Baby Eyes Blog & New Members of the Eyes in the Park Family!
Big news in the Eyes in the Park family! My wife and I welcomed a healthy little boy last month named Gavin. We are so happy and thankful for our little (circadian snatching) blessing.
If you have children, you already know, but if you have yet to take the plunge… don’t let the pretty little squares from your favorite Insta Influencer fool you! IT IS HARD, SCARY & CHAOTIC. These first few months have been a blur! A blur for us because of the utter lack of sleep and a blur for him because, well, his eyes are brand new and they don’t work very well yet! It’s worth it…but man, its tough!
Gavin’s arrival provides me the perfect opportunity to write about the eyes of the little ones in your lives. As is the case for so many topics regarding children, there is a lot of information out there! Some of it is helpful and good…but a lot of it is not. Hopefully, I can answer some of the questions you might have been pondering and clear up any confusion about the health and wellbeing of the most precious eyes in our lives!
Today’s subject matter also gives me the chance to introduce to you our pediatric specialist, Dr. Megan Allen. Dr. Allen was one of my clinical instructors in the pediatric department at the Illinois College of Optometry and has been at the college as an assistant professor for 12 years. She has three little ones of her own at home so she is very aware of the challenges parenting presents. Dr. Allen is with us on Thursdays to provide specialty care to our smallest patients. She is absolutely fantastic and has contributed her expert knowledge to make this blog as helpful as possible!
Let me say: There are many stages of eye and vision development for newborns and to do a comprehensive explanation of it all would be too long and really boring. So I’ve decided to highlight some of the things that I find interesting in the hopes that you will too!
EYE COLOR
The first thing most parents will notice about the eyes of their child, once they open up, is the steel-blue color. It is true that most babies will be born with some variation of a “blue” eye. Whether this color is lasting will not be known for several months to a year. How much melanin (the pigment we all have varying amounts of in our skin, hair, and eyes) is produced will determine the color of the eyes. A little bit? Maybe hazel or green eyes will result. A lot? Dark brown eyes. The melanin develops in a gradual process resulting in a subtly changing eye over time. Their eye color at 12 months is most likely the color that the eyes will remain but it is possible for the eyes to change color months to years later!
SIDE BAR: There is no green pigment in the eye. Eyes will appear to be green with a perfect amount of dark brown melanin mixed in with that steel blue base. Think about your color wheel from grade school! Don’t tell this to those “green-eyed” people though… they are very protective of their “green” eyes!
GOOGLY EYES
You will likely notice that your baby’s eyes act a little erratic in the first few months of life. This is very normal! The eyes are in the early stages of developing their visual capabilities and will result in eyes that do not always work together. Individually the eyes can turn in or out or they may seem crossed. One thing you can do when you see this is to cover you baby’s eyes with your hand momentarily to get them to re-focus.
In the first few months of life the focal point of baby’s eyes is about 8-10 inches away. You really have to get close for them to see you. (Remember though, not too close! Kissin’ babies is a no no!) The most visually stimulating images are black and white objects with distinct lines of contrast. You have likely seen toys that have a colored side and a black and white side. The black and white is best for those early months!
DEVELOPMENTAL MILESTONES
0-3 MONTHS:
The visual system early in life hardly resembles the vision of an adult. Babies lack the ability to distinguish between objects and see only basic shapes. Being able to lock-on to an object and track it’s movement is a fairly high functioning skill and this will start to happen around 3 months of age. Right around this time you can expect your baby to begin to develop some hand eye coordination as you see them reach out to grab objects.
5-8 MONTHS:
Over the next few months, from the age of about 5 months to 8 months the eyes will have become proficient in working together. This allows the brain to appreciate the depth or to judge distances to things in their environment. The crawling stage, which is typically around 8 months of age, is very critical to the development of hand eye coordination. Don’t encourage walking too early. As many famous lyricists have stated “you gotta crawl before you ball!”
8-12 MONTHS:
Around 1 year old the eyes have laid the groundwork for proper development but they just need practice. The sharpness of the vision will improve and most likely reach adult level acuity between the age of 1 and 4 if vision correction is not needed. If vision correction is needed it should be addressed as soon as possible. If not addressed by the age of 6 or 7 or there can be permanent vision problems.
Side note: In some cases the vision of a 6 month old can be as sharp as 20/20! They obviously cannot read an acuity chart at that age but brain sensors can measure the vision and know how sharp it is.
THINGS TO KEEP AN EYE ON
I mentioned earlier that it is normal for the eyes of a newborn to be a little erratic and seemingly disconnected. At the 3-4 month old stage the eyes should begin to coordinate pretty well with one another and you should see less of the googly eyes. However, if there is an eye that turns in or out at a very high frequency during this time, bring them in to Dr. Allen to get checked out. This could be a sign there is a prescription needed or possibly a muscle imbalance.
Crusty eyelids and eyelashes are also a fairly common condition that newborns will have as a decent number of them will have a closed or partially blocked tear drain. The tears on our eyes are produced by a couple different glands in the tissue surrounding our eyes but they drain in little holes near our nose. There is an upper drain and a lower drain. If one of both of these little drainage holes are partially blocked or closed, the tears have nowhere to go and end up dripping down the cheek. This can cause some of the crusting you will typically see especially during times of sniffles or coughs that little ones often get. This blockage can often be treated with a precision massage. However, if the crust is more gluey and the eyes are red, it could be an active infection which can be treated with antibiotic drops. If you have any concerns about this bring your little one in to see Dr. Allen or myself.
Much less common conditions, but ones that would definitely require a visit to see Dr. Allen, would be:
Eyes that seem to be very sensitive to light
A “foggy” eye
Tilting the head or closing one eye to view things more comfortably
A white reflection in the pupil in a picture
As always, we are here to answer any of your questions about your eyes or the eyes of your children!
Have a great Thanksgiving!
Dr. Goble and Dr. Allen