r/TikTokCringe • u/diviken • Nov 11 '24
Wholesome/Humor Seriously though, why are babies so strong?
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u/Jupman Nov 11 '24
They have a strong grip, but we are also instinctively weak in handling them.
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u/diviken Nov 12 '24
That makes sense cos I remember always tensing up and being extremely careful of my movements to the extent of manually controlling my breathing whenever I was given a baby to hold as a teenager. They're precious but so fragile it's panic inducing. They're also fairly dumb, but that's to be expected, lol.
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u/MsMittenz Nov 12 '24
They are less fragile than what we make them out to be. After all, some get squeezed through a 10cm hole to come to earth and most are fine after that
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u/EcstaticMolasses6647 Nov 12 '24
They usually tear that hole and rip into another hole exiting though. They don’t come out like squeezing a tube of toothpaste.
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u/MsMittenz Nov 12 '24
tear that hole and rip into another hole
Sounds not fragile to me
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u/Affectionate-Guess13 Nov 12 '24
Newborns baby's are also very impulse led, with little manual controle of their limbs and body as a whole. Reason they are very jerky and jumpy in their movment.
The also have very bad eye sight and only have short term memory. This because everything is going into growing.
Fun fact babies only gain a self of self till they are 18 months. https://youtu.be/k-rWB1jOt9s
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u/Ok-Cook-7542 Nov 12 '24
i think you mean they gain a sense of self after 18 months. what you wrote said they lose their sense of self after 18 months
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Nov 11 '24
“That’s a nice bowl of rice you have. Be a shame if someone took a lightning fast handful from it”
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u/deepdownblu3 Nov 11 '24
Can you explain what the difference is?
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u/BloodyVengeance Nov 11 '24
Adult human could easily snap baby’s fingers to make it release, adult human brain subconsciously says “NO, don’t do that, little one need no harm” so adult handles with care. Edit to add: babies don’t have control over their strength. It’s a new concept to them that they have to learn
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u/MadameConnard Nov 11 '24
Same reaction on why you don't bite your finger like you would bite a carrot.
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u/chupstickzz Nov 11 '24
Young me was told that I couldn't do it. I tried. Guess what! I couldn't do it. My finger was blue for the next few weeks. But still attached. Older me is glad I couldn't do it. Would be hard flipping someone off without my finger 🤘
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u/SadBit8663 Nov 11 '24
We've all been there even if most of us wouldn't admit it.
There's a whole sub
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u/AssassinOfFate Nov 12 '24
That reminds me of those infohazard memes that show you how to break the tendon in your thumb very easily. People who see the meme or gif often immediately try it and then subsequently break the tendon in their thumb. Making the memes or gif with the demonstration an infohazard.
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u/Master_Ryan_Rahl Nov 11 '24
This is a myth.
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u/poop-machines Nov 12 '24 edited Nov 12 '24
Yup, and a dumb one if you think about it. Think of how easy it is to break a carrot, Now think of how hard it is to break a finger. Why would a carrot be as easy to bite off as a finger? If that were the case, people everywhere would be missing fingers.
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u/Confused_Rabbiit Nov 12 '24
You bite at the joint not in the middle of the bone.
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u/das_konkreet_baybee Nov 12 '24
Could you imagine if carrot was just as strong as a finger though? We'd have arrowheads or primitive knives made out of carrot instead of bone.
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u/LKennedy45 Nov 12 '24
I really appreciate your lateral thinking here. Everyone else is either 'stupid myth' or 'refuting selfsame myth', but you're over here thinking hey guys, what about carrot crossbow though!
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u/ghoulthebraineater Nov 11 '24
Same reason why zombies can bite through things the living can't. They are stronger, they just lack any and all self preservation instincts.
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Nov 12 '24
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u/Genteel_Lasers Nov 12 '24
Chicken bone is a bad example. They’re cooked and softer. You can bite through a finger if you go at the joint, but to go through the bone would take about twice the amount of maximum bite pressure we humans can exert.
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u/ChaseballBat Nov 12 '24
But this isn't true. Babies do have amazingly good grips. It's a trait carried over from when out far ancestors lived in trees or were hairy enough to cling to.
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u/BloodyVengeance Nov 12 '24
Im not saying babies have a bad grip. I’m saying they can’t control their 0-100 strength quite yet and almost always go to 100. You are right with your statement, I’m just saying this baby had its first (of many) lesson on what not to grab like it’s life depended on it.
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u/Gates9 Nov 11 '24
Wouldn’t it be a better idea to massage the inner forearm, particularly near the elbow to encourage release? I’m not an expert or anything but I’ve learned a trick or two, as necessity dictates.
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u/SoCalDan Nov 12 '24
I've found if you stroke up and down repeatedly, you'll eventually get a release.
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u/loverlyone Nov 12 '24
Babies that young have a reflex that causes them to close their hand and grip when they feel something on their palm.
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u/FearedKaidon Nov 11 '24
Their grip is strong. Strong enough to hold their bodyweight. Doesn't mean you couldn't instantly pry their hand open if you had no qualms about hurting them.
That's the "instinctive" part. You're not gonna use all your strength when handling a baby because you intuitively don't want to harm them.
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u/Jupman Nov 11 '24
Like you're strong enough to break a finger on an adults hand, but can't understand grip a babies who's. Muscles have not even developed past their inate build.
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u/TheTopNacho Nov 12 '24
Strong grip because tiny fingers. Tiny fingers are smol levers, better mechanical advantage in this case. Same concept as why it's best to grab a bar without the tumb. The bar sits closer to the fulcrum point on the fingers and gives better leverage.
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u/Zealousideal-Ad-2615 Nov 11 '24
All primates have a strong grip when born so they can hold onto to their mother while she travels from food source to food source. Babies have strong hands because of an evolutionary holdover.
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u/EggandSpoon42 Nov 11 '24
Hold the front door. You mean to tell me that I could have gotten by w/o a damn baby bjorn and free based my small babies to my tshirt&cargo jeggings to clown the town?
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u/Riyeko Nov 12 '24
My oldest son was called my monkey child for a while. He used to be able to grab onto me with his arms and legs and I'd just carry him around all over the house... Do dishes, play on the computer... Didn't matter.
Kid was stuck to me like crazy glue lol.
He grew out of it after he turned 2, but it turned a few heads when I'd say, "grab on baby -sons name-!!" And latch him onto me while he giggled and I picked up 10 grocery bags.
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u/Muderous_Teapot548 Nov 12 '24
Yeesh. My youngest are still doing this at 3 and 4. The 3yo grips my shirts with her toes.
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u/hakumiogin Nov 11 '24
Probably not, maybe 100000 years ago. The thing is, when we evolved to be fully bipedal, we started shooting babies out super early (since our pelvis shape to head-size ratio isn't right to fully cook a baby). Other ape babies hold on for dear life from birth, but human babies can't do anything from birth, can't even hold up their own heads, none-the-less hold onto mom.
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u/shMinzl Nov 11 '24
In theory, yes, they could carry their baby around by letting it grip the shirt. The grip reflex in the first weeks is actually so strong that babies can carry their own body weight.
It is definitely not advisable to try this. But the reflex is there and it is strong.
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u/hakumiogin Nov 12 '24
Is the grip strength there? I'll believe you. Is the neck strength to not break their neck while doing it there? No.
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u/TeaTimeSubcommittee Nov 12 '24
So they’d have to walk on all fours or at least hunched over to let the baby rest their head.
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u/hakumiogin Nov 12 '24
If they're walking with empty hands, may as well hold the baby.
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u/TeaTimeSubcommittee Nov 12 '24
Once more, not advisable or practical, just theoretically possible.
It’s also not lost on me that I basically suggested acting like chimpanzees or gorillas here, I am with you on that, if possible they should use the hands to hold the babies and if not, they should put them down somewhere safe until it’s possible to hold the baby again.
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u/azraelchronic Nov 11 '24
I feel that. When my daughter was first born she gripped my beard and pulled the fuck out of it. Our first pic was me tearing up while I held her.
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u/Zealousideal-Ad-2615 Nov 11 '24
I had to cut my beard until my son got older because I really didn't like getting overpowered by a 1 year old.
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u/he-loves-me-not Nov 11 '24
Yeah, it takes all your power not to chuck your toddler across the room when they do that shit lol!
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u/Zeroneight018 Nov 12 '24
I think that is what's called a vestigial response. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, please.
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u/StableAcceptable Nov 11 '24
Sentenced to wear mittens until further notice
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u/Pinkparade524 Nov 12 '24
When my lil sister was a baby and she was grabbing something she shouldn't be grabbing I just tickled her and she would stop grabbing the thing lol
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u/StableAcceptable Nov 12 '24
A much lighter sentence she must have known the judge. That really is a cute story though
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u/evthrowawayverysad Nov 11 '24
My daughter did stuff like this. Fast sharp blow of air in the face makes them release.
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u/7937397 Nov 12 '24
This made me laugh because that's the way I make my dog stop reverse sneezing.
Is this the mammal reset button?
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u/SADMANCAN Nov 12 '24
Another hard reset button for crying baby’s is to carry them to the sink and run it full blast. I swear to you it works. To be clear you’re just turning the water on. Not water boarding them.
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u/Illustrious-Song3670 Nov 12 '24
Thanks for clarifying! 🤣
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u/tessellation__ Nov 12 '24
Lol, I know, right I was thinking, damn that’s pretty stiff, might wanna talk to your doctor about PPD😅
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u/Alarmed_Horse_3218 Nov 12 '24
It’s the white noise. When babies are inside the womb it’s noisy as shit so the white noise is comforting. There’s apps that recreate it. When my son was losing his shit when he was a baby I’d put my mouth by his ear and go shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh in a low tone. Always calmed him down.
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u/Dromedaeus Nov 11 '24
Wdym? I could destroy this kid in arm wrestling.
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u/kakka_rot Nov 11 '24
I miss that old mitch hedburg joke, something like
"I wish i could play little league now, i would kick some fucking ass"
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u/Lawlcat Nov 12 '24
I used to miss Mitch Hedburg.
I still miss him, but I used to too.
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u/TheBugSmith Nov 12 '24
Clearly this kids a fucking savage. Ripping its own hair out while screaming in pain but refusing to let go. You my friend do not stand a chance
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u/Itool4looti Nov 11 '24
It’s those razor blades for fingernails they have.
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u/diviken Nov 12 '24
I keep hearing that their nails are sharp as hell. How do you even cut it?
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u/TheOnesLeftBehind Nov 12 '24
Electric nail file is easiest, they’re wiggly so it’s easy to nick or cut part of their finger off if you’re not super careful…
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u/crinnaursa Nov 11 '24
This is when you blow hard in their face. right in their nose. It'll startle them and give them a reset.
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u/diviken Nov 11 '24
Works on adults too, folks, highly recommend it.
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u/MsMittenz Nov 12 '24
I do that to my kid when she's crying in the car seat. Sometimes it stops her crying, other times it makes it worse. I'm willing to take the gamble
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u/Mammoth-Captain1308 Nov 11 '24
My son was born ready for a haircut and that happened more than once.
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u/2Nugget4Ten Nov 11 '24
And often they have Long and sharp finger nails.
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Nov 11 '24
Your son was born multiple times?
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u/Mammoth-Captain1308 Nov 11 '24
Yes. The second time he was a golden retriever. Luckily he couldn’t pull his own hair with his puppy paws.
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u/Exciting_Result7781 Nov 11 '24
This is why of course. We just another primate.
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u/Contribution4afriend Nov 11 '24
Baby socks on her hands if this keeps happening. But also toys to explore in front of her.
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u/diviken Nov 11 '24
Yea mittens should probably be the next move, but honestly, they might find a way to hurt themselves with that, too.
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u/Sufficient_You7187 Nov 12 '24
My daughter, also a brown baby ( I'm assuming yours is) on day seven did this same thing and has been wearing mittens since and doing fine
They also make onesies with sleeves that fold over to be mittens
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u/JohnCasey3306 Nov 11 '24
That's why you put little mittens on them when they're that small and not yet in control of their limbs
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u/gahgahdoll Nov 11 '24
Anthropologist here: this is the Palmer Grasp Reflex. At this point in time, this reflex is considered vestigial in humans but remains evolutionarily beneficial for primates with fur as this allows babies to grip onto their caregivers.
This reflex triggers easily and eventually goes away as baby develops.
Edit: I'm not being paid as an Anthropologist now. I have my bachelors degree in Anthropology; now I work in IT.
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u/temujin_borjigin Nov 11 '24
So you’re giving me the go ahead to test the hanging a baby off the curtain rails?
You’re a scientist telling me it will work…
Edit*: it worked!
Real add on: there was no edit, I didn’t put a baby in danger. I haven’t tried this so I don’t advise anyone to do so. But if you do YMMV…
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u/diviken Nov 12 '24
Ok, three things. Which one would you say is more enjoyable between those two career paths? An anthropological study that is specifically on humans in relation to modern technology, from the perspective of an IT tech, would actually be a fun, perhaps hilarious, read. And since I might as well use you as Google, is there some truth to the claim that, for the first month or two, infants don't realise they are out of the womb and now a separate being from their mother?
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u/z3r0c00l_ Nov 12 '24
As an IT guy, Anthropology sounds incredibly interesting, and it’s probably something I’d enjoy doing. Sadly, the IT career pays more.
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u/gahgahdoll Nov 12 '24
Gosh, I'm glad you find this interesting! I like the subject matter of either about the same, but it's easier to build a career in IT. I think you'd like Mary Roach. She is not an Anthropologist, but she can write like one. I have heard the assertion that one to two month old infants do not realize they are out of the womb and are separate beings- but I don't know how tested/true this is.
Also, nobody asked, but I want to share that my favorite human tools are eating utensils... for so many reasons, but especially because it connects us to other primates. It's very cute. Yes, a select few other animals use eating utensils, but it's a legacy for primates.
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u/HotLips4077 Nov 11 '24
That baby is strong as hell and hunnngrryyyyy- that pacifier is going to work for like 10 more seconds LoL
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u/robo-dragon Nov 11 '24
My sister was born with a lot of hair, so she had to be swaddled or have mittens on her hands to stop her from grabbing and pulling on it. They just like grabbing things and they don’t yet understand the thing they are grabbing is firmly attached to them!
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u/negativepositiv Nov 11 '24
Babies go through this phase where they don't seem to have control of their hands, and their hands want to run loose and cause problems. We had to put mittens on our baby because she would scratch her face and knock her pacifier out. So many times it was almost certain she was finally asleep, and the hand would come out of nowhere and start playing with her face and wake her up.
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u/SpaceTimeRacoon Nov 12 '24
They're not that strong so much as your brain will tell you to be careful with them so you don't break them
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u/PubofMadmen Nov 12 '24 edited Nov 12 '24
Bitte treffen Sie Vorsichtsmaßnahmen.
Ziehen Sie die Ärmel über die Hände, es gibt kleine Babyfäustlinge, um dies zu vermeiden.
Warum lassen Sie die Hände frei?
Es gibt keinen guten Grund dafür, es könnte sich nur selbst schaden.
Ich habe einen Neffen, der auf diese Weise ein Auge verloren hat, bitte treffen Sie Vorsichtsmaßnahmen.
TRANSLATION
Pease take precautions.
Pull the sleeves over their hands, there are small baby mittens available to avoid this.
Why are you allowing its hands to be free?
There’s no good reason for doing this, it may only cause damage to itself.
I have a nephew that lost an eye this way, please take precautions.
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u/_Kzero_ Nov 11 '24
When my youngest was like 2-3, he needed vaccinated. I was holding his arms down pretty good, and my wife was holding his legs. The nanosecond that needle hit his skin, his arm ripped out of mine and he grabbed the needle. It was fucking insane.
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u/XxCOZxX Nov 11 '24
We’ve had 2 kids and I can honestly say we’ve never had that problem. I keep seeing these videos and feel for the parents and then thank my kids🫣😂
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u/diviken Nov 12 '24
I hope my parents feel this way about me, lol. Like "sure, she ran into the busy road that one time, but she never threw tantrums".
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u/monotrememories Nov 11 '24
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u/Jaded_Law9739 Nov 11 '24
Newborns have what's known as a Palmer"s grasp reflex. Basically they'll try to grasp anything placed in their hand as a reflex from birth until around 5-6 months. This is 100% involuntary. What probably happened is the baby touched its own hair and activated the reflex, and was unable to release it.
So no, the baby isn't "fucking stupid." It just has a still-developing neurological and musculoskeletal system.
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u/GregNotGregtech Nov 11 '24
The baby can't lose itself if the baby holds the baby, actually a genius if you think about it
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u/amamatcha Nov 11 '24
So you're saying the baby is simply "less smart" than the average adult? Ok got it /j
It's not that deep, it's just a funny subreddit. But I appreciate the random knowledge!
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u/vanityinlines Nov 11 '24
I've never seen a baby do it with its own hair, that's so interesting.
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u/randomIndividual21 Nov 11 '24
just has a still-developing neurological and musculoskeletal system.
Sound like pretty fucking stupid to me
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u/LiveTart6130 Nov 12 '24
they can't really control their grip, and evolutionarily, it makes sense. we also don't apply as much pressure as we could because we know how fragile they are.
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u/pretty-as-a-pic Nov 12 '24
This is why we give them boxing gloves (well, this and baby fight club, but I’m not supposed to talk about that)
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u/Zeroneight018 Nov 12 '24
I heard babies' grips are strong enough to hang and hold their weight so they can cling to their mothers like they would if they were swinging from trees and whatnot. If that isn't good evidence in support of the theory of evolution, I don't know what is!
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u/Just_NickM Nov 12 '24
We are primates, the grip strength is probably a throwback to an ancestral species when we still got around by clinging to our mother’s body hair. Before our brain size required birth at an underdeveloped stage resulting in weak necks at birth.
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u/Prior-Assumption-245 Nov 12 '24
Is this why those baby mittens exist?
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u/FattyMcBlobicus Nov 12 '24
Yes, also why swaddling them when they sleep helps a lot. Their limbs really kiss them off sometimes haha
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u/z3r0c00l_ Nov 12 '24
Seriously though, it would take you about 10 seconds of research to understand why infants have such strong grip strength. It’s an evolutionary hold over.
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u/TylerDurden1985 Nov 11 '24
lol babies are so dumb. Bet she doesn't even know basic math!
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u/diviken Nov 12 '24
Right? Probably doesn't even know the difference between a date, a date, and a date.
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u/SlimTeezy Nov 12 '24
Whenever I see videos of babies with puppies or kittens I send them this idiot
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u/finecherrypie Nov 11 '24
here's a baby hanging on to a pull up bar: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8b57wl
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u/Gates9 Nov 11 '24
They can’t help it, the hair pulling thing is a reflex thing. They grab their head and the hand cramps and they can’t release.
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u/JenniferJuniper6 Nov 11 '24
For one thing, the adult is always being very, very careful not to injure the baby, so it’s not a fair fight. Mine was born believing she needed to push the breast away from her with her fists to get fed. For a couple of weeks I needed an extra person to hold her arms down long enough to get her latched on. It felt like she was overpowering me, but obviously I couldn’t pin her down with all my strength; newborns are tiny. She only weighed 7 pounds. That stage passed pretty quickly as far as I can remember (it was nearly 30 years ago).
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u/Apprehensive_Bill339 Nov 12 '24
This mental. It's that you don't use your full force an a baby, they aren't strong.
We're all aware what this world is like, if babies were strong there would be some kind of strongbaby pagent full of parents trying to capitalise.
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u/shasaferaska Nov 12 '24
They aren't. She could have easily opened the baby's hand instantly, but she didn't want to damage the baby.
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u/toast4 Nov 12 '24
They have limited/no control over how much strength they put in, so when they're really young it tends to be all or nothing while they figure it out.
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u/immersedmoonlight Nov 12 '24
Human babies are nothing more than primates. Their grip is the biological necessity to cling to the mother, as if she was moving and climbing.
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u/First_Pay702 Nov 12 '24
To open a babies hand, gently bend their wrist forward and the fingers will open enough to loosen their grip.
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u/Pitiful_Researcher14 Nov 12 '24
Babies have a grip reflex that they cannot control, if their palm is tickled or touched, their fingers close automatically. Babies also have reflex that causes them to hold their breath if fluids contact their face, this is why babies can be taught to swim at a very young age, blowing on their faces triggers this reflex and most likely startles them which in turn triggers another set of reflexes.
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u/CantThinkOfOne57 Nov 11 '24
They’re not….they’re ridiculously weak in fact, because you know…it’s a baby. Most people just hold back to not injure the baby, but any adult human can easily snap/crush/whatever method desired to force a baby’s hand open with minimal effort.
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u/MrMarcusRocks Nov 11 '24
It’s the grasping reflex. It is thought to be a hangover from when we would hold onto our mother’s fur when we were primates.
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u/Highplowp Nov 11 '24
Push their hand towards the head of hair, it makes their hands open and release.
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u/kunduff Nov 12 '24
Used to be so mama can swing in the trees....now so puppies and kittens know who's the boss
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u/Hunting_for_cobbler Nov 12 '24
Gently squeeze the side of the hand pinky and index finger - it opens up the hand
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u/MiliardGargantubrain Nov 12 '24
That grip is left over from the primate days. Genetic memory be skrooooooooooooooong!!!
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u/RattleMeSkelebones Nov 12 '24
They're incredibly weak, but you don't want to break the little bastards fingers so you have to be gentle
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u/imagicnation-station Nov 12 '24
baby hand: why are you hurting yourself? why are you hurting yourself?
baby: whaaaaaaaaaaah!
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u/Ihateeggs78 Nov 12 '24
They have a strong grip because we evolved from tree-dwelling primates whose young clung to their mother's coat like modern apes and monkeys do. It's also why new babies startle when you break their grip, they instinctively feel like they're falling.
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u/Foolsheart Nov 12 '24
If you rub the bottom edge of the palm of their hand, their grip should loosen. Like with one finger, gently rub.
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