The visual system is the most complex sensory system in the human body. However, it is the least mature system at birth. Of course, babies have the anatomical structure for sight from birth, but they aren’t fully developed from birth. Many of their first months in the world are spent learning to see - in fact, learning to develop visual senses are more or less the first thing a child does. As children grow, more complex skills, like visual perception, develop.
At birth, your baby’s sense of hearing is a lot more developed than their sense of sight. Normal visual development is the change from just responding to simple brightness or high contrast, toward the organization of details into patterns and the ability to apply meaning to an object or picture.
Much like learning to walk and talk, your baby’s eyesight will also take time to develop and get stronger. Believe it or not, babies are not born with great eyesight, and definitely not the eye coordination they’ll need in life.The ability to focus their eyes, move them accurately, and use them together as a team must be learned. They also need to learn and understand the signal sent to your brain from being visually stimulated. At first, you may find your baby doesn’t properly react to visual cues, but this is perfectly normal. With practice, they will have better reflexes.
Vision, and how the brain uses visual information, are learned skills.
Right away, babies start to explore the world through their eyes. Before anything else, like rolling, crawling, sitting, reaching and grabbing, babies are learning visually and gathering information about the world.
There are many things parents can do to help their baby's vision develop properly. The following are some examples of age-appropriate activities that can assist an infant's visual development.
Birth to four months
- Use a nightlight or other dim lamp in your baby's room.
- Change the crib's position frequently and change your child's position in it.
- Keep reach-and-touch toys within your baby's focus, about eight to twelve inches.
- Talk to your baby as you walk around the room.
- Alternate right and left sides with each feeding
Make a photo of your baby trying to focus on a toy or Mom's face and upload it to the App. Write briefly how you develop your baby's focusing skills.
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