Develop your baby's vision!

The visual system is the most complex sensory system in the human body. However, it is the least mature system at birth. Though they have the anatomical structures needed for sight, infants have not learned to use them yet. Much of their first weeks and months are spent learning to see. As children grow, more complex skills, like visual perception, develop.

At birth, the sense of hearing is much more dominant than the 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.

Babies learn to see over a period of time, much like they learn to walk and talk. They are not born with all the visual abilities they need in life. The ability to focus their eyes, move them accurately, and use them together as a team must be learned. Also, they need to learn how to use the visual information the eyes send to their brain in order to understand the world around them and interact with it appropriately. 

Vision, and how the brain uses visual information, are learned skills.

From birth, babies begin exploring the wonders in the world with their eyes. Even before they learn to reach and grab with their hands or crawl and sit-up, their eyes are providing information and stimulation important for their development.

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.