When Does The Baby Start To See Properly?

The sense of sight plays an important role in how a person experiences the world. This sense begins to develop from birth and progresses to fullness through various stages. Today we talk about how a child’s vision develops and when the baby starts to see properly.

Small babies are known, among other things, for looking at the world with the biggest eyes. It’s common to imagine a newborn exploring the things around him with his sense of sight, but in reality, the child doesn’t see much at this point yet.

As open as the eyes of the newborn are, in the first minutes after birth a person does not yet see. Like other senses, the sense of sight develops gradually, and the child gradually becomes accustomed to it.

Baby vision in the first months of life

The newborn baby is able to distinguish contrasts and changes in lighting. For example, he is able to detect flashes of light or notice that darkness changes to light in a room. This activates the eye-closing reflex so that the baby is not blinded.

Within days, the baby begins to separate the characters, albeit only vague. The mother’s face is one of the first things in the environment that the baby perceives. In addition to what the baby sees with his eyes, he is able to sense his mother’s sense of touch and smell, as well as through heat and sound.

When a baby is about two weeks old, he or she will be able to see objects at a distance of about 25 cm with some accuracy. Therefore, the baby is able to detect its mother during breastfeeding.

However, it takes 1-2 months before the baby is able to focus his vision well. He cannot see more than 30 cm away without his eyes going “crosswise”.

When does the baby start to see properly?

From about the second month of life, the baby already has some control over his vision, so he is able to focus his gaze on a certain point and see the point better. At this point, the baby is particularly interested in bright colors and shiny objects.

In the past, the baby has not been able to distinguish similar colors, but the contrasts between white and black, for example. As the third month progresses, the baby’s ability to see different colors improves.

From the third month onwards, the baby is attentive enough to notice more details, such as shirt buttons or toy parts.

Later, at the age of four months, the development of the baby’s vision progresses to its last stage, at which point he gradually acquires the following abilities:

• Tracking faces and objects with the eyes
• More accurate color separation
• Overall better vision
• Finding items

At about seven months of age, vision is fully developed, but it must be remembered that with each baby, this process progresses at its own pace.

Sight is not just an eye-dependent ability

Like many other human processes, seeing depends on the “central government” that controls everything we do, that is, the brain, of course.

It is therefore the case that although the baby’s eyes develop from the 26th week of pregnancy, the brain is not yet sufficiently developed to process that information.

The growth of the baby should be seen as a whole, not just as separate parts. As the eyes develop more, the baby’s central nervous system learns to make the necessary connections to control the signs.

These improvements can be seen mainly in the coordination of eye movements. They also make the images much sharper as well as improve the baby’s ability to interpret them.

In addition , the movements of the baby’s neck and back muscles become stronger, so the child is able to focus his gaze better in different directions.

So it’s normal for a baby to start focusing on their environment, as he or she will then be able to explore it whenever he or she wants – usually this phase begins in the tenth week of life.

Tips for maintaining your baby’s vision

• Do not expose your baby to sunlight for long periods of time.
• Take your child for all eye examinations recommended by your doctor.
• After six months of breastfeeding, start expanding your diet with healthy and nutritious foods.
• Cut the baby’s nails well and make sure he can’t injure himself with his hands or put objects in his eyes.

By doing this, you will help ensure that your child can live without eye problems in the future. From the moment he begins to see, that sense must be treated as it is – as one of the most important human abilities.