What can my baby see when they first open their eyes?
Being able to see and use your eyes might seem like it just comes naturally, but actually, babies have to learn to use their eyes much like they do their hands or voices. It takes a lot of practice to use both eyes in tandem, focus on something specific, or move them accurately. With that in mind, what can exactly can your baby see?
What can my baby see… At birth?
Newborn babies have very limited eyesight. They can only see in shades of black, white, and grey, and haven’t yet worked out how to tell the difference between different visual targets. But they can see about 20-25cm in front of their face, or about the distance needed to see the biggest features of your face when you’re holding them. That’s why it’s so important to get up close and personal with your newborn, as they will start to recognise your face first!
What can my baby see… At three months?
Vision rapidly improves over the first few months of life, and by this point, your baby’s eyes start working together. At around three months, they start developing hand-eye coordination, as they’re now beginning to track moving objects like their hands or feet. This is why you may notice them staring in fascination at their fingers or toes! They’re also starting to be able to process colours and to visually recognise their parents’ faces.
What can my baby see… At eight months?
Your baby’s vision continues to improve, along with their hand-eye coordination. This is helped along because their depth perception is now improving, and they’re able to see the world in 3D. At this age, many babies start learning to crawl or develop a bum-shuffle, which helps them further improve their whole body-eye co-ordination.
What can my baby see… At one year?
This is around the halfway mark for your baby’s vision development. They should be starting to pull themselves up, working on their grasping precision with their thumb and forefinger and, in some cases, even throwing toys or small objects with some accuracy. Your baby is now able to do these things because at around 12 months of age, they’re getting pretty good at judging distances, and all of their playing and crawling only continues to compound their learning.
What can my baby see… At two years?
Two years old is about the point that your child’s vision will have reached full development, with a broad spectrum of colour, good judgement of distance, and precise depth perception. Their hand-eye coordination will continue to improve, and they’ll be merrily exploring their environment. They’ll be able to recognise familiar objects and will be starting to develop dexterity by learning to scribble with crayons and pencils. It’s only a matter of time from here until they’ll be producing fridge-door-worthy masterpieces for you to proudly display!
For development-enhancing baby gifts and cute toys your little one will love to play with (and look at!), check out Breastmates’ range of baby toys and gifts.
This gorgeous image courtesy of Nykie Grove-Eades at Mistral Photography (www.mistralphotography.co.nz).
