Eye health is essential for everyone throughout life, beginning with the infancy stage and going all through the golden years. Perhaps you or your partner is pregnant and you’re starting to think about how you can best handle making sure your child has the best possible vision throughout life. Here’s a quick guide to infant eye development to get you started.
Vision at birth
When babies are born, their eyes and vision aren’t fully developed – they can only see about 8-10 inches in front of them (which is perfect for bonding with a parent, because that’s how far away their face is when holding the baby).
The brain doesn’t yet know how to interpret visual signals at birth, either. But as time goes on, these connections are made. At around 3 months of age, most infants will be able to track an object with their eyes.
5-8 months
So much happens during baby’s first year. At around 5 months of age, depth perception develops. Pretty good color vision is present during this period, though it’s not as good as adult vision yet. When crawling begins, at around 8 months, hand-eye-foot coordination tends to improve.
9-12 months
During this period, infants develop the ability to grasp objects with a thumb and forefinger, as well as just distances more effectively to throw things better. Many infants also begin walking during these months, with increases the visual information they receive and promotes the development of their vision.
Age 1-2
During this year, parents definitely have plenty of work to do, chasing around their toddler while they explore the world around them with gusto. Toddlers have solid depth perception, good hand-eye-foot coordination, and can see relatively far away. Drawing with crayons is another benchmark of their development.
Do you have questions about your infant’s vision development? Wondering whether you should be concerned about a symptom? Feel free to contact experienced ophthalmologist.
