What Can Babies See

Birth to one month

Visual acuity, or the ability to see clearly, is about
20/200 at birth. If they could read, newborns could just see the
big "E" on an eye chart. They're not able to see objects clearly
more than 8 to 10 inches from their faces.

Newborns also have poor control over their eye focusing and
have difficulty adjusting to see clearly up close.

A baby's eyes don't always work together well. As a result, one
eye may occasionally drift inward or outward.

Because their eyes are not yet working as a team, newborns
lack depth perception and the ability to see in three dimensions.

The light sensitive lining at the back of the eye, the retina,
which is responsible for color perception, is not fully developed.
Therefore, color vision is poor. Babies at this age are more
attracted to objects with high contrast and patterns of black and
white.

Two to three months

By two months of age, visual acuity has improved to about
20/120.

Babies are beginning to see more subtle shadings and patterns.

Eye coordination is improving. Your baby should be able to
follow a moving object with his/her eyes, if it is not moving too
fast.

Babies are now able to focus and pay attention to the face of a
parent or other person near them.

Your baby will start reaching for things he/she sees.

Four to six months

Visual acuity is approximately 20/60.

Your baby can now see all colors, although color vision is not as
sensitive as an adults.

He/she will turn his/her head to look at bright colors and lights.

Your baby should recognize objects that he/she has seen and
played with before.

Babies can now see a three-dimensional view of the world.
This allows them to reach and grasp for a finger or rattle, clap
hands, or transfer objects from one hand to another.

Seven to twelve months

Visual acuity is now about 20/30. However, it will take another
year or two for visual acuity to reach normal adult levels of
20/20.

Your baby is now better able to judge distances.

Hand-eye coordination skills are developing, which allow your
baby to grasp and throw objects.

As babies grow, it is important they learn how to focus, move, and use
their eyes together as a team. Babies must also learn how to use the
visual information the eyes send to their brains to be able to understand
and interact with the world around them.

Even before they learn to reach and grab with their hands or crawl and
sit-up, babies are exploring the world with their eyes. And they need a
variety of activities to develop the visual skills they will use the rest of
their lives.

Parents can take steps to help promote the development of healthy
eyes and good vision including:

Babies who are breast-fed have
significantly better depth perception
as young children than babies fed
from formula, according to a study
published in the January 2007 issue
of American Journal of Clinical
Nutrition.

Scientists have previously thought
that the chemical known as
docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), an
omega-3 fatty acid - found in higher
concentrations in breast milk than in
formula - enhances the vision of
developing children.

Researchers in the United Kingdom
followed 262 children from birth until
four to six years of age. The study
found that the breast-fed children
were significantly more likely to score
higher on tests of stereo-acuity (depth
perception) than the formula-fed ones.