Boyd and Bee (2012) discuss how children interact with the world around them. How do newborns use their senses and how could caregivers help them in their life journey?
Newborns can see a person located around 8 to 10 inches (20 to 25 centimeters). They can also see the colors red, green, orange, and yellow in a week’s time but need a bit longer to see blue and violet (allaboutvision.com).
Babies can also track a moving object in the first few weeks. At about 6 weeks, the tracking becomes more defined with the accuracy improving dramatically by 10 weeks.
Babies’ visual acuity reaches 20/20 by 6 months of age; that is, babies can see at 20 feet – 6 meters- what other people with normal vision can see at that same distance.
With regards to their other senses, newborns hear in the general human hearing range and turn their head in the direction of the sound; they differentiate sweet, sour, bitter, and salty tastes; and they discriminate the smell of their mother.
To help children use their senses efficiently, it is important that the caregiver holds the newborn closely, looks in their eyes and converses with them. Caregivers should not assume that newborns don’t see them. In effect, newborns focus on and respond to the caregivers’ signs, sounds, and touch.
Caregivers need to welcome the child into this world. Positive people and nurturing environments give children the confidence and the ability to succeed in a global world.
Reference:
Boyd, D., & Bee, H. (2012). The developing child (13th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
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