not looking good when they're born - I've seen some mighty homely looking babies too!! Both of mine went through the work of being born, but I was so much more protective over my second with all he had been through.

And yes, I cooed over my ugly baby as much as my beautiful one! Maybe seeing him so beat up bathed me in extra mommy love hormones ~ ha ha!!

D.

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I have actually seen more precious newborns than not. I have seen a few that werent easy on the eyes, but thats rare. And of course my newborns are breathtaking. lol

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I'm an artist, so maybe that's it... but usually with newborns I don't see them. I see what they're going to look like. First as elderly people and then my mental imagery goes 'backwards' and I can see them at different stages of their lives. The hardest to "view" in my mind is early adulthood. Old age, middle aged, puberty, and childhood are 'easy', but early adulthood is hard for some reason.

So when I see a new born I coo to cover up the flash of images that goes through my mind (takes about 90 seconds for the whole life cycle to pan out). Only 2 or 3 times in development is my mind able to "do" the same thing (I think because kids bones are so often in 'flux' it's hard to see the basic structure that the flux is building off of/towards. But when they're in a 'pause' in development; It's a blink and then it's just SEEING them.

I've never found a newborn cute, not even my own, but I DO find them stunning.

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i think that it takes a day or two at least before they are cute....and i agree that so many newborns look just alike.

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LOL E.! Newborns do look the same. Probably one of the reasons hospitals put those identification bracelets on them...

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I have seen tons of ugly newborns! Mine were beautiful though and looking at their pics I still think that. My parents think I am awful because I don't think all babies are cute. My friends little girl isn't very cute and as a newborn was even less cute so I just say she is soo tiny(she is very petite) instead of saying cute..lol Most newborns look like frogs to me kinda.

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Newborns - not good on the appearance scale - they all look wizened and frail to me. Older babies - many are cute. But -IMO, If they are not cute as babies their chances of being cute later are pretty slim.

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Okay, I may be biased here, but I had to have 2 c-sections and c-section babies look way cuter right out of the womb! They aren't all squished and red, they are perfectly pink with perfectly round heads and they are adorable! I even think that about my friends' babies who had c-sections. I remember thinking when my SIL had her baby that she didn't look too cute cuz she was all squished! I do think after the first few days though they start to 'cuten' up! I don't think it takes 3 months, but I kinda know what you're sayin'! ;)

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I have seen a few beautiful new babies, but I did not have any. My first son was very thing and very long and I swore he looked like E.T., when Kristen was born, Andy thought she was beautiful, and of course to us, she was...but looking back at very young baby pictures again...not so much! My third child ended up being so jaundiced we called him oompa loompa. Out of the 3 he cutened up the quickest, but I have to say it takes them all a few months to fatten up and become super cute. I think it is one of those, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I would NEVER tell a mom her child was ugly, in fact my aunt punched me in the delivery room for saying my first born was an ugly little sucker = ) He was!!!

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To me, my baby was always adorable! Looking back at the pictures, he was cuter after a few months though :-) I agree that babies become cuter as they grow up.

No, I don't think all newborns look the same!

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I think newborns are really awesome. Every time I see one, I'm like "AWWWW!!!" and then if my husband is there, I show him, too- cause he likes newborns, too. They are really special cause they are only like a certain way for about a month or so and then they are no longer newborns. LOL:)

Okay, yes, some are a bit wrinkled or pinkish (still love 'em!)- but I DEFINITELY have seen some super-cute ones that are just a couple days old. And yes, I think my kids were perfect when they were born, too- but I have thought the same for some other newborns, too.

They have the potential to be a bit "ugly", but I find that there's a good number of them that have plumped out the wrinkles and born with very nice coloring w/o any flaws:) STILL, I adore all of them and love the way they smell and the little noises they make... precious, little don't know a thing yet angles:)

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My kids weighed 10.12 and 11# at birth and I don't like the "skinny" babies, they all make me nervous! And I also hate the 3D ultrasound pics you can get now...I think they look like deformed aliens! I actually put that on FB and one of my "friends" deleted me because she thought I was talking about her kid. Of course I was! And everyone agreed with me! LOL! So yeah, I wouldn't make a good NICU nurse at all!

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everyone said my little guy was the cutest, but he looked to me like someone shrung my brothers head and put it on a doll. It freaked me out a little. Same thing happened with my nephew, he looked just like his dad (my husband's brother)...it was weird.

Yes, I do think they all look a lot alike.

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My two week old is pretty darn cute! :)

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Hi E.,

I disagree with you! I LOVE all newborns!!! I think each baby has something incredibly beautiful about them. Some its the eyes, or the hair, or the little pucker to their upper lip. Each baby is so unique and I love seeing and cooing over all newborns!

M

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I thought all newborns were funny looking but I saw my son and just fell in love with him.
He was born with a full head of hair (over an inch long) and was hardly bruised at all.

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Every once in a while I see a cute newborn. My daughter was beautiful at the get go, my son was not (this notion of my daughter was echoed by lots of friends who are staunch believers in "every newborn looks like an alien"). I can recall one friend who recently also had a beautiful baby boy. That's really all I can recall, however. While they aren't cute, they sure are amazing!

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I'm a newborn photographer and I do think that MOST newborns are cute. Now every once in a while, there isn't one, but pretty much most of the time I just LOVE them and think they are just so cute!

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Whether they are my babies or others' babies I think they're cute. :) None of my babies were scrunched up either and I felt they had their own look the first day so I wouldn't have mixed them up with anyone else's babies. The slight exception was that when my last two were born they looked just alike until a little later in the day.

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Some are, some aren't. My son was GORGEOUS from the first moment. My daughter was NOT....but thank heavens she turned gorgeous pretty soon after, haha! I'm due in 3 weeks and am scared to have an ugly newborn!! :(

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Before I had kids I joked that there were monkey newborns and old-man newborns:) Of course, MY kids were born beautiful, though, lol! (Under my previous categorization, though, both would have qualified as old-man newborns!)

Totally cracked me up how many parenting books (all that I saw) address "How Your Newborn Will Look."

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Hi E.-

My father (god rest him) used to say that all babies look like winston churchill! I think his perspective was 'skewed' though...

Many years ago (in 1964 to be exact) my dad was in vietnam...and my youngest brother was born. My grandfather was a 'prankster' and maybe ahead of his time. He had my mom get professional photos done of my mom, younger brother, ME and older brother to send to my dad. BUT, he had the photographer super impose my grandfather's head on the 'baby' pic...My grandfather was balding...so at first glance...it really DID look like a wrinkly new born...LOL

MY newborns OF COURSE were ALL stunningly beautiful...

Michele/cat

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Don't feel bad. When my daughter was born, my first thought was "I hope she grows into that nose". So, at least you thought your own was cute!

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I agree! I think they're cute only because they're little! But as far as features go...not so much. They're red, and squishy, and don't really come into their own until about that 3 month point. My kids, too, had cradle cap...baby acne...not cute. My cousin's baby is 7 weeks old and only 7 1/2 pounds, so she looks like a newborn--so her skin is great...her features will require growing into...but I sometimes think that babies who are cute as very little babies are not as cute as they get older, and homely babies--because their features are more suited to older children--get cuter as they grow.

Updated

I agree! I think they're cute only because they're little! But as far as features go...not so much. They're red, and squishy, and don't really come into their own until about that 3 month point. My kids, too, had cradle cap...baby acne...not cute. My cousin's baby is 7 weeks old and only 7 1/2 pounds, so she looks like a newborn--so her skin is great...her features will require growing into...but I sometimes think that babies who are cute as very little babies are not as cute as they get older, and homely babies--because their features are more suited to older children--get cuter as they grow.

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