The Eyes Have It
January 04, 2010
Your baby’s big beautiful eyes will help him absorb and discover the world. At first, his vision is blurry, but it will mature over the next six months in a rapid transformation that’s…well, eye opening! Here’s a closer look.
His Changing Sight
Your baby’s vision will develop quickly, improving every day until reaching maturity at about 6 to 8 months. Most of the work is taking place in his brain, which needs to develop the ability to process the information his eyes are taking in. Here’s what to expect from his budding sense of sight, and how you can help nurture it.
Birth At first, your little one can’t focus on anything farther than 8 to 15 inches away, which is about the distance between the two of you when you hold him. Instinctively, he’s fascinated by faces—especially yours!
What you can do Spend lots of face-to-face time with him so he can see you clearly (feeding time counts!). Be expressive, and make sure to smile a lot.
1 Month Your baby can see some color, but he has trouble distinguishing between different shades, so high-contrast patterns are most appealing.
What you can do Introduce toys with bold but simple contrasting patterns, like a black-and-white checkerboard design.
2 Month By his second month, your baby will learn how to work his eyes together. (Before this happens, you may notice his eyes wandering apart from each other or even crossing.)
What you can do Slowly move an object (like a rattle) from side to side in front of him so he can track it with his eyes. Or have him follow your gaze as you slowly move your head side to side.
3 Months As he learns to distinguish the difference between colors, he’ll prefer primary colors, like bright reds and blues.
What you can do Play with boldly-colored soft toys and books. He’ll also love gazing at his own reflection in a baby-safe mirror.
4 Months He can now see objects up to 12 feet away, and he’s starting to develop depth perception, which allows him to reach out and grasp small toys.
What you can do Hold items like rattles and teething rings in front of him so he can try to grab them. He may also start to reach for your hair, necklace, or (ouch!) earrings.
5 Months He’s getting very good at spotting small objects, and he may be starting to understand that an object is present even if he can only see a part of it.
What you can do Play peek-a-boo! He’ll love seeing your face pop out from behind a blanket.
6 Months and Beyond By about 6 to 8 months, your baby’s vision will reach 20/20. He can distinguish colors, focus on details, and track even rapid motion.
What you can do Offer him brightly colored toys with parts that he can grasp, bat at, or pull (to help develop eye-hand coordination), and take him for walks and point out various objects (“Look at that red bird in the tree!”).
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