The development of your baby’s eyes and vision in the womb
Your baby’s eyes grow sufficiently during pregnancy to see the light and shapes. Around 27 weeks, babies open their eyes in the womb and begin to respond to a solid light. Your kid’s vision is blurry before birth, yet even in pregnancy, your baby can focus on objects, track objects, and see one color – red!
| Period | Milestone |
|---|---|
| 6 weeks | On either side of the head, eye “cups” form. |
| 7 weeks | The cornea, pupil, iris, lens, and retina begin to form. |
| 8 weeks | Tear ducts begin to form. |
| 10 weeks | Eyelids develop, and rods and cones emerge. |
| 27 weeks | Eyelids have the ability to open and close. |
| 31 weeks | Your baby’s pupils can constrict and enlarge, and he or she may be able to discern dim shapes. |
| 32 weeks | Close-up things might be focused on by your infant. |
| 34 weeks | Close-up things might be focused on by your infant. |
Infant Vision Developmental Stages
Babies cannot see as well as older children or adults when they are born. Their vision and eyes aren’t fully matured. However, significant progress is made during the first few months of life. The following are some vision and child development milestones to look out for. It is crucial to remember that no two children are alike, and some may hit particular developmental milestones at various ages.
From birth until 4 months
Babies’ vision is flooded with visual stimuli from birth. While babies may stare intently at a highly contrasted target, they have not yet mastered the ability to distinguish between two targets or to move their gaze between the two images. Their primary concentration is on items 8 to 10 inches away from their face or the space between their face and the parent’s face.
During the first few months of life, the eyes begin to operate together, and eyesight develops fast. As the child begins to track moving things with his or her eyes and grasp for them, eye-hand coordination develops. By 8 weeks, newborns may more easily focus their gaze on the faces of their parents or other people nearby.
Around three months of age, babies should start following moving objects with their gaze and reaching for things.
Between 5 and 8 months
Control of eye movements and eye-body coordination skills continue to grow during these months.
Depth perception, or the ability to assess whether objects are closer or farther away than other objects, does not exist at birth. It is not until the fifth month that the eyes can cooperate to produce a three-dimensional image of the world and begin to see in depth.
Although an infant’s color vision is not as sensitive as that of an adult, it is widely assumed that babies have a good color vision by the age of 5 months.
Most babies begin crawling at 8 months of age, which aids in the development of eye-hand-foot-body coordination. Early walkers that performed less crawling may not learn to utilize their eyes together as well as crawling newborns.
Nine to twelve months
Babies learn to pull themselves up to a standing position at 9 months of age. A baby should be able to hold objects with his or her thumb and forefinger by 10 months of age.
Most babies will be crawling and attempting to walk by the age of twelve months. To assist their child in developing better eye-hand coordination, parents should encourage crawling rather than early walking. Babies can now gauge distances and throw objects with some accuracy.
One to two years
A child’s eye-hand coordination and depth perception should be adequately established by age two.
Children of this age are very interested in exploring their surroundings and looking and listening. They can scribble with colors or pencils and recognize familiar items and pictures in books.
Symptoms of eyesight and eye disorders
Infants with eye and visual impairments are uncommon. Most kids are born with healthy eyes and quickly develop the visual abilities they will require throughout their lives. However, eye health and vision issues can arise on occasion. Parents should be on the lookout for the following symptoms of eye and vision problems:
- Clogged tear ducts may cause excessive tearing.
- Red or crusty eyelids may indicate an eye infection.
- Constant eye turning may indicate an issue with ocular muscle control.
- Extreme light sensitivity may suggest an increase in intraocular pressure.
- A white pupil could indicate the presence of eye cancer.
- Any of these symptoms should be treated as soon as possible by an optometrist.
What parents may do to help their children’s visual development
There are numerous things parents may do to assist their baby’s visual development. Below are some age-appropriate activities that can help an infant’s visual development.
From birth until four months
- In the baby’s room, use a nightlight or another dim lamp.
- Change the position of the cot and the youngster in it regularly.
- Keep reach-and-touch toys within eight to twelve inches of the baby’s concentration.
- While walking around the room, talk to the infant.
- With each feeding, alternate between the right and left sides.
Between 5 and 8 months
- Across the crib, hang a mobile, crib gym, or numerous toys for the baby to hold, pull, and kick.
- Allow the infant lots of time to explore and play on the floor.
- Hand-held plastic or wooden blocks are recommended.
- Play patty cake and other games with the infant, putting their hands through the motions while uttering the words aloud.
Nine to twelve months
- To assist the baby to in developing visual memory, play hide and seek games with toys or your face.
- When chatting, name objects to help the baby’s word association and language development.
- Crawling and creeping should be encouraged.
One to two years
- Roll a ball back and forth to help the kid visually track items.
- To improve fine motor skills and small muscle development, provide the youngster with building blocks and balls of various shapes and sizes to play with.
- Read or tell stories to your child to help them envision and prepare them for learning and reading.
