Will my baby be blind at birth?
No, your baby can see immediately after birth but only limited vision, as they weren’t able to train this sense in the uterus. However, from the 28th week of pregnancy, they can already distinguish between light and darkness. Once in the world, however, they can only see things no more than 20-30 cm from their face. At this distance, they also already control lateral, peripheral vision.
When will my baby be able to see clearly and far away?
Your baby's vision is blurred at first because it first has to train its visual muscles. Since this is very tiring, it will take a few months before they can see things clearly in the distance. Also, your baby will still be extremely sensitive to light in the first few weeks after birth, as their brain must first learn to process all the stimuli in their environment.
By the third month, they can see about eight feet. They continue to increase this distance from week to week. Between the fifth and eighth month, three-dimensional vision develops, which means that your baby can perceive its environment much better and wants to explore. At this point in time, however, their visual acuity is only around 50%.
Does my child see double?
Up to the age of three months, your baby sees twice. That's because their brain sees the same image from both eyes. Only then does spatial vision develop and your little treasure can combine the information that it takes in with both eyes into a common picture. At the same time, their sensitivity to light decreases significantly.
When will my baby recognise colours?
Immediately after birth, your baby can perceive its environment in black, white and grey levels of brightness. However, after the first two weeks of life they can recognise the colours red, yellow, orange and green. Your child perceives red objects particularly intensively, as they remind them of the time in your belly during pregnancy.
After four weeks, high-contrast objects are also very interesting because the optic nerve is constantly developing and contrasts stimulate it.
By the third month, the corresponding receptors are developing, through which your baby can then also recognise the colours blue and purple.
When will my child be able to recognise faces?
Your baby can recognise your face shortly after birth because you carry them close to you. Since you are in close contact with them all the time, your baby will recognise your face fairly quickly.
From the ninth week of life, they can already see over a greater distance and thus also perceives other faces in its immediate vicinity. They can also recognise the facial expressions of its counterpart and will try to understand the differences by comparing the reactions with its behaviour.
You can make this learning process easier for them by initially exaggerating your lip movements and facial expressions to make them clearer. This will make it easier for your baby to associate feelings with different facial expressions.
Your child's sense of sight will develop on its own over time. Don't put any pressure on yourself or the baby. If you want to support them in this learning process, you can use mobiles, fabric cushions or colourful teething toys to train their visual perception and hand-eye coordination.
Frequently taking them for walks in the daylight will also have a positive effect on their development. As a result, your time together will not only have a positive effect on your bond, but also on your baby's senses.
