Sight and Vision

Although your baby practised the blinking reflex by opening and closing her eyes while she was in the womb, the first time she actually uses her eyes for seeing is at the moment of birth.

As soon as she is born she is capable of distinguishing objects and most colors; but she is only able to focus on items that are 20-30 cm/ 8-12 in away. These things will look slightly fuzzy and be lacking in definition and, since the images from the retinas of the eyes haven't merged yet, your baby's world will appear as if seen through two separate tunnels.

A newborn is very sensitive to bright lights and will blink and screw up her eyes if a light is shone in her face. Movement will attract a baby from birth and you may notice that yours actively seeks out moving objects. She will probably show a preference for an object which has a highly contrasting pattern rather than one which is just a solid block of color.

As your baby begins to control her eye movements she will start tracking moving objects, and it is then that her eyes will begin to start working together. At first your face will be of more interest to your child than anything else. It is thought that a baby is born with a simple mental template of the human face and will actively search out and stare at any human face during the first couple of months.

When she is first born, whether she is able to recognize you by your individual features is open to debate, but she will certainly know the general shape of your head and hairline and by two months will have started to recognize your features.

Your baby will soon become interested in other things and by six to eight weeks she will be concentrating on details, scanning faces and objects so that she can take in as much information as possible. At this age she may find it hard to disengage her attention when she is watching something and she may need you to distract her before she can remove her gaze. But by three to four months the pathways in the brain for voluntary action begin to take over and your baby starts to disengage her attention on her own.

By three months a baby can perceive colours fully, with all their different shades, and will be able to focus at different distances and to see things in 3D. From seven to eight months as she begins to interpret what she sees, your baby starts to realize that things don't necessarily cease to exist just because she can't see them anymore. A toy dropped over the edge of the high chair will be looked for; she will also enjoy playing "peeka- boo" because she knows now that you will definitely reappear.