Newborn Baby Vision: What Can Babies See

It was long considered that the new-born child was blind. Today, these ideas are outdated and experiments have revealed sensitivity to light from the seventh month of intrauterine life. Although imperfect, the vision of the newborn is an endless source of exploration in the new world.

Early studies on the neonates vision is dated back to the fifties. Robert Fantz thought the fascination of babies to new things is to be considered a sort of silent language.

Two distinct concepts

The study of vision in the newborn includes two different concepts: On one hand is what the child perceives and on the other hand is the expression of view in the relationship of the infant to his environment.

Intrauterine life

In 1983, it was shown with the aid of ultrasound that the foetus's eyes open in the amniotic fluid from the sixteenth week of intrauterine life. In addition, exposure of the womb to bright light flashes causes an acceleration of their heart rate and agitation of their members. Seven months after its conception, the baby sees.

Birth

The new-born is capable, at birth, to fix his gaze. This informs us about the photo motor reflexes in babies. The newborn can track an object on an arc of 90 ° (a quarter circle). Furthermore, it supports the continuation of an eye joint rotation of the head, provided that the stimulus is presented at a suitable distance and is sufficiently attractive because of its contrast, its intensity or its movement.

After birth the newborn begins to breathe regularly and begins to open his eyes for a longer time. There are significant differences between children. Some babies are lively, others much more sleepy and less passive. Apart from external factors (such as time of delivery, medications, etc..)...this difference is due to the growth of the nervous system.

At birth, distance does not affect the newborn's vision. The distance appears fixed at birth, around 18-20 cm. At the age of 3 months, the vision is excellent and even superior to that of an adult. At 4 weeks, he is capable to eye toys that are in front of him. At 6 weeks, he eyes the people who move around the room. At 8 weeks, he follows a moving object on more than 90° and at 12 weeks, he is able to follow an object from one side to another. Around at 3 or 4 months, he follows movements of objects with his eyes by turning the head. At 6 months, he tries to see what interests him by changing position. It is not until 12 months that he can follow objects that move rapidly.

Modern studies confirm that infants show a visual preference for new images. It appears that infants who have a delay in intellectual development have also inferior visual capabilities. Infants who are not affected in seeing new images have a disadvantage over those who are interested as they have had obstetric and postnatal complications.

Sources:

http://www.askbaby.com/post-birth-0.htm