Is it normal for babies to stare at lights

I mean really, what's so great about that? What does it mean if your child stares at the ceiling fan, and why do they do that?

As cute and simple as babies seem, there is a lot of development going on inside their young brains. Marnie Baker, M. Pediatrician Catherine Gritchen, M. Despite their poor focus, she says that babies can visually attend to things like ceiling fans better due to the movement and contrast.

However, Baker suggest parents keep track of how long this behavior continues down the road. Many experts believe that when older children tend to stare at things like ceiling fans, it can be a sign that they are on the autism spectrum.

The article explained that doctors can begin screening a baby for autism at 18 months, but there is so much variability in how each individual baby develops, it is hard to make a reliable diagnosis. Just like any other human beings, babies are also afraid of darkness. The light provides some sort of comfort. For instance, the baby can see clearly what is in the surrounding.

Some lights project beautiful patterns on the ceiling. Projections such as stars on the ceilings create fun moments in the mind of the baby. How would the baby choose the darkness over such a beautiful moment of his or her life? Also, babies are not capable of differentiating between fantasy and reality. Therefore when in the darkness, they get a reflection of day time events—for example, clowns from TV programs and bedtime stories.

Also, babies are usually curious creatures. Since they have a lot to learn yet, they, therefore, need light to keep seeing more and more in the surrounding. It is normal for babies to stare at lights. You should know whether he or she tries to look at anything else in the surrounding. If not, then it can be considered a sign of Autism. Babies display autism signs and symptoms from birth. The signs occur differently in different babies.

In some babies, the signs are mild while on others are severe. The autism signs and symptoms appear before the baby turns three. Human bodies have levels of temperature at which they get comfortable. Just like any other human being, a baby can feel the warmth of the surrounding. In his or her own words, the baby will tell in case of changes in the surrounding. Therefore, the baby might cry to mention he or she is not comfortable with the current levels of temperatures.

Remember, warmth soothes the baby, making it easy for him or her to catch sleep. At the age of around six months, the baby gains the ability to form a three-dimensional view of the world. If you are seriously concerned about your baby's development or any damage being caused by staring at lights seek a medical opinion from your family doctor.

They themselves will give you the assurance you may be looking for. The Institutes for the Achievement of Human Potential are the foremost experts on child brain development, doing research and studies for over fifty years.

If you study their material, the baby cannot see the way that we do until there is enough stimulation to form the neural pathways for sight. Most of the brain structure in a fully-developed adult brain relates to vision, and your child is forming those pathways by looking at the light. It's been a boon in our family with our five children.

He's highly functional, and doing awesome today at However, your child will not get the proper help and treatment without being properly "coded" by the system. We resisted at first, we pretended to ignore it hoping it would go away, despite the nagging feeling in our gut.

Obviously I'm not saying that's what's happening with your child, but if you have any doubts or feelings then don't be afraid to explore your options. You are your child's only advocate right now. Sign up to join this community. The best answers are voted up and rise to the top. Stack Overflow for Teams — Collaborate and share knowledge with a private group. Create a free Team What is Teams? Learn more. My 2 month old baby keeps looking into light Ask Question.

Asked 4 years, 6 months ago. Active 4 years, 6 months ago. Viewed 79k times. Improve this question. CodeWarrior CodeWarrior 1 1 gold badge 3 3 silver badges 9 9 bronze badges.

Somewhat related, though not specific to babies: physics. Add a comment. Active Oldest Votes. I've had a look around to try and find some information which will help ease you a little. Emphasis mine Staring at lights - will he damage his eyes? Emphasis mine Your Infant's Vision Development specifically Vision Development: Months 2 and 3: Also, infants at this stage of development are learning how to shift their gaze from one object to another without having to move their head.

Tips: To help stimulate your 2- to 3-month-old child's vision development, the American Optometric Association AOA has these recommendations: Keep a night light on to provide visual stimulation when they are awake in their crib. I would like to edit into my answer after being made aware of light gazing.

Light gazing can be a symptom of CVI : Cortical visual impairment CVI is a term used to describe visual impairment that occurs due to brain injury. Taking a closer look at this, specifically Light gazing and non purposeful gazing : It is not entirely clear why this is a common characteristic among children with CVI. Improve this answer. Community Bot 1.

Bugs Bugs 2, 3 3 gold badges 13 13 silver badges 34 34 bronze badges. One thing I might suggest is ensuring that you do not use any halogen or fluorescent bulbs CFL or otherwise. While a good halogen or fluorescent bulb should emit only minimal UV radiation, many emit more than they should. LED and incandescent lights emit little to no UV. That said, unless they're staring for hours at a time or have the bulb right in their face there's probably not enough UV to actually damage the eyes, but why not err on the safe side?

Staring at Christmas tree lights is not at all the same thing as staring at a common light bulb. These are orders of magnitude different. Also, "my baby likes it and is mesmerized" does not make it safe; your baby would also likely drink anti-freeze if given the opportunity and would then, very unfortunately, die. Liking it does not make it safe. Being normal does not make it safe. Staring directly at common light bulbs is not safe.

Care to back Staring directly at common light bulbs is not safe up with a link Aaron as generally I hear nothing bad about it.