Postnatal Visual Development
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At birth, a baby's eyes should be examined for signs of
congenital eye problems. These are rare, but early diagnosis and treatment
are important to a child's development. Here we look briefly at the main
events in visual development up to the age of 2 years. For more detailed
information, contact the references for this information.
Neonate . A newborn can see
best at a distance of only 8 to 14 inches, about the distance from mother's
arms to her eyes. A neonate's vision is known to be between 20/200 - 20/600
on the Snellen chart, or about 10 to 30 times lower than normal adult
vision.
1-3 Month Old . By the end of this period an infant's distance
vision should improve dramatically and infants will start to gaze at objects
further and further away from them. However, human faces are still one
of their favourite things to look at. By the 2nd month, a baby's eye co-ordination
has improved enough to follow something moving from one side of his/her
face to the other. By 3 months, most babies will also display the beginnings
of hand-eye co-ordination, displaying this in reaching for objects, first
by chance and later more accurately.
A baby's ability to distinguish colour and form are also developing during
this period.
4-7 Month Old. As your baby begins to interact
more and more with his environment, you should notice a corresponding
increase in visual awareness. A 4-7 month old will enjoy more complex
designs now, and is more capable of distinguishing colours.
By the end of this period, most babies are able to focus far beyond the
metre or so (a few feet) they were capable of at 4 months. Most babies
will now also be able to track even rapid motion and are now often in
the process of practising newly acquired hand-eye co-ordination
8-12 Month Old . Most babies are now able
to see quite well and focus even on quickly moving objects and are now
at the stage of putting motor skills together with visual skills. For
example, a baby can spot a toy across the room, focus on it, crawl to
it, pick it up, and turn it over for visual scrutiny. Most babies will
begin to use both eyes together and judge distances and grasp and throw
objects with greater precision.
Crawling is important in developing eye-hand-foot-body co-ordination
1-2 Year Old . Between 1 and 2 years old,
a baby's sight will improve dramatically, with eye-hand co-ordination
and depth perception will continuing to develop and he or she will begin
to understand abstract terms.
The information in this page is presented in summarised form and has been taken
from the following source(s):
1. American Optometric Association, Children's Vision Section:
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Introduction
