How will my baby’s vision develop?

Your baby learns to see over a period of time - very much like how they learn to walk and talk. Vision, and how the brain uses the visual information, are learned skills. Eye and vision problems in infants can cause developmental delays.

Newborn

At birth, your baby will only see things in black, white and shades of grey.

At 3 months

From newborn to 3 months of age, your baby’s eyes can only focus on objects about 20 to 30cm away or the distance to your face when they are being fed or carried. He/she will then begin to follow moving objects with their eyes at around 3 months of age.

At 6 months

Depth perception is not present at birth. It is not until 5 months of age that your baby’s eyes are capable of working together to form a three-dimensional view of the world and begin to have the ability to judge if objects are nearer or further away. Colour vision is more developed now and he/she should be able to see all the colours of the rainbow.

At 12 months

Your baby will start to judge distances very well and recognize faces. They develop better eye-hand coordination such as crawling.

When should my baby have his/her first eye examination?

The first eye exam should be between the age of 6 and 12 months old, even if no eye or vision problems are apparent. The optometrist will test for excessive or unequal amounts of short-sightedness, long-sightedness and astigmatism. It is important to identify every child's eye movement ability, eye health problems as well as any vision development complications as it is easier to correct if treatment begins early.

References:

http://www.aoa.org/patients-and-public/good-vision-throughout-life/childrens-vision/infant-vision-birth-to-24-months-of-age?sso=y
http://www.eyes4kids.com/eye-facts-milestone.php
http://www.allaboutvision.com/parents/infants.htm
http://www.aapos.org/terms/conditions/131