Question
When do newborns actually begin to have vision and hearing? There seems to be a book that mentions they have vision two days after birth. Is this true? Thank you!
Answer
Newborns are already equipped with vision, though their sight is still quite weak. Newborns have light sensitivity, meaning they will blink in response to strong light and react to changes in light, such as the pupils constricting in bright light—this is known as the light reflex. During the newborn period, they can only see objects within about 60 centimeters in front of them, with the most comfortable distance being 20 centimeters. For example, moving a red plush ball about 20 centimeters in front of a newborn’s eyes will show that their gaze can follow the moving red plush ball for a distance. Newborns’ eyes are smaller and their eye sockets are shorter, so they have physiological myopia, which will gradually develop into normal vision as their eyes grow, and their vision will also gradually improve. Normal newborns are born with good hearing directional ability, especially when babies hear familiar sounds, this ability is even more astonishing. This is the continuation of fetal hearing. It was previously widely believed that babies in the womb do not hear and are deaf, often in a state of “sleep,” but in fact, babies use their auditory organs and behavior to maintain contact with the external environment even while in the womb, and can even hear sounds at extremely low or high frequencies that adults cannot hear.