Eyes at birth and after. When and why does the eye color change in newborn babies

A newborn baby is no different good eyesight, and sometimes completely shocks parents by the fact that his eyes are squinting, they cannot focus, they are clouded. Questions about whether the child is healthy and whether he sees are quite common reasons for visiting pediatricians. In this article we will tell you what are the features of the visual function in babies of the first year of life and how to determine whether the baby sees.

Peculiarities

The kid sees the world not at all like adults. This is easily explained in the first place physiological reasons- The eyes of a child are significantly different in structure from the eyes of an adult. Children are not born with organs of vision that are fully adapted to this world and sufficiently formed. In all, without exception, crumbs in the 1st month of life, visual acuity is extremely low. Everything that is for us a picture of the world around us, for a newborn is a set of spots of different illumination and intensity. His eyes are in a continuous process of formation.

The eyeballs of a newborn are much smaller in proportion than the eyeballs of an adult, and therefore the image of the baby does not receive the retina, but into the space behind it.

This explains why all babies suffer from physiological farsightedness, which is completely normal for them. In the early days, the baby does not focus at all. He sees mostly black and white spots, only outlines and at an average distance of about 40 centimeters. But from perfectly distinguishes between light and darkness. In response to a bright light source, he may begin to blink, close his eyes, try to close himself with a handle, shudder with his whole body, and the baby may react to a too sharp and bright light with an angry cry. These reflexes are called unconditioned visual reflexes. They must be checked in the maternity hospital.

There is a myth that a newborn's vision is upside down. This is not true. If there are no pathologies of the brain, gross birth defects its development, the baby sees it in the same way as all other people. An inverted image is not typical for babies.

But many completely healthy babies who were born just a couple of months ago are characterized by a wide variety of eye movements, which parents sometimes mistake for strabismus, nystagmus, and other signs. poor eyesight. In fact, newborns and infants have very weak eye muscles, and therefore it is not surprising that one eye of the baby looks at you, and the other a little to the side, no. This is a temporary phenomenon, which, with the normal development of visual analyzers, will disappear on its own in a fairly short time.

In the first three years of life, the baby's organs of vision undergo enormous cardinal changes. This process requires a reverent attitude on the part of adults, the elimination of all negative factors due to which vision can form with problems. To act correctly, mothers and fathers need to know what processes and at what stages of development occur, this will help maintain the health of the child and notice deviations in time, if any.

Stages of development

The eyes of the embryo begin to form at 8-10 weeks of gestation. It is important that at this moment the mother is healthy, and no negative factors did not affect the correct laying of the organs of vision, the optic nerve. Pathologies that occur during the period of stay in the womb are quite difficult to correct, if at all.

In his mother's belly, the baby distinguishes between light and darkness, demonstrates unconditioned visual reflexes, but he does not see bright light, getting used to a darkened and dim atmosphere. After birth, the little one needs to adapt to new living conditions for himself. To distinguish something else besides light, the baby begins at about 3 weeks after birth. It is at this stage that object and color vision begins to form.

By the beginning of the second month independent living the baby can already keep his eyes on large bright and large objects that are no more than 60 cm away from him for a very short time. By 3 months, the baby is able to follow the silent toy with his eyes for much longer. Moreover, the toy itself can now move left and right and up and down. The child repeats similar movements with his eyeballs, turns his head towards a bright object of interest to him.

By six months, children develop stereoscopic vision. The kid focuses on objects without any problems, follows them with his eyes, can reach out and take toys in his hands.

Color perception is formed gradually - at first, babies begin to distinguish red and give preference to it. Then they see yellow. Green and blue - are comprehended and realized last.

After 6 months, the little ones learn to see distant spaces. stereoscopic vision allows them to see the world as voluminous, full-fledged, and the improving capabilities of the body (he learns to sit, crawl, walk) - gradually stimulate the development of the cortical part of the brain, which is also responsible for the accumulation of visual images. The kid learns to evaluate the distance between objects, to overcome it, the color scheme in the second half of life also becomes more saturated.

congenital physiological farsightedness, characteristic of all infants, usually disappears by 3 years. During this time, the eyeballs actively grow in babies, the eye muscles develop and improve, optic nerve. The organs of vision of a child become as similar as possible to adults only by the age of 6-7 years.

None age stage the child no longer experiences such dramatic changes and transformations in the organs of vision as in the first year of life.

Surveys

Children undergo their first examination by a neonatologist while still in the maternity hospital. It allows with a great degree of accuracy to establish the majority of congenital pathologies of the organs of vision. These include neonatal retinopathy, congenital cataract and glaucoma, optic nerve atrophy and others visual ailments. serious congenital pathologies often accompanied by manifestations of external signs like nystagmus (twitching and twitching of the pupils) and ptosis (drooping of the eyelid). However, an examination in the maternity hospital cannot be considered 100% reliable, since many diseases, including genetically inherited ones, develop only with time.

That is why it is so important that infants, especially premature ones, be examined by an ophthalmologist in a timely manner. The first examination is always at the age of 1 month. At this age, the doctor is limited to assessing visual reflexes, including a light test for the pupil, as well as a general examination of the eyes - the shape and size of the eyeballs, pupils, purity (clearness) of the lens.

The next check-up for preterm infants is scheduled to be at 3 months, and then at six months. For babies born at term, one test every 6 months is enough.

At six months, the doctor will be able to get an idea of the visual function of the baby in more detail. He will not only visually assess the condition of the eyes with the help of devices, but also check them motor activity, focusing on objects, synchrony of reaction, accommodation and refraction. The doctor will tell the parents of a six-month-old child with a high degree of accuracy whether a slight strabismus in their child is functional and harmless, or whether it is pathological change which needs to be corrected.

If parents have doubts that the child sees well, the doctor may try to examine the baby's vision using a special tablet. One half of the sheet in it is covered with black and white stripes, the second is white. Mom closes one eye to the baby, and the doctor brings this sheet to her face. If the baby automatically begins to look at the striped part of the table, then he sees, and there is no reason to worry.

The ophthalmologist can conduct the same study on the next scheduled inspection to be completed within 1 year. After a year and a half, Orlova's diagnostic table is used to assess visual acuity; if violations are detected, the degree and severity of the problem is checked using special techniques and devices. After one and a half years, it is recommended to check the child's vision 2 times a year.

How to check yourself?

Check your newborn's vision at home baby pretty hard. However, there are symptoms that parents must pay attention to and consult a doctor as soon as possible, which will help to carry out a full and detailed examination in the clinic:

The child was born in a family where close relatives have vision problems. With a high degree of probability, the baby will inherit the pathology, it should be observed by an ophthalmologist as often as possible.
The child was born prematurely.
At 1 month, the baby does not respond with pupil constriction if you shine a flashlight in his face.
After 3 months, the baby does not focus on bright large toys, reacts only to "sounding" rattles and squeakers, not noticing toys and objects that do not make any sounds.

At the age of 4 months does not follow the toy which is moving.
At the age of 5-7 months, the baby does not recognize the faces of relatives and does not distinguish them from the faces of strangers, does not reach for toys, does not try to grab them with his hands.
If there is purulent or other discharge from the organs of vision.
If the child's eyeballs are of different sizes.

If the pupils involuntarily move up and down or from side to side, finely trembling.
If the baby noticeably "mows" with one eye.
By the age of one, the child does not pay attention to the birds on the street, to other fairly distant objects.

All these signs cannot independently speak about possible pathology visual analyzers, but are a very convincing reason to visit an ophthalmologist unscheduled.

Development

Anatomical and physiological features of the development of vision in children of the first year of life (AFO) will tell parents what and how to do in order to promote the development of the baby's visual function. If the baby was brought from the hospital and settled in a darkened room where there is little sunlight, then all stages of the formation of vision can go with a significant delay. For newborns, it is very important that the room is bright, so that there are no bright light sources and mirrors next to the crib. Access to the crib should be from all sides so that the baby gets used to looking at people and objects both from the right and from the left side.

In the first days and even weeks, the child does not need any toys, because he will not really see them anyway. But already by 3-4 weeks of life, you can attach a mobile to the crib or hang rattles. The main requirement that will help maintain the health of the baby's eyes is the distance from the face to the toy. It should not be less than 40 centimeters.

For the development of visual function, it will even be useful if a toy or mobile is lifted from the baby's face at a distance of 50-60 centimeters.

From a month and a half, a child can be shown black and white pictures consisting of simple geometric elements. They can be found on the Internet and printed on sheets of A 4 format. Such simple exercises contribute to the development of the optic nerve, eye muscles, the child learns to perceive contrasting images.

With the birth of a child, many are wondering who the baby looks like. Everyone peers at the baby's facial features, trying to catch a resemblance to someone in him. Most new parents do not know when a newborn changes and what it is connected with. It is necessary to take into account the fact that the child does not look quite the way that many imagined before. must pass certain time for the child to get used to environment and began to look familiar.

The device of the organs of vision

A newly born baby may have an irregularly shaped head, an elongated body and a bulging tummy. It happens that in babies and fluid is released from it. Similar processes are quite normal for both girls and boys. But after a few days after birth, everything returns to normal. Even the nose can be a little upturned at first, and after a while it acquires its own permanent form. But most people are interested in the question of when the color of the eyes of a newborn changes. Why is this happening? The structure and structure of the organs of vision of a newborn, as in adults. This is a kind of camera, which includes They serve as conductors of information to those parts of the human brain that perceive and analyze what he sees. The eye itself is divided into "lens" (this is the cornea and lens) and "photographic film" (this is the retina). Although babies have the same organs of vision as adults, they still do not see very well at first.

As the child grows, so does his process of perception. At one year old baby reaches half the norm of an adult. In the first week of life, the child should only react to light. On the second - fix your gaze on some object for several seconds. In the second month, such a reaction should be more persistent. At six months, the baby already knows how to distinguish simple figures, and per year - to recognize certain patterns.

When does a newborn's eye color change?

Eye color in newborns changes with different time. This process is directly related to the production of melanin. This is the pigment of the organs of vision. If you look closely at the color of the eyes of newborns, it can be noted that most of them are blue. And only by two or three years they acquire their final color. This is the time when melanin appears. It is for this reason that light eyes can turn into green, gray and even brown. The darker the color turns out, the more this pigment has accumulated. This process is directly related to heredity.

Research proves that on Earth brown-eyed people much more than light-eyed. This is due to the genetic dominance of traits. Therefore, if one of the parents is brown-eyed, then when the color of the eyes of a newborn changes, he is most often brown.

Features of light-eyed people

People who have light eyes are prone to frequent shift their colors. This may depend on the brightness of the lighting, clothing and their surroundings. Even stressful situation or the disease may affect their color. Now we know when the color of the eyes of a newborn changes. For some, this moment is very important, but for someone it does not play any role. In fact, the main thing is that the baby grows up healthy!

Vision plays an almost key role for a person in the study of the world. Thanks to vision, the child begins to perceive colors and shapes, sizes of objects, and his brain develops significantly. The child is able to see clearly from the moment of birth. The baby's vision develops gradually during the first 6-8 months of life, but after that it does not stop in development.

First months of life

Blurry vision immediately after the birth of a child becomes for him defensive reaction: the world is so big and huge, there are so many colors and objects in it that the child's psyche cannot yet withstand such a variety. Therefore, nature itself protects him from this. In the first month of life, the child still does not distinguish colors well, sees objects vaguely, indistinctly. All that occupies his attention is the face of his mother, and sometimes dad, bending over him. The kid is able to distinguish objects at a distance of only 20-30 cm, which is just enough to see the person holding him in his arms. Therefore, it is very important for mothers during this period to save more often eye contact with the baby - he can’t see anything else yet.

An interesting fact is that in the first one or two months after birth, the child still does not know how to look only in one direction. Therefore, his eyes can squint a little. There's nothing wrong with that weak muscles the eyes do not allow the baby to focus on one object with both eyes at once. After the second month of life, this disappears in most children. In addition, his eyes do not linger on any object yet. for a long time. This ability will also appear in him by the third month of life.

Babies under three months of age respond well to contrasting colors: black and white, light and dark, blue and yellow. In addition, it is best for them to choose pure colors not shades. So, white, red, blue, yellow colors they will pick up better than pink, gray or orange. Toddlers love to look at colored pictures or objects, especially if they have a lot of colors and details. Therefore, at the age of two or three months, you need to give them rattles, show pictures, photographs, objects.

Age from 4 to 8 months

By about four months, the infant begins to develop depth of vision. This is what allows him to correctly assess at what distance the object is. Along with the development of vision, the motor skills of the hands develop in the baby. He can already perfectly control them, grab objects and hold them. By five months, the baby learns to distinguish between fairly small objects and successfully observes their movement. Changes in vision continue: the child learns to distinguish between tones and shades, and can distinguish outwardly similar colors.

By eight months, a child's vision reaches the level of an adult. But still, while closer, he sees much better than at a distance. At the same age, the color of the child's eyes is finally established. The final vision will be formed only by the age of 4, when the child will be able to fully use the capabilities of his eyes, and the vision will not have time to deteriorate due to the heavy workload at school.

Some young parents believe that the body of a baby who has just been born is a complete copy of an adult's body, only slightly reduced. Actually it is not. Many organs and systems have a long way to go in development and improvement. Among them is the baby's organ of vision.

How is the eye of a newborn?

About 80% of information about the outside world a person receives through the organs of vision. AT human body The structure called the visual analyzer is responsible for vision. The eye takes in the image and translates it into nerve impulses, which are carried along the optic nerves to the cerebral cortex, where they are processed and image is formed. The interaction of these constituent parts of the visual analyzer gives vision.

However, the visual system of a newborn is not similar to the visual system of an adult. Anatomical structure of the organs of vision, which provides visual functions, undergoes significant changes in the process of maturation of the body. The visual system is still imperfect, and it has to develop rapidly.

During the growth of the baby, the eyeball changes very slowly. Its strongest development occurs in the first year of life. Eyeball a newborn is 6 mm shorter than an adult's eye (i.e., it has a shortened anteroposterior axis). This circumstance is the reason that the eye of a recently born child has farsightedness, that is, the baby does not see close objects well. And ophthalmic nerve, and the muscles that move the eyeball are not fully formed in the newborn, Such immaturity oculomotor muscles forms the physiological, i.e. perfectly normal for the neonatal period.

The size cornea also increases very slowly. The cornea is the anterior part of the fibrous membrane of the eyeball, which determines the shape of the eye. protective function and is the refractive medium of the eye, providing vision. In newborns, it has a relatively greater thickness than in an adult, is sharply demarcated from the protein coat and protrudes strongly forward in the form of a roller. Absence in the cornea of the eye blood vessels explains its transparency. However, in children of the first week of life, the cornea may not be completely transparent due to temporary swelling - this normal phenomenon, but if it persists after 7 days of life, then this should be alarming.

Observation
From the first days of the newborn, the oval shape and moving objects with shiny spots are attracted. Such an oval corresponds to a human face.

lens- a lens that is able to shrink and straighten, focusing our gaze at different distances near and far. The lens has neither blood vessels nor nerves. In children and adults up to 25-30 years old, the lens is elastic and is a transparent mass of semi-liquid consistency, enclosed in a capsule. In newborns, the lens has a number of characteristic features: he's almost round shape, the radii of curvature of its anterior and posterior surfaces are almost the same. With age, the lens becomes denser, stretches in length and takes the form of a lentil grain. It grows especially strongly during the first year of life (the diameter of the lens of the eye of a child at the age of 0-7 days is 6.0 mm, and at the age of 1 year - 7.1 mm).

Iris It has the shape of a disk, in the center of which there is a hole (pupil). The function of the iris is to participate in the light and dark adaptation of the eye. In bright light, the pupil constricts; in low light, the pupil dilates. The iris is colored and shows through the cornea. The color of the iris depends on the amount of pigment. When there is a lot of it, the eyes are dark or light brown, and when there is little, they are gray, greenish or blue. The iris in newborns contains little pigment (eye color is usually blue), convex and has funnel shape. With age, the iris becomes thicker, richer in pigment, and loses its original funnel shape.

Retina- the most complex shell in terms of device and functions. It lines the walls of the eye cavity with a thin film. The retina is made up of various kinds cells, the main ones being rods, cones and nerve cells. Rods and cones, when exposed to light, form electrical impulses that are transmitted to nerve cells. The rods are responsible for black-and-white or twilight vision, and also help control the peripheral space relative to the fixation point of the eye. Cones determine color vision and due to the fact that their maximum number is in central department retina (yellow spot), where the rays come, focused by all the lenses of the eye, they play an exceptional role in the perception of objects located at the point of fixation of the gaze.

depart from rods and cones nerve fibers, forming the optic nerve, leaving the eyeball and heading to the brain. The retina of newborns shows signs of incomplete development. The features and development of color vision in babies will be discussed later.

The specificity of the vision of a newborn is a blinking reflex. Its essence lies in the fact that no matter how much you swing objects near the eyes, the baby does not blink, but he reacts to a bright and sudden beam of light. This is because at birth visual analyzer The child is still at the very beginning of its development. The vision of the newborn is assessed at the level of sensation of light. That is, the baby is able to perceive only the light itself without perceiving the structure of the image.

Anatomy of the eye
The organ of vision is represented by the eyeball and auxiliary apparatus. The eyeball includes several components: a light-refracting apparatus, represented by a lens system: the cornea, lens and vitreous body; accommodative apparatus (iris, ciliary region and ciliary girdle), which provides a change in the shape and refractive power of the lens, focusing the image on the retina, adapting the eye to the intensity of illumination; and the light-perceiving apparatus represented by the retina. The auxiliary apparatus includes the eyelids, lacrimal apparatus and oculomotor muscles.

Baby vision development

The intrauterine vision of a child has been studied very little, but it is known that even a born child does not react to bright light. A baby born on closes his eyes to the light, and a baby born on time (on) turns his eyes, and a little later his head to the light source and moving objects.

Observation
One of the most important achievements the first two or three months there will be a gradual development of the ability to smoothly trace an object moving in different directions and at different speeds.

The process of improving vision begins immediately after birth. During the first year, areas of the cerebral cortex are actively developing, in which the centers of vision are located (they are located in the back of the head), receiving information about the world around them. The friendly (simultaneous) movement of the eyes is "honed", the experience of visual perception is gained, the "library" of visual images is replenished. The vision of the newborn is assessed at the level of sensation of light. Babies who are a few days old see vague silhouettes and blurry contours with spots where the eyes and mouth should be instead of faces. In the future, visual acuity grows, increasing hundreds of times, and by the end of the first year of life is 1/3-V2 of adult norm. The fastest development visual system occurs in the first months of a baby's life, while the very act of vision stimulates its development. Only the eye, on the retina of which the surrounding world is constantly projected, is able to develop normally.

First and second weeks of life. Newborns practically do not react to visual stimuli: under the influence of bright light, their pupils constrict, their eyelids close, and their eyes wander aimlessly. However, it has been noticed that from the first days of the newborn, the oval shape and moving objects with shiny spots are attracted. This is not a puzzle at all, just such an oval corresponds to a human face. The child can follow the movements of such a "face", and if at the same time they are talking to him, he blinks. But although the child pays attention to a shape similar to a human face, this does not mean that he recognizes one of the people around him. It will take him a long time to do so. In the first or second week of life, the baby's vision is still weakly connected with consciousness. It is known that visual acuity in a newborn is much weaker than in an adult. Such poor vision is due to the fact that the retina is still forming, and yellow spot(that part of the retina where vision of 1.0 is achieved - i.e. 100%) has not even formed yet. If such vision were observed in an adult, he would experience serious difficulties, but for a newborn, the most important thing is what is large and close: mother's face and chest. The field of view of the baby is sharply narrowed, so a person standing on the side of the child or behind the mother is not perceived by the child.

Second to fifth weeks of life. The baby can fix his gaze on any light source. Around the fifth week of life, coordinated eye movements appear in the horizontal direction. However, these movements are not yet perfect - lowering and raising the eyes begins later. The child is only capable of a short time fix a slowly moving object with your eyes and follow its movement. The field of view of a child at the age of about a month is still sharply narrowed, the baby reacts only to those objects that are at a close distance from him and within only 20-30 °. In addition, visual acuity is still very weak.

Light mode and choice of toys

The main condition for the development of the eyes is sunlight. And since at birth the vision of a child is much weaker than that of an adult, then he also has a greater need for light.

When organizing a children's room, it must be remembered that the light spectrum artificial lighting, as a rule, there is a yellow or blue glow. Yellow light is softer and calmer to perceive (it is better to use it for the main lighting of the room), while blue creates a brighter and more saturated daylight (this light is more suitable for the gaming area or desktop). Gentle, natural shades should be chosen as the main tones for decorating a children's room: beige, golden yellow, pale green, pale blue, pale pink, apricot, lilac. Pastel colors soothe the baby and do not irritate the eyes. However, psychologists do not advise choosing white as the main tone for the surfaces of walls, floors, and ceilings. This negatively affects the psyche of children. To bring joy and warmth to children, you can make bright decor elements, some furniture. It is also important for the development of the baby. You can hang bright toys, a lamp over the bed, paint a door or a window frame, hang framed pictures or panels on the walls, and put bright pillows on an armchair or bed, attach colorful butterflies to the curtains.

Lighting plays a significant role in decorating a child's room. Proper lighting is very important for the development of vision and the health of the child's eyes. It is good if the main amount of light enters the nursery through the window. The children's room should have combined lighting (daylight and electric light). There should be at least three artificial lamps: the main one is a ceiling chandelier; besides her - a wall sconce, floor lamp or desk lamp and a nightlight. Although the wall lamp can simultaneously play the role of a night lamp.

When the child is awake, he needs natural sunlight; if it is not enough, you can add electric lighting. The child sleeps better not in complete darkness, and in twilight light (perhaps this is due to the illumination that took place while the baby was in the mother's womb), which can be created using a night light that has a light intensity control. It is undesirable to abruptly turn on and off the light in the nursery. This harms the baby's eyesight and just scares him. Adequate lighting is especially important in rooms with not very large windows and in cloudy weather. It is recommended to illuminate the room with incandescent lamps. Light sources that are arranged according to a different principle (fluorescent lamps) can blink at the frequency of the electrical network, which is not very favorable for the child's eyes.

Common misconceptions about newborn vision
There is an opinion that a newborn sees everything upside down. However, current data do not support this. The erroneous opinion is based on the fact that the human eye is inverted, i.e. light-sensitive cells of the eye - rods and cones - are directed not towards light rays, but in reverse side. The image on the retina is inverted (the top changes to the bottom, left-hand side- on the right), and so it can supposedly be perceived by a newborn. Experiments based on short-term tracking refute this. It has been established that the cerebral cortex, which analyzes the image, "adapted" to turn the image over. Superstitions also include the opinion that the baby should not be kept in front of a mirror. An unbreakable mirror, attached to the side wall of the crib or to the pendant, will become an inexhaustible source of pleasure for him. Looking in the mirror, the child observes facial expressions and hand movements, catches the eye own reflection and smiles at him.

Outdoor walks are very important. During a walk, especially in the park, the baby will closely examine the movement of the leaves. He likes to watch the play of light and shadow that occurs when the wind blows.

The development of the visual system is possible only with the constant presence of adequate stimuli from external environment, i.e. bright and colored items. Colored toys contribute normal development color perception and visual acuity of your baby. Visual acuity is a function closely related to color perception. The same cells of the eye - cones - are responsible for both of these functions. Color vision develops along with visual acuity, and therefore it is desirable that the child be surrounded by bright colored objects. cones, which are responsible for the perception of red, in the very in large numbers are presented in the center of the retina, but there are almost no "blue" cones there. It is the center of the retina, developing, that has the highest resolution (vigilance). In a newborn baby, this center is in an undeveloped state. Therefore, the eye needs more red, yellow, green colors and their shades.

Observation
The field of view of the baby is sharply narrowed, so a person standing on the side of the child or behind the mother is not perceived by the child.

It is necessary to select toys for the baby based on his skills at a certain stage of life. So, for a newborn, you yourself will be the most “favorite” toy: he doesn’t need anything now like communication with his parents. Only you can help him play with toys.

Already in the first month of life, you need to start introducing the child to the colors of the world around him, using multi-colored diapers or tying colorful shreds or colored ribbons to the crib lattice. You can hang a garland in front of the baby. Its elements should be arranged based on the characteristics of the child's vision. They should not be very small. It is better to place a red element in the center, then orange (or yellow), green and blue at the edges. It is better to hang a garland rattle above the crib so that its main elements are located about 30 cm above the baby's tummy.

Parents should remember that if there are colorful, attractive, moving objects in the child's field of vision, as well as people performing various actions, visual function the baby will develop faster.

So, the organ of vision of a newborn has features, the knowledge of which makes it possible to identify existing deviations, and a timely visit to an ophthalmologist will allow not only to diagnose the disease, but also to prevent its development.

Natalya Firsova,
PhD student at the Institute of Developmental Biology
them. N.K. Koltsov RAS

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That is why mothers, looking at the baby's face in the hospital, are surprised: where does he get a blue or purple iris? The thing is that eye colors can change. Why is this happening? When to expect changes?

Eye color changes from ... light

For a variety of colors human eyes the pigment melanin is responsible. And it begins to be produced only under the influence sun rays. Therefore, the baby in the mother's womb cannot "program" one or another color of the iris for himself.

But when a newborn sees the sun, changes begin. The child simply looks at the cheerful rays or a bright light bulb - and in the meantime, the process of producing melanocytes starts in the body. The estimated amount of these substances already depends on the parents, because it is fixed at the genetic level.

Eye color and heredity

Whatever the color of the eyes of newborns, they change over time. Blues can turn blue or gray, and browns can turn dark brown, reddish or yellowish. The newborn receives the program of changes from the parents along with the genetic material. You can find out more accurately and in detail how the color of the eyes of newborns changes, according to a special table.

Interesting! Most of the inhabitants of the planet have dark brown eyes. There are a little less blue-eyed and gray-eyed people, they take second place in the ranking. Least of all people with green irises. Why? Because this color is latent, that is, it is very rarely transmitted to the newborn from the parents.

"What will be the eyes of a newborn"? mothers think. Scientists - geneticists will help answer this question. The forecast is as follows:

Parents with brown and green irises are more likely to get a brown-eyed child;
when one parent is brown-eyed and the other boasts gray or blue irises, the newborn has a 50/50 chance of inheriting one of the two colors;
a blue-eyed couple will have an heir with eyes of the same color;
paradoxically, dark-eyed mom and dad can give birth to a baby with bright eyes.

Science is science, but don't forget that life is unpredictable. Therefore, the above forecast may not work. But this is not a reason for panic.

When do babies begin to "look at the world with different eyes"?

Nobody knows the exact dates. Because children do not develop according to a single program, each newborn has its own. Some kids - hurry get permanent color within the first few months after birth. Most often, these newborns are swarthy and brown-eyed. The color of the iris may change to brown with a different shade or green.

On a note! In most babies, the shade begins to change by six to nine months. Sometimes this process is delayed up to three to five years. But even this is not the limit. The iris can also change color in older children.

That's why, dear moms, you don't need to panic if the baby is already two, and his shade brown eyes still hasn't changed! This is not an indicator of deviations in development, and does not mean at all that changes will not come at all.

Perhaps you just did not notice them, these changes? The shade of the iris in a dark-eyed newborn can change so slowly that the most vigilant mother will not notice it. Blue colour your child's irises may gradually turn gray-green, and then acquire a brown tint. Or, alternatively, the eyes will brighten and remain blue.

In some cases, the eyes of a newborn change color from some kind of illness or even nervous strain. And yet, believe it or not, the process can be triggered by such “little things” as lighting, weather and mood.

"Witch" green eyes are only 2% of the inhabitants of the Earth;
Nationality and habitat also affect the color of the iris. In Russians, for example, gray or blue eyes are more common, and brown-eyed no more than 30%. Among the representatives of Ukraine and Belarus, there are already more dark-eyed people - about half. But in Spain, their vast majority - about 80%;
Heterochromia is a rare genetic disorder. The irises of such people are of different colors;
If a newborn has no melanin in the body at all, he will grow up as an albino. Such babies are distinguished by the red color of the iris;
No matter how hard you try to be precise future color the eyes of a newborn baby will not work;
Common childhood disease– jaundice – can change the color of a newborn’s irises. The thing is that the whites of the sick person turn yellow, and this makes it difficult to determine the color of the iris.

And what is the result?

But in the end, everything is simple: the color of the irises of a small lump of happiness does not depend on whether mom and dad will love him. For parents, the baby always remains the most beautiful and perfect.

Those who like to guess who the newly born little man looks like can be advised not to worry if the color of the eyes of newborns changes. Whatever they are, a properly brought up and surrounded by love from the first days of life, a child will give many reasons for pride and joy.

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