Preparations 

How a one month old baby sees. Does the newborn see the world around

The birth of a baby is always a pleasant and solemn event in a young family. From the first days, newly-made parents have a lot of worries and questions. How does vision adapt and when does a newborn begin to see? What can distinguish, at what age does he recognize mom and dad?

How do newborn babies see after birth?

For the first time in several weeks, the baby only eats and sleeps. And it seems to many parents that his vision is at the stage of development. But pediatricians say that a child begins to see from the very first minutes after birth.

Features of vision: from 1 to 6 months:

  • 1st month. Vision is blurry, without a clear focus on the object of interest. The eyes of a newborn are just beginning to get used to the new world. He clearly sees only at a distance of 15-20 cm. Very often you can notice how, after childbirth, the child squints his eyes, thereby closing the corneas from bright light;
  • At two months. The ability to focus on one thing for only a few seconds, but the look is not yet stable and sliding (floating);
  • 3-4th month of life. The ability to consider an object of interest and follow its movement (children's toys, people close to him). At the age of three months, a newborn already knows how to distinguish colors. Some of the first are shades of red and yellow;
  • Six months. At 6 months of age, the child recognizes his loved ones, their special features of appearance (mustache, beard, tattoos). They especially prefer to look at various color patterns, paintings, photographs.

At what weeks (months) do babies begin to see well?

Adaptation of visual perception in children occurs gradually. In the first month, the baby closely examines and studies the face of his mother. At such moments, his gaze is not focused on one object. The baby sees the objects located near him, but he is not yet able to concentrate on one.

Consider what a newborn sees after birth (by week):

  • 1-4 weeks - vision is fuzzy and blurry (as if in a fog);
  • 6-8 - able to hold his gaze on the objects around him (up to ten seconds);
  • 16 weeks - the ability to track the movement of objects and the movements of people. At this age, the baby is able to recognize mom and dad, smile, make sounds and coo;
  • 24 weeks (6 months) - sees well in an upright position. At six months, the baby focuses intently on his favorite toys and small objects. In addition, his vision is able to distinguish the faces of mom, dad, close relatives and strangers.

What does the child like to look at?

It has been noticed that babies at the age of 3 months like to watch what is happening, developing their worldview:

  • most of all, the newborn focuses on the faces of his parents. He recognizes his mother and father, looks at the characteristic features of the face, and therefore reacts negatively and emotionally to people he does not know.
  • a sudden change in appearance is a subject of special interest and observation in children. For example, if dad shaved off his beard, grew a mustache, shaved his head, this can cause discontent and loud crying.
  • After 2 months, the child looks with interest at the patterns on the wallpaper, black and white figures, photo pictures and other bright objects.

How to establish contact with the baby?

The gradual development of the visual abilities of a newborn is possible only with the direct participation of parents. What needs to be done to attract attention to yourself and establish contact with him?

To create conditions for the child that can improve his viewing perception of the environment, observe the following nuances and subtleties:

  • it is easier for an infant to focus his eyes while in an upright position. Hold your little one in a “column” as often as possible, especially after feeding and while awake;
  • look closely at the cilia, sometimes they may not grow evenly, which can lead to damage to the eyelashes and distortion of vision;
  • the objects in question should be at the optimal distance for the infant's vision (no further than 25 cm);
  • properly hang a cradle and rattles by the crib. Children's play accessories should be hung on the side, not in front of the child's head. Another option is to hang toys in legs. In this position, the baby will better see the object in question, while not straining the neck muscles.

So, we examined the main stages in the development of vision in children, after their birth. Now, knowing how a newborn sees, the features of his visual sensation, you don’t have to worry too much. However, only a qualified doctor can understand whether vision develops correctly, whether there are deviations from the norm.

Newly made mom and dad begin to communicate with their baby from the first days of his life. And while the baby is sleeping, questions usually do not arise. Another situation is during wakefulness. The baby's eyes are cloudy, all the time they mow somewhere, the look is not focused. Parents often wonder if their child sees them, recognizes them.

The ability of children to sleep soundly after birth, even if the room is noisy, also causes doubt - does the baby hear? In this article, we will tell you what and how your newborn sees and hears.


Development of hearing and vision before birth

Children begin to hear even during pregnancy: in general terms - from the 17th week of pregnancy, and consciously and clearly - at the 27th week.

Embryogenesis of hearing is very complex and lengthy. The formation of the rudiments of the inner ear begins at about 5 weeks. At 8 weeks, the structures of the middle ear are formed, the outer ear (auricle) takes shape already in the last three months, and the cartilage tissue of the auricle hardens just shortly before childbirth.

Until the middle of the gestation period, the labyrinth is being formed. It becomes hard by 17-18 weeks, the hardening of the auditory ossicles continues and this lasts almost until birth.



The baby in the mother's womb begins to pick up the first sounds at 16-17 weeks, and so far these are not at all the sounds that we perceive with you. The baby picks up individual sounds from the outside, listens to her mother's heart, peristalsis of her intestines, blood flow, voice, but his brain does not yet analyze the sounds, because the cerebral cortex has not yet been formed. Thus, the fetus catches the vibrations created by the sound waves.

To fully capture sounds, that is, to hear and analyze sound, the baby begins only at the end of the second trimester. Already in the womb, he can turn his head to the sound. But the sounds for him sound muffled, this is facilitated by the amniotic fluid, the dense abdominal wall of the mother. After birth, auditory functions will have to adapt to new conditions of existence.


With vision, everything is a little easier. Visual tubercles (prototypes of future eyes) begin to form from the second week of pregnancy. From the 4th week, the formation of the lenses begins, and the eyelids and sclera are formed by the middle of pregnancy.

As in the case of the sound recognition center, the center of vision in the brain appears by the beginning of the third trimester. From that moment on, the fetus begins to differentiate between light and dark, night and day. By the time of birth, the eyes of the crumbs are formed, but they are distinguished by the immaturity of all its departments.


Thus, the child begins to see and hear even in utero, before his birth. But this is a qualitatively different vision and hearing.

Features of hearing after birth

A child comes into this world hearing well. He, if there are no pathologies or anomalies in the development of the hearing organs, from the very first minutes appears to appreciate what a monstrously loud world he has come to. Sounds fall unexpectedly and plunge the baby into stress. Any loud sound can cause a reflex startle.

For the first month, all your fairy tales and songs, as well as the lisping of grandparents, are an empty phrase for a baby. He is in the process of adaptation and is not yet able to recognize familiar and unfamiliar sounds. But already at 1 month, the baby begins to listen to voices.


The first thing he catches is intonation. From the first weeks of life, the baby will feel precisely intonations. What exactly will mom say at the same time - a fairy tale or formulas from the field of nuclear physics in a sincere voice - does not matter.

By the age of three months, the child’s auditory center is synchronized with the speech center, and in response to a familiar sound, the baby will already be able to respond with a welcome splash of hands, intonation “gooks”. By six months, children are perfectly oriented in where the sound comes from, turn their heads to the sound, and react to their own name.


If you really want to please your baby with gentle songs and poems, memorize them by the age of six months. At 5-6 months, the baby will be able to appreciate them.

What does the child see?

A newborn child visually perceives the world as accumulations of dim spots of various sizes without pronounced boundaries. Clear vision in the first weeks of life is absent. And therefore, at least it makes no sense to place bright toys and a mobile above the newborn's crib, at least until the age of 1 month.

Already in a month, the baby can distinguish some large objects that are taken from his face at a distance of about 40 centimeters. But the baby is not yet able to keep his eyes on him. The eye muscles are too weak for the child to focus in a static position.

The vision of a baby up to a month is not black and white, as some people think, and it is also not upside down. Children see everything in a normal position in space, but blurry (due to physiological farsightedness). Because of the small eyeballs, image formation occurs outside the retina rather than on it.


A newborn child has a developed visual reflex - if you shine a flashlight in the face of a child, he will twitch, close his eyes and may even cry. When he turns three full weeks old, the baby will begin to see blurry spots almost in color - the formation of color vision begins. This means that the baby cannot yet see the mother and distinguish her from other people visually, but this does not mean at all that he knows her, he simply perceives the closest person, the baby, with the help of tactile sensations and a familiar smell.

After a month, the baby begins to keep his eyes on a static object, however, he is only capable of this for a very short time. At 2 months, the focus of the gaze on the subject becomes longer and, hooray - the baby begins to see the mother's face and distinguish her from other faces. At the same age comes the ability to recognize the color red.

At three months, the baby begins to follow the object with his eyes, he succeeds well if the object of interest to him moves smoothly. Yellow is added to the colors that the baby sees and distinguishes.

By the end of the fifth month of life, the child can distinguish the colors of the spectrum, including green and blue, he recognizes loved ones and can consider objects at a distance of a meter from him. At 6 months, the child looks intelligently and fixedly, vision becomes stereoscopic, three-dimensional. Starting from 7 months, the child consciously evaluates objects, the distance between them, switches his attention from nearby objects to distant ones and vice versa.


How to help the baby develop the senses?

Thus, after birth, the baby every day will improve his perception of the world - auditory and visual. The task of loving parents at this stage is to help the child so that the adaptation processes are more comfortable.

For the development of hearing, you need to talk with the baby more often, let him listen to various sounds - high-frequency, mid-frequency and low-frequency. Turn on the baby music, preferably classical. Try to exclude too loud and harsh sounds, but you should not leave the child in complete silence either.

Accompany all developmental activities, bathing, massage, daily gymnastics with conversations with the baby, songs and rhymes, jokes, sing lullabies to him. At first, the baby will only perceive intonation nuances, but will gradually learn to listen to words.


It should be noted that the development of the ability to listen and hear develops speech skills, because by the age of 3-4 months most babies are trying to walk, repeat the combinations of sounds they have heard.

For the development of vision, it is necessary that the baby's room is well lit with natural sunlight. Twilight slows down the development of the organs of vision.

Toys and rattles should be hung at a distance of 40 to 60 centimeters from the level of the face. The crib in the room must be placed so that the mother could approach it both on the right and on the left. Then the baby will perceive the world around him from two sides.

Rattles and other toys need to be chosen in the color that the baby already knows how to see, from 2 months - red, from three - red and yellow, from six months - all colors. There should be no mirrors or sources of artificial lighting near the crib in the nursery.


From a month and a half, you can show your child contrasting black and white geometric shapes drawn by mom on a piece of paper or printed from the Internet. With a three-month-old baby, classes should be carried out using bright and colored objects and drawings.

Walking in the fresh air, you need to pay the baby's attention to birds, animals, cars and people. So the baby will quickly learn to confidently follow moving objects.


The main thing that parents can do for the development of children's senses is to carefully observe the behavior of the child. If alarming symptoms are detected, it is imperative to show the child to the appropriate specialist.

Signs of pathologies

Hearing problems can be suspected by the lack of reaction to a sharp sound. A newborn must necessarily react to it with fright, shivering, closing his eyes.

If a baby at 2-3 months does not respond to a voice addressed to him, to the sound of rattles, this is a good reason for a visit to a narrow specialist - an audiologist. Sometimes babies can hear only low and medium frequencies, and not perceive high ones. This will indicate a certain degree of hearing loss. You can check this by pouring a little semolina into a glass or metal jar. Shake the jar over the baby's head. If he shows a reaction to the sound, everything is in order with hearing.


Vision problems are less amenable to self-diagnosis at home. But parents are required to contact an ophthalmologist if a child at the age of 1 month has no pupil reaction to bright light (the pupil does not narrow), if at the age of three months he does not fix his eyes and does not try to look at silent objects.

Problems may be indicated by the lack of the ability to follow the eyes of the mother moving around the apartment and moving toys above the crib. And at six months, a child with visual perception problems may not recognize his mother and not distinguish her from strangers.

The appearance of a baby is undoubtedly a significant event for parents, stress, accompanied by a flurry of positive emotions. For adults, the question always arises when a child begins to see, at how many months he recognizes mom and dad. The judgment that after birth in the first days children do not see or hear anything is erroneous. Some women in labor think that the development of hearing and vision occurs gradually, but not everyone knows that the formation of biological organs develops in children in different ways.

The eyes of the baby are planned in the womb by the eighteenth week of pregnancy. Already at 7 months, the baby's eyeball is formed. After the appearance, when the newborn begins to squint his eyes, this means that he has a normal body reaction to light. In the first hours and days, children are provided with subdued lighting, this helps them gradually adapt. After birth, the baby perceives the world as vague, obscure outlines.

  • When the baby appears, he feels the light.
  • In the first month, foggy and fuzzy objects become more understandable for him, the baby can follow the movement of adults.
  • At 3-4 months, the baby stops looking at toys.
  • At 5-6 months, the baby observes surrounding objects as much as he likes, recognizes loved ones.

Physiological functions in infants develop gradually. After birth, they see everything in black and white, but by 3 months they recognize red and yellow tones. Parents should be aware that the ability to perceive colors with various nuances comes later, so toys are selected taking into account the characteristics of the baby. Only at the end of the first year the child will be able to distinguish some shades of primary colors.

Stages of vision development

Thanks to the ability to see, the baby develops mentally and physically. Receiving information from the outside world, its emotional qualities are improved.

At first, when the newborn begins to see, he focuses his attention on a small gap - 20-30 cm. From the moment of birth, it is difficult for the baby to control his eyes, and wandering pupils sometimes converge at the bridge of the nose. In moments of communication with his mother, he unconsciously studies her face. Very simple games with a baby help the development of eye muscles. Children develop differently, and this is an obvious fact, so the question of how much it is necessary to deal with him in order to strengthen the eyes is decided individually.

  • In the first month, moving a bright rattle in front of the baby's face, others notice how happy he is, fascinated and watching her with curiosity.
  • Up close, he reacts to his mother's gaze: with the slow movement of her eyes from side to side, he follows them.

Simultaneously with the development of the ability to track objects, the baby is shown toys that are more diverse in color and cheerful bright pictures. At 4 months, with the acquisition of some motor skills, he can reach for an object and wrap his arms around it. As the child grows, it is important that the child has enough variety of small toys to hold onto. After 7-9 months, the baby's vision is already normally formed, he sees everything from afar, distinguishes people's faces, despite the fact that he is still interested in close objects.

How to determine the quality of vision in a child

On their own, none of the parents will be able to understand how well the eyes of the child are formed. If necessary, additionally adults will be helped by some observations that may alert:

  • after 3-4 months, the baby cannot keep his eyes on the subject;
  • brings toys too close to see, or he squints;
  • the baby constantly rubs his eyes with his hands;

The period of adaptation of a child is a difficult process for both him and his parents, so contacting doctors at the first sign of negative symptoms will protect you from more serious complications in the future.

Reasons for serious concern

Babies are usually examined by narrow specialists in different areas. A visit to an ophthalmologist is no exception. Parents should not disregard any deviations, even minor ones. Reasons to see a doctor may include:

  • the eyes are in motion, but the child is not able to fix the look;
  • one or both pupils are close to the bridge of the nose, or they roll up;
  • white and slightly cloudy pupils;
  • tearing, excessive light sensitivity.

Vision in premature babies

In most cases, babies born prematurely adapt easily with proper care, their physical development in the future may not differ from the formation of the most important organs of full-term children. But there is a risk of acquiring a disease such as retinopathy, and for this there are some prerequisites:

  • retinal disorders occur in some children with an initial weight after birth of less than 2 kg;
  • pathology may appear during the procedure of artificial lung ventilation;
  • Prenatal infection, brain vascular lesions, and other factors have a negative impact on the child's eyes.

The work of specialists with premature babies is to constantly monitor them, and many mothers, especially inexperienced ones, must trust doctors who do everything to prevent the development of diseases in newborns at the beginning of their detection. In recent years, thanks to modern equipment and the high professionalism of doctors, such children grow up to be healthy and strong people.

Observing the world around him, as the baby grows, he pays more and more attention to people and various objects. You can always determine by the reaction of the baby and the expression on his face his attitude to everything. Parents with delight and tenderness notice how after a while the child comes to life, his look becomes meaningful, and he shows interest in what is happening around.

It is often said that for several days a newborn child does not have the opportunity to see the world around him, as well as to hear various sounds. But this is an erroneous opinion or rather a myth.

When, what and how newborns see

The organs of vision in a baby work as expected from the very first moment of birth. Most newly born children can see the objects around them through a kind of haze and blur. Thus, there is a gradual adaptation of the organs of vision. The child has a reflex feature to squint his eyes, or even keep them closed. But you can also meet such babies who for some time, after being born, keep their eyes open, and you can even notice some interest in what is happening in them.

What does a newborn see?

  • The ability to respond to bright lighting, or its complete absence.
  • The ability to distinguish some objects of a larger size from the overall picture.
  • The ability to monitor the movement of large objects, including people.
  • When a child reaches the age of three or four months, the ability to follow objects and toys that are in motion appears.
  • At six months, a child can closely observe smaller objects, and even distinguish between them, recognizing his toys.

What does the baby like to look at?

  • The most favorite things that kids love to look at are the faces of their parents. Most often this is the face of the father, who has more distinct features.
  • A change in the appearance of the parents can cause anxiety and some dissatisfaction in the child. At the same time, children often begin to act up, turn away, or even cry at all.
  • Love for a variety of pictures and photographs, especially black and white.

How do newborns see?

  • During the first week of a child's life, he can look at the same thing for several seconds.
  • At the age of two months, the child already manages to focus his gaze on an object for a short time.
  • At four months, the baby can already fully focus on the subject of interest to him.
  • Often in young children, you can notice how they slightly squint their eyes. This happens due to the impossibility of using both eyes at the same time. This can be considered normal until the age of six months. With further detection of such a deficiency, it is necessary to contact a specialist.

How to make contact?

  • Newborn babies focus much better when they are in an upright position.
  • You need to be patient and wait for the baby to focus his eyes.
  • A newborn baby sees objects and faces that are no further than 20-25 cm.
  • Toys above the playpen or crib are best hung not in front of the baby's face, but on the side or near his legs.

Knowing all the nuances and subtleties of how and when your baby begins to see, you can easily find a common language with him and easily establish your first contact. This is very important not only for parents, but also for the baby himself.

Synonyms:

  • when do newborns start seeing
  • how a newborn sees
  • how newborns see
  • can newborns see

A newborn baby is born with the ability to see. But like any person who comes out of the darkness, he squints from the bright light.

Therefore, in the first moments of his life, reduce the brightness of the light. Plus, the baby may have slightly swollen eyelids, because the head, passing through the birth canal, has become a little squeezed. In this regard, the newborn in the first hours sees this world in a vague way. But it happens that a born child immediately after birth looks at this world with open eyes. And in this look, which can last up to an hour, real interest is read.

For several days, the newborn only occasionally opens his eyes, and then not for long - this is quite normal. Newborns begin to see from birth, but will be able to see them more clearly from a distance of 20-25 centimeters. And this is exactly the distance between the eyes of the mother and the newborn during breastfeeding. If you are impatient to make contact with the child, catch the moment when his eyes are wide open and approach him at a distance of 20-25 cm.

When a newborn begins to see - How to attract attention?

- Take the baby in your arms, so that he is in an upright position
- Give him some time to concentrate
- Show an object at a distance of 25 cm from the child's face.
- When communicating with him, use facial expressions, but speak in a calm, quiet voice.

When a newborn begins to see - What do they like to look at?

The most favorite object of study of a newborn is ... The human face! Especially favorite for him will be the face of mom and dad. So give them the opportunity to stare at your faces. There is something about them that is so ... unusual and attractive. When playing "watchers" with your child, you may suddenly find that the baby likes to look at daddy's face more. Why? Just because he has a more distinct outline, and even if he has a beard and mustache, this adds contrast to him. By priority after faces, black-and-white pictures (patterns or photographs) can become a favorite subject of looking at.

Newborns in their choice of subjects under consideration are very picky. So, for example, if the mother showed the baby all the time in glasses, and then took them off, he may even turn away, as if digesting the changes that have occurred: “What happened to this picture?” This once again confirms that newborns can store pictures and faces of relatives in their memory.

How a newborn sees - Unfocused gaze

Sometimes parents notice that the child's eyes squint at times. Non-constant (periodic) squinting of the eyes in the newborn age is normal. But if the eyes mow constantly - it is better to consult a doctor. Up to about 6 months, babies can squint their eyes from time to time. Newborns do not look at the same time with both eyes and the visual image does not fall on the retina in the same place.

This is the result of a still insufficient depth of perception. As you grow, your eyes will become more focused. The process of binocular vision develops from 6 weeks of age to 4 months.

How to determine if a newborn has strabismus?

It happens that the child has a wide bridge of the nose. Because of this feature, the distance between the eyes is large. Therefore, parents may think that their eyes are squinting. But it's not. To check, shine a small flashlight into the baby's eyes. And look, the reflections from the light in the eyes of the baby are in one place or not. If in one eye the reflection is in the center of the pupil, and in the second - in a different place, then the muscles in the second eye are weaker. You need to tell your doctor about this. This is how they check eyesight during check-ups of a newborn.

How a newborn sees - Learning to look

A child in the first weeks of life rarely stops his gaze on anything for more than a few seconds. Even a couple of months after birth, when he has already learned to focus his eyes better, he does not delay him, but, as it were, glides over an object or face. Only by the 4th month, the baby will learn to focus on the subject. By the way, babies in an upright position can focus their eyes on a face or object for a longer time, so if you want to play a little staring with him, take him in an upright position.