Infants' Peripheral Vision Blurry?

Parents have long wondered at just how much of the world their infants are able to see let alone understand. Thanks to new research from Stanford University, we may finally be able to put to rest the old wives' tales that contradictorily state that infants can see as well as adults or that they are as blind as newborn kittens for at least half a year. I don't know who those old wives were that started all that nonsense, but I do find it reassuring to know that my child was able to see at least some of the newborn paraphernalia that I decorated his room with and at the very least appreciated all the face time we engaged in.

According to Faraz Farzin, a postdoctoral researcher at Stanford University, "Infants only perceive what they stare at, and they perceive a jumbled, tangled mass of features in their periphery". Another interpretation of the study's results is that "(i)dentifying and reaching for a specific toy in a pile is no easy feat for a baby". But how does this information help parents to better bond with their newborns?

Well, knowing that their child cannot see easily pick out a specific shape or image from all the possible things to identify in their field of view will encourage more parents to be less overwhelming with countless objects in their child's environment and more hands on and engaging in one on one, close up interactions.

So the next time your annoying, know-it-all-neighbor asks why you haven't covered your babies car seat, stroller and crib with a million brain building, so called "educational" toys for newborns, you can simply reply, that you are saving your money for their education fund and focusing more on having them bond with you. It won't stop her from telling you how wrong she thinks you are but it's better than nothing.

Do studies like these make you consider your parenting approach or do you find them to be just more useless information on an already over-informative topic?

Admin