What do Babies See During Their First Month?

When a baby is newly born, his vision is blurry, but it will improve in a few months. It will start from 20/400 vision and will develop until it becomes 20/20 by age three to five. Hence, the visual development of your baby is the most crucial for the first few months.  

(Photo: unsplash/Ana Tablas)
During their first month, babies can see from a distance of 8 to 12 inches.

Vision development of one-month old babies 

During the first month of existence, babies are attracted to light sources but do not worry as their eyes are still not sensitive to light, so it would not affect their ability to sleep. They could track objects horizontally across midline specializing in faces of his parents or caregiver. They could also make eye contact and focuses their gaze on their caregiver of up to ten seconds. 

Below is a week by week vision development of your baby's vision. Do take note that these are just guidelines, and if your baby does not follow them, it does not mean that something is wrong with your baby. 

Week 1 - blurry, black, and white 

Baby can see objects that are about 8 to 12 inches in front of him and could only hold their gaze for only a few seconds. The distance is approximately from his face to the mother's face while feeding. 

The baby's vision during this time is only black and white, with some shades of gray. Thus, they appreciate contrasting colors in bold geometric patterns. After a few months, they would start seeing colors; that generally begins around four months. 

(Photo: unsplash/castlenon)

Week 2 - Identification

Babies start recognizing their caregiver's face by week 2. For a few seconds, play and smile with your baby and still around the same distance of 8 to 12 inches. When something is removed from their sight, they forget its existence. 

Week 3 - Staring 

By this time, your baby's attention span is quite longer than he did a week ago, but he might be able to recognize your face. Your baby might be able to hold his gaze of up to ten seconds. It would be wise to make funny faces in front of your baby and encourage playtime by placing bold-pattern toys in front of him to stimulate his vision. 

(Photo: unsplash/Colin Maynard)

Week 4 - Moves back and forth

When your baby reaches his fourth week, he might be able to look at things back and forth. Do not expect him to move only his eyes as this development happens from about two to four months old, what he does instead is to turn his entire head to look at things and people around him that his gaze could reach. 

Although these are the general milestones that your baby might undergo, it still differs from each baby. Do not worry when your child does not meet all these a hundred percent because each child develops at his own pace. 

Do not compare your child with other children because it will just help you to panic for no reason. What you should do instead is to follow your pediatrician's advice when it is time for a visit because your baby's doctor will make sure that your baby's visual and other developments are right on track.