Do new-born babies have kneecaps? Yes, no, or I am not aware. What should be a straightforward answer has a confusing element as it is ambiguous in nature. The lack of a definite answer arises from the aspect of how you go on to define a kneecap.
If you happen to an adult, the knee cap or patella is a form of circular bone, which is in front of the bottom end of your femur that happens to be the longest bone of your thigh. The tendon connects to the muscle in front of your thigh and the main purpose of the patella is to aid in the extension of the knee. It goes on to increase the leverage that the tendon to the thigh muscles can exert on the femur and the result is that your leg works in a better way. The patella happens to be a sesamoid bone, signifying that it is embedded in a muscle or bone of your body.
So, what does this signify in terms of knees of your baby? At birth, the baby does have a patella, but it is made of cartilage and not bones. This piece of cartilage, which is present in the knee of the baby will turn into a bone by the process of ossification. All the bones in the human body tend to start off as cartilage and develop inthe bones. The patella happens to be that single piece of cartilage, which does not get into turning into bone after birth.
The process of ossification in kids starts to form by the age of 3. The regions of the bone in the cartilage of the patella start forming and eventually lead to the formation of a baby knee cap. The whole knee caps are not formed into a bone till you reach the stage of puberty. So if you are of the opinion that the knee cap happens to be a piece of bone, then the baby does have one. On the other hand, if you are of the opinion that the kneecap as a piece of cartilage situated in the middle of the tendon,which is connected to the femur, then your baby does have one. You can see for yourself both sides of the argument and the ideal answer in this regard would be “sort of”
Now the question is,“are babies born with kneecaps?” Yes, it is just that they are softer than yours. In case of babies the bones have to be long enough to support your body, but it should be soft to encourage regular growth. It is till adulthood when the bones reach maximum growth and stature it is a mixture of softer cartilage and hard bone. The kneecaps are no exceptions to this.
Why are’ babies not having kneecaps at birth, the reason for it is not clear. The lack of a hard kneecap is a good thing which you realize as crawling around with a hard bone is much more difficult that moving around with a soft pair of cartilage.