Children's Health
How Well Can Newborn Babies See?
Babies are born with a full visual capacity to see objects and colors. However, newborns are extremely nearsighted (far away objects are blurry):
- Newborns can see objects about 8-15 inches away quite sharply.
- Newborns prefer to look at faces over other shapes and objects and at round shapes with light and dark borders (such as your adoring eyes).
So you're not imaging it when you see your baby fixate on your face and eyes, especially during a feeding, when your face is about a foot away.
Should You Sterilize Your Baby's Bottles?
In the old days when water supplies were not reliably clean, it made sense to sterilize baby bottles. But now, sterilizing bottles, nipples, and water is mostly unnecessary. Unless your water supply is suspected to harbor contaminated bacteria, it is as safe for your baby as it is for you. There is no reason to sterilize what is already safe. Sterilizing the bottles and nipples is also unwarranted. Thorough cleaning with soap and water gets rid of almost all germs. And once on the bottle,...
Read the Should You Sterilize Your Baby's Bottles? article > >
When to Worry About Your Baby's Vision:
- If your baby never seems to fixate on objects about a foot away -- especially your face -- in the first weeks or months, tell your pediatrician.
- At three to four months, if your baby still looks "cross-eyed" (the left and right eyes seem to be looking in different directions), this could be a sign of a visual or eye muscle problem and should be evaluated at your next check-up. Be sure to tell your pediatrician is you're concerned.
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