Baby's Complexion: 15 Interesting Facts About Their Changing Colors

This article was originally published on February 6, 2018. It was updated on July 20, 2020 by Kirstie Landry

Every newborn baby is different, and this includes the appearance of their skin. The changes that baby might experience will be due to their ethnic background, the child's age, their temperature and even whether or not they're crying, according to stanfordchildrens.org.

RELATED: What Does A Newborn Baby’s Complexion Tell Us About Their Health?

Some of these things are temporary, and they will change as the baby adjusts to being out of the womb. Whereas some, like birthmarks, are usually permanent.

Having a good understanding of what's normal with newborn skin color will help parents recognize if their baby is healthy or needs medical attention. The color of a child's skin is often used as an indication to help identify possible issues in another part of their body.

For instance, if there is an overall blue tinge to the baby that doesn't go away, this could be a sign of a heart defect, because the heart is unable to pump oxygenated blood to the rest of the baby's body. This is called Cyanosis, according to mayoclinic.org.

There are many things men and women should know about babies, especially if they plan to have one of their own. Here is everything a parent (or parent-to-be) should know about their baby's skin, and what can cause it to change.

15 Intense Crying Can Cause Purple Skin

via Flickr

When a baby is born, they will cry and they will cry with an intensity their parents didn't know existed. It's actually expected that infants will cry for 2-3 hours a day, according to kidshealth.org. But, this should only happen at that frequency for the first six weeks after they are born.

According to aboutkidshealth.ca, some babies will turn blue or even purple while crying. However, moms and dads should try to remember that this is normal. It's best that parents lose the idea that they're going to be a pink-cheeked cherub at first sight.

However, if they have a bluish tinge doesn't go away following their crying fit, or if they have a bluish tinge that doesn't show any sign of subsiding after a few days of them being born, this could indicate that they are suffering from a breathing or a circulatory problem and their parents should talk to their doctor straight away.

14 Darker Skin Caused By Losing Weight

via Public Domain Pictures

Don't be shocked if your baby looks darker after they have been born. This is because they've lost water as well as some weight, and as a result, this can make their skin appear sallow. However once you have established a feeding pattern and they are getting enough milk, they ought to regain a healthy skin tone, according to babycenter.com.

Premature babies, or babies that are almost premature may also appear darker, though once weight is gained, their skin tone will become a bit lighter. This is why some babies who are born a bit early tend to look very different than they do in the weeks following their birth.

Those who are born much earlier than babies that are full-term often have a very different appearance, which can be perplexing to some people. But if they are healthy, their skin tone should begin to get to the shade it is supposed to be not long after they have been born.

13 Pink Tinge From Blood Vessels

via Wikimedia Commons

Most babies are born with a pink tinge to their skin. This tint comes from red blood vessels which show through the little one's still-thin skin, according to whattoexpect.com.

In addition, since babies that are still very young have such thin skin, their moms and dads should remember that they are very sensitive to cool temperatures. This means that they will typically get chilled easily, so it is important for their parents to keep them wrapped up when they are in a cool room, as well as when they are outside in cold weather.

But parents do not have to worry about this so much when their baby is a bit older. After they are a year old, their skin should be thick enough to give them natural insulation.

12 Baby Will Have Blue Feet For Several Days

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When a baby comes into the world, the changing of their skin color has a lot to do with the environment that they are in as well as their health. It's entirely normal for a little one to have blue feet and hands - which also feel cold to the touch - with pink skin everywhere else.

Their blue fingers and tootsies can last for several days, so do not panic when it doesn't go away after a few hours. It's harmless, so long as it's temporary.

As a baby matures and their blood circulation adapts, the bluish tone will change. If they still have blue hands and feet after several days, their parents should get in touch with their doctor, as it could indicate a problem with the baby's health, such as reduced oxygen, according to webmd.com.

11 Jaundice Causes Yellow Skin And Eyes

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According to cincinnatichildrens.org, over half of all newborn babies will develop jaundice, at least to some extent, during the first week of their life. The likelihood of it happening increases if a baby is born prematurely.

Jaundice is when a newborn's skin color and the whites of their eyes change to a yellowish color. Other signs can be yellowing of the soles of the feet and palms of the hands, dark yellow urine and pale colored poo. It occurs as old red blood cells break down and hemoglobin is changed into bilirubin. Bilirubin is then removed by the baby's child's liver. It's the bilirubin pigment that causes a child to look yellow. Jaundice disappears as baby's liver matures.

Jaundice should only be temporary, but it could also be a sign of inadequate liver function, infection or other factors, so parents should keep an eye on it and call their pediatrician if it persists.

10 Blue Skin In Other Spots Can Be Dangerous

via Pixabay

It is very normal for a child to temporarily have blue feet and hands after being born. However, parents need to watch out for a bluish tone to the other parts of their baby's body. Bluish tones elsewhere on the body than the hands and feet could be a sign that something is wrong. For example, this could be something that is commonly referred to as blue baby syndrome, according to medicalnewstoday.com.

This condition is also known as infant methemoglobinemia, and it happens when there is not enough hemoglobin in the baby's blood. Babies that are born in developing countries are at a higher risk of having this condition than those that are not. Furthermore, infants that are younger than three months old are the ones who are at the highest risk of developing blue baby syndrome.

9 Mongolian Blue Spots Are Highly Common

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Mongolian blue spots are blue or purple colored splotches that can appear on a baby's lower back, buttocks, or shoulders, according to rch.org.au. These spots can be seen on African-American, Asian, and Indian babies. However, they can also make an appearance on dark-skinned infants of any race. They are flat and grayish-blue in color and can range in size from person to person.

There is no need for treatment of Mongolian spots, as they aren't anything to worry about. All these painless spots are is a result of a concentration of pigmented cells. Furthermore, it is important that one does not mistake them for bruises.

More often than not, they will have disappeared by the time a child is two years old. However, a small number of people have been known to have them as adults as well.

8 Twins With Mixed Parents Can Have Different Complexions

via Wikimedia Commons

There are many very interesting facts about babies and their skin, and one of those facts is that children who are born to mixed race parents can end up having two drastically different skin tones. It will be impossible to predict which skin color genes a child will inherit, as both genes from the parents are passed on randomly.

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One famous case of this happening involved Maria and Lucy Aylmer, who are two bi-racial twins that have very different skin tones. They have a British father and a Jamaican mother. Maria has brown hair with a caramel complexion whereas her sister Lucy is exceptionally fair-skinned, and she has red hair.

Their mother was very surprised when she saw them for the first time. “It was such a shock for her because obviously, things like skin color don’t show up on scans before birth. So she had no idea that we were so different. When the midwife handed us both to her, she was just speechless," said Lucy, according to twinmom.com.

7 Tomatoes Can Improve Baby's Complexion

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Most of the time, moms usually do not spend much time worrying about what their baby's skin will look like when they are born, as they tend to worry about other things that seem a bit more serious to them. However, eating certain things can have a great impact on an unborn baby's complexion, and one of those things is tomatoes. It's important to note that they should be eaten while pregnant, and you shouldn't feed your newborn babies tomatoes.

According to healthxchange.sg, the thing that's responsible for all this good stuff is a powerful antioxidant called Lycopene. It's found inside tomatoes and is responsible for that familiar, bright red color. It's believed to fight against harmful UV rays and protect from sun exposure, as well as helping to make baby's complexion healthy and radiant.

Furthermore, there are also many other foods that women should consume while they are pregnant if they want to ensure that their child has healthy skin. Some of those foods are berries and avocados.

6 Ears Can Indicate The Final Color

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Figuring out what color a newborn's skin is going to be can be very hard, but there are some things that can clue parents in on what their final skin tone will be. A great example of this is the tip of a baby's ears, since they will often show what the child's skin tone is supposed to be once they get a bit older.

According to whattoexpect.com, the tops of their ears will likely look different than the rest of their skin when they are still very young. Some also believe that it's actually the cuticle skin rather than the ears that point towards a little one's final skin tone. The fact is that a baby's skin is immature at birth, and for some reason, the ears and genitals of a newborn can, in many cases, appear darker than the rest of the body. It can take a few months for a child's final color to come in.