Your Baby’s Vision Development

Your baby will spend much of his or her first three years learning how to see. The many different vision skills developed now will serve your child throughout life. There are many ways you can help. Unless you notice a need, your child’s first visit to a doctor of Optometry for a thorough vision examination should be at age six months.

The first four months your newborn sees a blurred world of light and dark patterns. Within the first four months, however, he or she should begin to follow moving objects with the eyes and to reach for things, first by chance and later more accurately, as hand-eye coordination and depth perception begin to develop.

THINGS YOU CAN DO ARE:

• Use a night light or other dim lamp in your baby’s room.
• Change the crib’s position frequently and your baby’s position in it.
• Hang a mobile outside and above the crib.
• Keep reach-and-touch objects within your baby’s focus, about eight to twelve inches.
• Toys should be large enough no to be swallowed.
• Talk to your baby as you walk around the room, giving him or her a target to follow.
• Alternate right and left sides with each feeding.

At four to six months your baby should now begin to turn from side to side and use his or her arms and legs. Eye movement control and eye/body coordination skills should develop further.

• Allow your baby to explore different textures and shapes with his or her fingers
• Hang objects across the crib to foster eye-hand-foot coordination.
• Play “patty cake” with your baby.

At six to eight months both eyes should focus equally now.

• Allow your child freedom to crawl and explore.
• Play “peek-a-boo” with toys or faces.
• Provide stuffed animals and other objects with details.
• Have older children play in the same room. Your baby will imitate them within the limits of his or her own development.

At eight to twelve months your baby should be mobile now, crawling and pulling himself or herself up.

• He or she now will begin to use both eyes together to judge distances and can grasp and throw objects with greater precision.
• Do not encourage early walking. Crawling is important in developing eye-hand
• foot body coordination.
• Give your baby stacking and take-apart toys.
• Provide objects your baby can touch, hold and see at the same time.

At one to two years your child’s eye=hand coordination and depth perception should become well developed and he or she will begin to understand abstract terms.

• Encourage walking.
• Help your baby play with building blocks, simple puzzles and balls.
• Provide opportunities to climb and explore indoors an out.
• Provide a rocking horse or riding toys pushed with the feet to help develop eye-hand-foot coordination.

Your two and three year old will become more interested in exploring his or her environment and in looking and listening.

• Read or tell your toddler stories to prepare for learning to read.
• Provide tools for drawing, painting and coloring.
• Allow time for outdoor activities.

TOYS AND ACTIVITIES FOR YOUR CHILD

Toys: Sturdy crib mobiles and gyms; bright large rattles and rubber squeak toys.

Activities: Peek-a-boo; patty-cake.

Toys: Stuffed animals; floating bath toys.

Activities: Hide-and-Seek with toys.

Toys: Sturdy cardboard books; take-apart toys; snap-lock beads; blocks; stacking/nesting toys.

Activities: Roll a ball back-and-forth.

Toys: Bright balls; blocks; zippers; rocking horse; riding toys pushed with the feet.

Activities: Throwing a ball.

Toys: Pencils, markers, crayons, bean bag/ring toss games; peg hammering toys; sorting shapes/sizes toys; puzzles; blocks. Activities: Read to child; outdoor play; catch.

Toys: Building toys with large snap-together components; stringing beads; puzzles; pegboards; crayons; finger paint; chalk; modeling clay; simple sewing cards; large balls; match-up-shape toys; tricycle; follow-the-dot games; sticker books/games.

Activities: Climbing, running, using a balance beam, playground equipment.