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We hope that we can answer your questions to help you in the
care of your eyes. This page is not intended to subsitute for
visits to your eye care specialist, but merely serves as a
complementary service. If you have any unanswered questions
after reading this material, please call your ophthalmologist.
WHAT DOES YOUR BABY SEE? At birth your baby's eyes are almost fully developed, but their sight is still very poor. They will probably be checked by the pediatrician to see that they are of normal size and shape
and that they move together just after the birth.At about one week after birth, your baby will have started being able to recognize you and others close to her, not just by smell, but visually too. Even though baby sees a blurred picture at this stage, there are enough distinguishing features for her to recognize people close to her.
At about 6 weeks after birth, baby should be able to follow objects and her eyes should be working together. This last statement implies that a squint
at this stage is not normal and, if present, needs to be investigated further. Mothers tend to hesitate at this stage because they assume this condition always leads to surgery. This is not necessarily so as some squints can be treated by spectacles. A squint which is still present at 6 weeks of age needs
to be investigated further by an eye specialist.Eye sight develops just like crawling, standing, walking and talking. No
one can say at what exact age babies develop their visual skills, but they gradually learn to distinguish shapes, recognize colors and assess distance and space. At this time the ability to see 3-dimensionally is also busy developing.These aspects of vision can be stimulated by playing visual games and
giving baby lots of things to look at.Brightly colored mobiles attract babies. Place the mobile in different positions over the bed, allowing light to fall on it at different angles, thereby causing different visual effects. A white piece of paper with thick black marks on will also do. Babies enjoy looking into a mirror from about 3 months of age. When carrying baby around, let her peek over your shoulder and enjoy the view.
It is believed that at about 6 months of age a baby can see almost as well as an adult. Now baby enjoys toys of different colors, shapes and textures.
Make your communication with her a lot more visual, from 6 months onwards, using different facial expressions and gestures. Rolling a ball in front of baby is a good exercise to improve her tracking skills. Babies just love playing "peek-a-boo" or other peeping games and this also develops their visual skills.If your baby develops a squint, she will most likely be far-sighted.
Often this squint can be corrected by wearing the correct spectacles, but sometimes the muscles of the eye need to be operated in spite of the improvement brought about by the spectacles. This can only be determined by your ophthalmologist.Rarely, babies can be nearsighted, especially if one of their parents suffers from this condition. The necessary spectacles then have to be prescribed and worn. Most nearsightedness begins to develop in later childhood.
For clear vision to develop, the incoming light rays need to be focused on the retina and the retina in turn needs to develop properly. If these events do not occur, baby could end up with less than optimal sight. In many cases this is preventable, if the correct intervention is carried out in time.
If you feel you have any reason to be concerned in any way about baby's sight, take her for investigation to an eye specialist. If she starts squinting or was born with a squint, then it is even more imperative that she see an ophthalmologist promptly.
If you have any further questions regarding your baby's vision, please consult your eye specialist.