In a lifetime we lose about sixty bones Where do we "lose" them? Actually, not far at all. The fact is that some bones in the human body fuse together as we get older. In adults, the total number of bones ranges from 205 to 207, while infants have about 270 bones. The bones of the skull, for example, fuse together. That’s why newborns have "fontanelles," the place where the bones of the skull are still soft and not yet fused. The fusion process is also quite active in the bones of the pelvis and spine.