Why is Visual Stimulation important for our Infants?
This article was kindly written for Baby College by Jo Holden, Orthoptist (eye specialist), who also runs Baby College Sutton and Epsom with classes in Cheam.
At birth, a newborn baby can see very little, their pupils are very small and they can only see light and dark. Over their first few weeks of life you may notice that your baby is light sensitive and then starts to be attracted to large shapes or bright colours.
The development of the visual cortex in the brain is rapid over the first year of a baby’s life and is actually set by the age of 7. This means that all vision is taught within the brain before your child goes to Junior School so any problems that are picked up following this age are a lot harder and sometimes impossible to correct. For this reason, all children should have their eyes checked at age 4 as part of the National Screening Programme.
For the first 2-3 months of life it is not uncommon for parents to question if their babies eyes are straight. A lot of babies can have intermittent crossed eyes or one eye wandering out to the side. If you feel this is constant then you should contact your GP or health visitor. By 3 months old, your babies eyes should be working together to focus on and track moving objects.
From about 4 months old you can have lots of fun with your baby, while engaging their visual systems. Ball play is great whether sitting or as a fun tummy time activity too; when baby hits the ball, it moves, they follow with their eyes where it has gone and then you roll it back to them. It is so simple but ever so rewarding. Once they can crawl after the ball they hit it is even better!
From about 6 months babies will use their visual systems to reach out and grasp things. You will notice that initially babies are not very accurate in their reach and may miss what they are reaching for. The more they practice, their understanding of depth perception will improve. This is a key skill to practice and develop for being able to roll, catch and kick along with other key tasks such as managing steps.
It is a scary thought but by 10 months old a lot of visual development is complete; their eyes should be straight, seeing all colours, judging distancing accurately and they can spot their parents a long way away.
What can I do to stimulate my infant’s visual development?
- Play with colourful and light up toys.
- Play with moving toys – balls, cars, trains to encourage tracking.
- When playing, hand toys to baby so they can practice reaching and grasping in different places (midline, to their right, to their left, up high, down low).
- Screen time can be great in short bursts for young children, finding high contrast sensory videos can be engaging and captivating.
When should I request to have my child’s eyes checked at a Hospital Eye Service?
- If one or other parent had a congenital eye problem.
- If an older sibling has a childhood eye problem.
- If you notice one or both eyes to be turning in or out (squint/lazy eye) after 3 months old or sooner if you feel it is constant.
- If you notice their eyes to be wobbling or shaking.
- If you feel your toddler is more clumsy then you would expect.
