Why do people count fingers and toes on babies?

LOL, no..here is why they do it. They have been nervous with worry for most of the 9 months of pregnancy that something could be wrong with the baby. They are so excited when it is born that they say “yep, 10 fingers, 10 toes everything is gonna be alright”. It’s just a way of saying “whew, we made it and the baby is healthy”.

It’s a bit of an obsessive, let me see if he’s alright, let me know he’s doing well, let me see my child healthy kind of crazy emotion that parents often go through when their baby is first born- a lot of parents research possible defects and things that could go wrong, trying to be experts on what should happen when the baby is born. A lot of parents also listen intently for the baby’s cry, try to check their eyes, little things like that.

I was born with 6 toes on each foot! imagine my parents suprise when they got to 10 and had to keep counting! Just because I had a couple of extra digits didnt mean there was anything wrong - -there was nothing unhealthy about me at all!