Can my baby see or hear me ?

Vision

• even when a baby is born at term his eyesight is still not completely developed.
• it is thought that babies only see in black and white for the first 2-3 months of life.
• the shapes they see are slightly blurred although they are naturally drawn to the shape of the human face.
• whilst your baby is developing in the womb his eyelids are fused shut from around week 10 to week 27 of pregnancy.
• if your baby is born before 27 weeks he may not be able to open his eyes. No special care is required and the eyes will open by themselves when they are ready.

Hearing

• hearing develops at an earlier stage than eyesight.
• babies born at around term can hear very well.
• babies born early can also hear well but can be very sensitive to the noises of a busy neonatal nursery.
• the loud, sharp noises of alarms, doors closing, chairs moving etc., can cause an ill baby stress.
• we can see this showing as irritability, fluctuation in heart rate and intolerance of handling etc.

Minimising noise and light:

• to try to minimise the disturbance caused by light and noise your baby’s nurse may put a sheet or special cover on top of the incubator.
• this dims the light reaching your baby’s eyes and helps to muffle some of the noise of the nursery.

• however the soothing sound of a human voice can be very comforting to a preterm baby, even when they are quite ill.
• don’t be afraid to talk softly to your baby, have a chat about your day or even read a story.
• this is all part of what is called developmental care