To ask if you counted fingers and toes when your baby was born?

[ThatRedBeaker]

I’ve always heard people say they check their baby’s fingers and toes right away and I wonder if that’s really something most parents do in the moment? Is it instinct? Tradition? Sentimentality? Or were you too overwhelmed or emotional to even think of it?

Curious what others did and whether it actually mattered to you in that moment.

I did multiple times!! just to make sure !!

No I didn't. I did notice the massive sandal gap between her toes though.

All mums do, subconsciously.
Studies have shown its pretty universal amongst primates which I love.

Not all mums obviously

I didn't specifically count, but it would be pretty obvious if any were missing..

I struggled to work out I'd had a girl when they held her up in front of me. (We'd left it as a suprise.)

I think I was too much in "what the he'll just happened to me" after an exceedingly fast first labour.

I wouldn’t say it was “instinct” to count fingers and toes.

Instinct is something you do naturally, something you are born with, without requiring learning. Counting requires learning.

It is more likely something sentimental, heard about from other mums or tv

No and a day later I was like ‘has she got baby toes?!’ But they were just curled under 😂

No 😂 I literally couldn’t even work out if dd was a boy or a girl. Not even something that would have occurred to me.

I was born with an extra toe . It was the first thing my mum was told! When I told midwives to count my DSs' , they laughed and I had to insist!

No, I was too distracted by her hairy ears. They had tufts!

I learnt at the grand age of 37 from my 4 year old that this is call subitising!

I didn't but my dad certainly did. All present and correct.

I did! With both DC pretty much the moment they were put on my chest.

I literally pushed my baby out and as the nurses took him away I asked my dh to check he had all his fingers and toes. I was 40 having him and convinced I wouldn’t go to term as I’d had lots of miscarriages before him. Then when he was born safely my first instinct was he would be missing something. My dh calmly told me “he’s perfect” and that was the moment I knew our baby had truly arrived. I had another one at 45 and wasn’t nearly so frantic 🥰

There's been studies on it, researchers have recorded mums with newborns and instinctively without realising, fingers, toes, head, and spine are checked.

No.

DC2 has 2 completely different coloured eyes (complete heterochromia) and we didn’t realise for 2 weeks.

Yes I did with my first born, I waited a long time for him

Nope I didn't care if he was "perfect" or not, he was just my baby. I hoped he would not look like his father and he didn't. Still doesn't.

That’s as may be but I didn’t. I didn’t notice until hours later that she had fingers fused together, so no, not all mums do it or at least not soon after birth. Was about 12 hours later when I noticed.

Same!

Not sure which way your voting goes! But no, I didn't. I think i would have noticed before too long if they weren't the expected amount.

Haha, when DD was born I was so exhasted that when the midwife handed her to me I saw her umbilical cord and thought she was a boy....

I don't know if anyone ever counted her fingers and toes but when she was about 9 months old I took a photo where it looked like she had 6 toes on one of her feet, so then I did double-check just in case everyone had missed an extra one 😆.

My youngest had 14, which was 2 more than my other 2 had, so was not surprised. I must admit I had a quiet smile watching the midwife count twice

Not that I recall. It’s something I associate with tv/ movies. IRL ever since I’d had my first scan and heard things like “Excellent- two kidneys” or “great - four chambers in her heart” I don’t think I was thinking much about fingers and toes.
I didn’t notice that she had severe hip dysplasia until a doctor saw it and looking back on photos it was clearly visible.