Vision

Vision Developmental Milestones

• From birth, your baby uses their vision to explore and learn. They watch and learn about everything happening around them.
• Your child may not know if they have difficulty with their vision.
• Developmental milestones let you know how your child’s vision is developing as they grow.

Support Your Child’s Vision Development

You can help your baby’s vision develop by giving lots of opportunities to see new things.

• Sit face to face with your baby to sing songs, tell stories and recite nursery rhymes.
• For young babies, start with books and toys that are black and white, high contrast or bold coloured.
• Play hide and seek games to help your baby develop visual memory.
• Roll a ball back and forth to help your child learn to follow moving objects visually with their eyes.
• As your child gets older, sit with them when sharing books, point to pictures in the book and describe what you are seeing. For example, “look, that’s a bird and that bird is red.”
• Notice what your child is looking at and talk about it.
• Point to objects you see in their environment and name them.
• Describe different colours and shapes that you see.

Prevent Eye Injuries and Protect Vision

• Keep your child’s eyes clean – wash your hands if you need to touch your child’s face.
• Protect your child’s eyes from direct sunlight:

• •  try to stay in the shade when outside
  • wear a hat that shades their eyes
  • wear sunglasses that protect against ultraviolet (UV) light

• Avoid exposure to too much dust, smoke and chemicals.
• Make the environment safe for your child to play and explore, by removing sharp edges/objects and checking that toys that are safe for your child’s age.
• Limit your child’s screen time.

Warning Signs That Your Child Is Having Difficulty Seeing

Your child may have difficulty seeing if they:

• need to sit very close to a screen
• hold a book closer than 30 centimeters from their face
• squint their eyes to see better
• have difficulty with hand-eye coordination. For example, they put their hand too far or not far enough when reaching for a toy or object
• they often bump into or trip over things

Help and Contact Information

If you have concerns about your child’s vision, contact an optometrist  who works with young babies and children. They can test your child’s vision.

The Blind-Low Vision Early Intervention Program in Ontario provides free services and supports to children who are blind or have low vision and their families.