Many parents wonder, when seeing their baby with their eyes open, if they are already able to see at birth. We have already given you the answer sometime: of course they see, what happens is that they do not see too well and that is why they are guided above all by hearing and smell.
Now, the fact that they see does not mean that they are able to recognize what they see, so many parents wonder: When does a baby begin to recognize you when you see you?
Come since they are born
A few months ago we showed you an experiment through which we told you that the best distance to go to a newborn is between 20.3 and 30.5 cm .
That distance is the distance between a mother’s face and her baby when she is breastfeeding, or the distance between Dad’s face and his eyes when he cradles him in his arms. Something like if their sight was designed in such a way that in the arms it is when it performs its function best and, therefore, that is the place where they have to spend more time.
Since they are born they are able to recognize faces, that is, it has been seen that if you put a normal face on one side of a baby and a “Picasso” type face on the other, with dislocated features, it prefers the former. What they are not capable of at birth is to discriminate the belonging of a face: they do not know, by sight, who they are looking at (yes by smell, taste, voice, etc.).
In the second month
From the second month of life of the baby, which is not when it turns two months, but from when it turns one month (it is when it begins to live its second month of life) the baby is already able to recognize people when seeing them . He still can’t see well, but he’s already able to focus a little better and he’s already able to tell from his face that the person in front of him is mom, dad, or someone he doesn’t know.
In addition, from the month of life he can distinguish colors such as white, black, red and green, and he begins to smile, not while sleeping, but with intention: it is the so-called social smile, with which he tries to be the most adorable as possible, as sympathetic as possible, so that his caregivers love him and have the desire to take care of him. Obviously he does not do it in a premeditated way, the baby does not think “I am going to smile to make them like me”, but it is an event that is already predestined to happen as soon as they mature a little.
In fact, the way they already know how to recognize some faces is such that they are even beginning to be able to imitate . They won’t always, but it may surprise and fill their parents and grandparents with pride to see you smile and smile at them, or stick your tongue out at them and they end up sticking out your tongue.
Photos | iStock
In Babies and more | How babies see up to one year of life, Eye contact with your baby: why it is important to look into the newborn
