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How your Baby's Vision Develops during the First Few Years

Track Baby’s Sight Development Milestones

Tracking your baby’s firsts is fun and rewarding—from first steps to first words. Have you wondered how your baby’s vision develops over the first few years? Vision evolves rapidly during a child’s first year of life. So, there are many baby sight development milestones to track! Visionworks is on a mission to simplify eye care. Instilling good eye health practices at a young age is the best way to promote healthy vision for life. So, we’re covering baby sight development from birth to year one and beyond. Additionally, our experts provide tips for supporting early vision development.

Close up on baby's eyes

Baby Vision Development from Birth to Year One and Beyond

  1. The First 6 Months

    In the first six months, a baby’s eyes are only 65% of the size they will be when fully grown. So, little people have a long way to go in vision development! A baby’s nerve cells and retina are not fully developed at this stage. Therefore, newborn babies cannot yet distinguish objects in front of them or move their eyes rapidly from one thing to another. Babies mostly focus on objects from 8–10 inches from their faces and can only see in shades of grey. Additionally, they have a sensitivity to light.

    By 8 weeks of age, babies have begun to focus on faces and to gain control of eye movements, improving hand-eye coordination. At 12 weeks, babies can follow moving objects with their eyes and reach out to grab them. Depth perception improves noticeably at around 20 weeks. During the first 6 months, it is normal for a baby’s eyes to wander or look crossed. However, they typically to grow out of this. To ensure baby’s vision progresses normally, we recommend having your child’s first eye exam at age 6 months.

  2. 6 Months to a Year

    After the 6-month mark, babies continue rapid eyesight development. At this stage, color vision significantly improves. Also at this time, you may also notice your baby’s eye color change. Most babies are born with blue eyes that become darker over time as pigmentation progresses. By 7 months, babies have typically matured into their permanent eye color. As color vision and depth perception improve, your baby becomes more confident in eye-hand coordination and movement. Most babies begin crawling at 8 months. Around 10 months, coordination, depth perception and color distinction are usually developed enough that babies can pick up objects and pull themselves up. By the first birthday, your baby is likely able to judge distance and throw things fairly accurately.

  3. 1 Year and Beyond

    After their first year, children typically can recognize familiar objects, develop word-image associations, focus on moving objects and navigate in familiar surroundings. By age 2, your child has a firm grasp of hand-eye coordination. By their third birthday, most children reach adult level of 20/20 vision. Since vision is fully developed by age 3, it is important to schedule a routine eye exam at this age. At age 5 and every year thereafter, your child should have an eye exam in time for the back-to-school season.

How Can I Support My Baby’s Vision Development?

Wondering how to support your baby’s vision development during the first years of life? Here are tips to do just that:

baby carrots
  • Hang a mobile 8–10 inches above the crib so baby can focus on its movement.
  • Turn on a nightlight in your baby’s room to both provide comfort and help development of visual acuity and depth perception.
  • Maintain a safe space for your baby to crawl and explore.
  • Give baby a wide range of toys in different colors and textures.
  • Sing songs and play games with hand movements to practice hand-eye coordination.
  • Look out for eye issues like excessive tearing, red or crusty eyes or extreme light sensitivity. If you suspect something isn’t right, don’t wait. Schedule an appointment with baby’s eye doctor as soon as possible.
  • Schedule eye exams for your baby at 6 months, 3 years and 5 years.
  • Look for signs your child might need glasses as they grow, such as poor motor skills, hesitating to crawl or walk, or lack of interest in learning.
  • Incorporate the best foods for eye health into your baby’s diet like mashed carrots, peas and sweet potatoes.

Schedule Baby’s First Vision Exam Today

Your baby’s firsts are exciting, including sight development milestones! Make sure to take note of progress and schedule baby’s milestone eye exams to check vision development. Visionworks is on a mission to simplify eye care. To make things a little easier for you, our team of experts is standing by to help! We have you covered for your child’s early-life vision needs, as well as back-to-school eye exams, wearing glasses for the first time and keeping your children's eyes healthy and safe. Visit your local Visionworks today so we can help you keep your children's eyes happy and healthy.

Information received through Visionworks® content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice, medical recommendations, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your eye doctor, physician, or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.

Claims regarding blue light efficiency are supported by manufacturer-provided test results.