I was wondering because I was one of them. I had a friend who told me that its not normal and also told me when she was born she didn't cry either so the doctors were hitting her bottom trying to make her cry. That didn't happen to me when I was born! I don't know if it's true because she's not a doctor. And she also said babies who don't cry at birth become shy and don't talk a lot? Is this true?

My 1st did not cry. She looked up toward the lights, then she looked at the doctor. After that she looked at her dad and smiled.

They just want the baby to clear his airway if need be, to be sure his lungs are working.
I highly doubt that anyone will ever find a meaningful correlation between not crying and shyness.
One or two have a baby turn out to be not talkative, and an old wives tale is born.

My first baby cried loud enough to wake the dead and has never been outgoing and social.

I've also heard that girl babies cry at birth and boys don't (because boys are supposed to be tough?). Like Joy said, it doesn't take much to create an old wives' tale.

Our busy L&D nurse on this site could probably keep you up all night with stories about new babies she's delivered.

Got to laugh at both stories from nohelp and WG.

I deliver at least 2 babies a night on my shift. Sometimes as many as 6. Probably about half of them don't cry at birth.

It has nothing to do with shyness when they grow up.

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Originally Posted by J_9

I deliver at least 2 babies a night on my shift. Sometimes as many as 6. Probably about half of them don't cry at birth.
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I thought that a baby was induced to cry to make sure their lungs were clear or am I mistaken?

Yes, they are stimulated at birth. We rub their backs, roll them around, tickle their feet, etc. We do NOT spank their bottoms. We do this to clear the lungs of amniotic fluid. However, some babies are just content to look around and gather their surroundings. Some just don't cry and are just as healthy as those that do.

It really worries parents when they don't cry though.

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After that she looked at her dad and smiled.

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That's interesting as newborn babies do not have the ability for a real smile for at least the first few weeks.

My daughter was amazingly different as a baby. My grandson is too.

I would be tempted to say that they might grow up to be contented, pleasant people. I mean really, after what they just went through?

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Originally Posted by N0help4u

My daughter was amazingly different as a baby. My grandson is too.

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For example, I gave her crayons at 20 months and she colored in the lines. She was drawing in perspective (thats around a 6th to 8th grade art level) when she was 6 years old. Her art talent she never learned beyond the average school taught art, its pure talent.

Newborns are not physically capable of a meaningful smile for the first few weeks after birth.

Yes, they give you something that resembles a smile, but it's not a meaningful smile.

Yeah it was a baby type smile. Sort of like the open mouth goo goo baby giggle type thing.

Okay. My knowledge and education of human anatomy and development, primarily neonates, does not agree with you though.

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Sort of like the open mouth goo goo baby giggle type thing.

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A developmental milestone that occurs at 2-3 months of age. Not birth.

It was sort of like this but her eyes were wide open
so happy newborn

And that's not a newborn. That baby is a few weeks old, at least.

Anyway, this is a about babies not crying at birth.

Yes, it is common, and there is usually nothing wrong with it as long as they have good color, tone, and activity.

Heartbeat, oxygen levels, and skin color are what determines whether that non-crying baby needs intervention or not.

I know but it was as close a picture as I could find. She didn't cry and she was rather shy but I don't think it had anything to do with not crying at birth. On that test score they did when she was born she scored all top scores. APGAR

Back to the OP.