My Babies Eyesight! What the Experts Say!

There has of late been discussion as to the ability of newborns to see color, and to see persons or objects more distant than 12 inches away. Herein we take a look at what today's experts are telling new mothers, fathers; all parents to be.

A baby in his mother's womb...

can tell the difference between light and dark. Then at birth, the baby sees shapes, where the lines of light and dark meet. From the day of birth the baby begins to take in information about the world around him. A babies hearing will be fully mature by the end of the first month of life; his vision however will gradually develop over 6 to 8 months, at which time he will see as well as mother and father.

Babies see their first primary color, red when they are several weeks old. You may notice they prefer highly contrasting patters to plain surfaces. Many books about infant development tell us the baby can only focus on objects and people 7 to 10 inches from their face. Physically they could focus as we do, at any distance, but they need to develop control of the eye muscles - the "ciliary" muscles. As they develop then, sometimes they focus too close, sometimes too far, and this results in "fuzzy" vision. We know that in young infants, visual acuity is limited, primarily because the "fovea" (the part of the retina which is responsible of acuity and good color vision) is still immature.

One expert source puts it this way: At birth your baby can't focus farther than 8 to 15 inches away. He starts out life being able only to see your face as you hold him. His visual clarity grows steadily, month by month. That source concludes, "...be sure to give him plenty of up-close time."

By the end of the first year, then, your baby's brain and eyes begin to coordinate images and remember what they've seen. By understanding the course of your infant's development you are then able to provide stimulation, to increase curiosity, attention span, and overall development.

Finally, "be sure to give your baby plenty of interesting things to see."