Your Baby’s Muscular and Skeletal Systems

Your baby’s more than 200 bones and 600 muscles serve to support her, to protect her vital organs, and to allow her to move. When she is born, her bones are very flexible, with growing plates and cartilage. This cartilage is what actually expands and then hardens, or ossifies, into strong bone, allowing her to become taller and bigger.

Her bone growth will not be complete until she is about 20 years old. In addition to providing a frame for her skin, your baby’s bones store minerals, such as...