Your Infant's Vision Development: A Complete Guide

Team AckoFeb 9, 2024

A baby’s vision develops as he grows. Drastic and rapid changes begin occurring from the time your baby is born. A baby’s vision goes through many changes during the first year of his birth. During the regular check-ups, your pediatrician will monitor your infant’s vision to make sure if it is developing as it should. 

Infant’s vision: Newborn eyesight     

Newborn infants generally have poor eyesight they are not able to see anything beyond 6-10 inches. It is not known if they can see colors or not, they probably can’t recognize colors until 2 or 3 months. At first, the baby may not look straight at you or recognize your face but she grows and stays awake for a long time her eyesight will improve. Position your baby 6 inches away from your face; this is the best distance for your baby to see. It is said that faces are a baby’s favorite visual stimulation.

Infant’s vision: Eyesight development

Baby’s hearing develops at the end of its first month after birth, but, that’s not the case when it comes to eyesight. A baby’s sight develops gradually. It might take more than 6 months to 8 months. At the end of the eighth month, your baby will be able to the see the world completely. The range of clarity is something that develops month by month. Though newborn babies are physically capable of seeing, it takes some time for their brain to process visual information. As he grows, his brain develops and gives his clear understanding of what he is looking at.

Infant’s vision development chart

The way you care for your body during pregnancy plays a huge role in your child’s mind and body development as well as vision development. Excessive smoking during your pregnancy definitely affects the baby’s vision. In the same way, the nutritious food that you had during pregnancy helps better the development of your baby’s mind, body, and vision.

At birth, your baby sees only in black and white and shades of grey as the nerve cells in his retina and brain are not fully developed. Despite these visual stimulations, studies suggest that a baby prefers looking at his mother’s face than that of a stranger.

A baby’s vision development during further months are listed as follows:

Here is a list of your baby's vision all throughtout the months:

A baby’s vision in the first month

• A baby’s eyes are not sensitive to light.

• They develop the ability to see in colors.

• After one week they can see red, orange, yellow and green.

• He may start looking into your eyes if you keep him close.

2 to 3 months

• Infants develop sharper visual perception.

• Eye-hand coordination begins to develop.

• Their eyes begin to move better.

• Your baby should start following moving objects.

• They learn to shift gaze from one object to other.

• They more easily focus on the face of the person near them.

• Eyes start becoming sensitive to light. Hence, it’s better to have dim lights in your baby’s room.

4 to 6 months

• Vision centers the brain development.

• Your infant moves his eyes more accurately to follow the moving objects.

• Infants can see all colors of a rainbow.

• Your baby can now spot small items.

• Your baby may start recognizing something after seeing just a part of it.

• Eyes are capable of working together to form a three-dimensional view of the world.

• Eyes develop the ability to judge if objects are nearer or further from other objects.

7 to 12 months

• Eye-hand-foot-body coordination develops as your baby starts crawling.

• Your baby’s vision is strong enough to recognize people and objects across the room.

• Your baby’s eyes are close to its final color.

• They learn to coordinate their body movements with vision.

• Parents should encourage crawling as it improves eye-hand coordination.

Also read: Tips to help your baby's eyesight become better

Your role in your baby’s vision development

There are few things which you can do to help your baby’s vision develop properly. The first and foremost thing is, take him to regular checkups so that the doctor can monitor the vision development.  The other things are: 

1. Use light or dim light in your baby’s room.

2. Talk to your baby as you walk around the room.

3. Keep his toys at least 8 inches away.

4. Have objects across the crib for your baby to pick.

5. Give plenty of time on floor to play and explore.

6. Play hide and seek.

7. Encourage crawling and creeping.

Infant's vision development: Eye and vision problems

Eyesight problems in infants are quite rare. Most of the babies are born with healthy eyes and develop visual abilities gradually without any difficulties. But in few rare cases, eyesight and vision problems may occur. You need to closely monitor and look for the signs mentioned below that may indicate possible eyesight problems. If any of the signs below appear, it needs immediate attention of a pediatrician.

• Excessive tearing indicates blocked tear ducts.

• Red or incrusted eye-lids are a sign of an eye infection.

• Constant eye turning happens when there is a problem with the eye muscle controller.

• Extreme sensitivity to the light may indicate an elevated pressure in the eye.

• The appearance of a white pupil may indicate eye cancer.

Disclaimer: This content is for informational purposes only, based on industry experience and secondary sources. It is not a substitute for professional advice. Please consult a qualified expert for health or insurance-related decisions. Content is subject to change, refer to current policy wordings for specific ACKO details.