When a baby is born, his or her eyes are about 65% of their adult size. One week after birth the baby can see colors and can see about 8-10 inches away. At six weeks of age baby can see about 12 inches away. You can help your infant's vision by holding and feeding him or her on each side, left and right (Picture 1).
Your 2-month-old can see people and objects as far as 18 inches away. They may even be able to follow your movements when you're close by. Color differences are becoming clearer to your baby, and they'll start to distinguish shades such as red and yellow.
Birth to 4 months
Their primary focus is on objects 8 to 10 inches from their face or the distance to the parent's face. During the first months of life, the eyes start working together and vision rapidly improves.
Baby's eyes still wander and may sometimes cross, which could make you wonder: How far can a one-month-old see? They can now see and focus on objects that are about 8 to 12 inches away. They like black and white patterns and those in other contrasting colors.
What Can My Baby See? Babies this age can focus on shapes that are close by, but see distant objects as blurry because they are nearsighted.
From your smell and voice, your baby will quickly learn to recognise you're the person who comforts and feeds them most, but not that you're their parent. However, even from birth, your baby will start to communicate with signals when they're tired and hungry, or awake and alert. Your baby is learning all the time.
When your baby is between 1 and 3 months old, she'll be gradually gaining the strength needed to hold her head up. By around 2 months, while she's lying on her stomach, you might notice she can raise her head for just a few seconds at a time. These brief moments help strengthen the muscles in the back of her neck.
Young babies are indeed capable of seeing colors, but their brains may not perceive them as clearly or vividly as older children and adults do. The first primary color your baby can see is red, and this happens a few weeks into life.
By 3 to 4 months old they will be able to track objects and track in which direction you're looking. By 4 months old they will be able to distinguish different colors, even hues that are similar. After 4 months old they will be able to see very well into the distance, way past the 12 inches they saw at birth.
Just after birth, a baby sees only in black and white, with shades of gray. As the months go by, they will slowly start to develop their color vision at around 4 months. So you're not imaging it when you see your baby fixate on your face and eyes, especially during a feeding, when your face is about a foot away.
Good evidence suggests that screen viewing before age 18 months has lasting negative effects on children's language development, reading skills, and short term memory. It also contributes to problems with sleep and attention.
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that children under 18 months have no exposure to screens (unless they're video chatting with a family member or friend). And even kids older than 1½ should watch or play with screen-based media in small, supervised doses.
In your baby's first few months of life, the faces they see most often are yours! Given this exposure, your baby learns to recognize your face. Studies have shown that by three months of age your baby can discriminate between their mother's face and the face of a stranger.
Months 2 to 4: Your baby will start to recognize her primary caregivers' faces, and by the 4-month mark, she'll recognize familiar faces and objects from a distance.
According to most pediatric health experts, infants can be taken out in public or outside right away as long as parents follow some basic safety precautions. There's no need to wait until 6 weeks or 2 months of age. Getting out, and in particular, getting outside in nature, is good for parents and babies.
Your baby should do it often each day. Start tummy time soon after birth. In the first few weeks, try tummy time for 1-2 minutes, 2-3 times a day. Your baby can build up to 10-15 minutes, several times a day.
Your baby's vision: 2 to 3 months old
At this age, some babies may start to recognize faces (and treat you to a first smile) — but their sight is still fairly blurry. Babies who are born prematurely may take a bit longer to focus on your face, but don't fret: They will catch up developmentally.
By 3 months, a baby recognizes and calms to a parent's voice. By 6 months, babies turn their eyes or head toward a new sound and repeat sounds. By 12 months, babies make babbling sounds, responds to their name, imitate words, and may say a few words, such as "Mama" or "bye-bye."
Your baby is starting to look more closely at objects like small blocks and toys, and their eyes can follow objects moving in a circle or in an arc over their head. Around this time, your baby might still cry and fuss – this is a typical part of development and will pass in time.
Most babies' immune systems will be strong enough for kisses after 2 to 3 months. Until then, it's healthiest not to kiss the baby, painful though it may be.
If your baby is around 6 months old, you can offer small amounts of cooled boiled tap water but you should not replace their breastmilk or formula feeds. Breastmilk or formula should still be their main drink up to 12 months of age. After 12 months, their main drink should be water and cow's milk or breastmilk.
"Young children only really detect bold, primary colors; they probably discern reds and greens best, followed by blues and yellows," says Eliot. That's one good reason to deck out the nursery and choose infant toys in primary colors rather than pale pastels.
Don't lift your newborn by or under their arms
Your baby's head and neck muscles are very weak for the first few months. If you pick them up by or under their arms, you risk injuring their arms or shoulders. Worse, their head will dangle and could flop around, potentially causing a brain injury.
Head bobbing is caused by the use of neck muscles to assist in breathing. The child lifts the chin and extends the neck during inspiration and allows the chin to fall forward during expiration. Head bopping is most frequently seen in infants and can be a sign of respiratory failure.