A major goal of education is the debunking of miseducation. That means spotting and correcting the many myths emanating from the internet, folk wisdom and word of mouth. The truth they say shall set you free. There are misconceptions that just will not go away, such as the agreement that Christopher Columbus discovered the Americas or most men in the colonial era wore wigs or Nigeria was once beaten 99 nil by the Indian football team.

We would be sorting about the top 5 baby myths that are actually facts.

TOYS WILL EDUCATE YOUR BABIES (FALSE)

There has been no scientific evidence to directly link the benefits of educational and learning toys with a baby’s brain. Now, we aren’t saying are useless but what we are saying is that it is much more in how your baby is playing, rather than what they are playing with. When they are in the toddler stage of learning, educational toys are helpful in reinforcing what they already know or are continuing to learn. However as infants, educational toys do not really have much of an effect and their learning falls under the category of motor functions and skills. A baby’s 5 senses are still developing, so what they are learning is actually touching, feeling,smelling,seeing and hearing. Whether they are touching a flashy toy that lights up and sings or plain old building blocks with a letter on it, they are learning much of the same thing and how it appears to them with new senses.

MORE BONES THAN ADULTS (TRUE)

You might be reading this and wondering how in the world it is possible than babies come into this world with more bones than adults. It is actually possible and it is a fact. When a baby is first born, their bones have not yet been fully fused together. This makes complete sense when you consider the fine, squiggly lines on the skull of the human head. Those lines are marks from when the skull pieces actually come together to form a skull. Babies are born with, for lack of better words, flexible skulls. This allows them to come out and into the world with no problem, while their skull will fuse and grow together as they grow. It is also common knowledge that babies have a soft spot on their head called fontanelle , which is why regarding a baby’s head is so, so important.

TEETHING AND FEVERS ARE DIRECTLY RELATED (FALSE)

The typical Nigerian belief. The problem with this myth isn’t that parents believe that teething will always cause a fever, it is that they will believe it to the point where an underlying issue may go unnoticed. This is not in any way to say that teething will not present itself as a fever in your child, but it is more unlikely that teething is the cause of it. Science has proven beyond reasonable doubt that fevers are always linked to teething.

HOLDING BOOKS TOO CLOSE TO THEIR EYES WILL DAMAGE IT (FALSE)

The saying goes that if your baby holds something too close to their eyes, it might cause damage later on. Holding a book or any other object super close to their face won’t cause permanent damage. We are all familiar with what it feels like to have something directly in front of the face when the eyes struggle to focus. It causes some eye strain and pain, but nothing long-lasting. A baby that constantly holds something so close to his or her face may be indicative of another problem which is permanent nearsightedness. This isn’t a definitive indicator as your child may just be holding things close for their own sense of exploration. However, if it appears frequently, it can’t hurt to make an appointment with the doctor.

FLAWLESS HEARING (TRUE)

Hearing is one of the 5 senses that starts directly in the womb. What is amazing is that babies can instantly recognize their mother’s voice and some studies have shown that newborns, immediately after being born, know exactly who she is. It is truly beautiful and one of the things that bonds a mother to her child. While a newborn still has fluid in his or her ear at the time of birth, their hearing is still 100%.The reason it takes them some time to discern what, or who, they hear, is because they are slowly learning to take in all these new sounds and voices.

We hope we have been able to enlighten and debunk the myths that you might held for quite a while. It is important to sort out the truth from the misinformation.