Do babies or adults have more bones?

Answer 1

Newborn babies have around 300 bones. This is necessary because a naturally delivered baby needs to be, frankly, somewhat compressible in order to fit through the birth canal, which is a comparatively small space. Having more bones means that there are more points at which the baby's body could bend and deform in order to squeeze through the birth canal (for example, babies are typically born with cone-shaped heads because the bones of the skull are not fused, allowing it to bend and become narrow enough for birth). However, obviously, an adult would not want all these random bending points all over his/her body, since they represent weak points in the skeletal structure. Thus, throughout young adulthood (until the around mid-20s), the separate bones (mostly in the skull/cranium and in the pelvic area) fuse together into single units, resulting in fewer total bones overall.

Children have more bones than adults because their skeletons are growing. This growth takes place at the epiphyseal growth plates. These growth plates are usually at the end of the bones which terminate the bones at a joint. Other growth plates are in areas such as the skull. The skull's growth plates join each other in "suture lines" which are like interlocking fingers.

Once the skeleton has completed growing, the growth plates calcify and fuse together. This fusion results in few bones in the adult skeleton.

Children are born with over 300 bones, many of which fuse together as they grow. The average adult is left with 206 bones.

Answer 2

A teenager.

In a new-born baby smaller bones have not developed yet. The palm of a baby's hand (for example) has no bones, only cartilage. The cartilage turns into bones as the baby grows.

Answer 3

Yes. The biggest difference is in the skull. At birth the skull has numerous independent parts to facilitate childbirth. As the baby ages, the plates fuze together to become a single bone. A child is born with 300 bones and they eventually fuse together to 206 (some experts believe 208, depending on how the sternum is divided).

Answer 4

At birth, a newborn baby has over 300 bones, whereas on average an adult human has 206 bones (these numbers can vary slightly from individual to individual). The difference comes from a number of small bones that fuse together during growth. Some examples of bones that fuse are:

1) The sacral vertebrae - a baby is born with 5 (on average), these all fuse to become 1 sacrum

2) The coccygeal vertebrae - a baby is born with 4 (on average), these all fuse to become part of the sacrum

3) The pelvis - a baby is born with 3 parts (ilium, ischium, pubis), these fuse to form 1 innominate (hip) bone

Answer 5

A baby has more number of bones as in the growing process many bones fuse together and form a large bone thus a baby have more bones. An excellent example is the soft-spot on a baby's head. The skull is not fully formed when a baby is born to enable the head to pass through the birth canal, as they get older the bones will grow together.

Answer 6

Generally speaking, our bodies grow by cells splitting to form similar cells (You get fatter, for example, mainly by making more fat cells.) so adults have more cells forming their bodies than children.

Note, however, that the more numerous single celled microbes floating in your digestive system are not usually counted as part of your body.

Answer 7

Babies have more bones than adults. At birth, a baby has around 300 bones, which fuse together as they grow and develop, resulting in the average adult having 206 bones.

Answer 8

144, An infant hase 350 bones some of these join to become one with age until as an adult there are 206.

Answer 9

Because children have really small bone but they have alot of them and as they grow there bones get bigger and bigger so it turns into a large bone and the amount decreases

Answer 10

A newborn baby has more separate bones than an adult. The bones o the skull are separate in a baby, and fuse (join together) in an adult.