When your baby is born, her eyes are actually developed enough to see almost as clearly as you do. Her brain, on the other hand, isn’t so developed yet. Consequently, newborn babies can only see clearly out to around 14 inches. One of the amazing things about this limited vision is that it is just enough for your baby to study your face while you are cuddling her or breastfeeding her.

Your baby will start to show an interest in your face almost immediately, especially as she begins to recognize you as one of the people who takes care of her. Some babies will enjoy looking directly into your eyes, while other babies may show more interest in your mouth. One way you can help your baby’s visual stimulation at this age is by looking her in the eye and moving your face back and forth. This will help her develop focus and depth perception.

Newborns can see in color, but they aren’t able to distinguish between colors very well. Because of this, newborns often enjoy looking at things which have a high color contrast, such as black, white and red. The more you can expose your baby to contrasting colors, the more she will develop an interest in seeing the world around her.

At some point during baby’s second month, she will start to track objects with her eyes, following them as they move. Of course, this ability will develop slowly, and at first baby might be a bit clumsy when following things with her eyes. During this time, you should play with baby by showing her books or toys with brightly contrasting colors. Be careful about overdoing it, though. Go slowly to avoid over stimulating baby, and stop if she becomes upset.

During her third month, your baby will master the art of following an object with her eyes. She will also be able to see clearly out to as far as fifteen or sixteen feet, so she will be able to watch you from across the room. Mobiles and other toys with moving objects are especially appropriate for babies at this age.

As baby practices following things with her eyes, she will learn to separate colors. By her fourth month, she will be able to distinguish color nearly as well as you can. She will also begin to develop her depth perception and by five months, she will be able to pick out small objects and may start to reach for them.

Over the next few months, baby will begin to distinguish shapes and to differentiate between one object and another. At around 8 months, her vision will be fully developed, and she will be able to see nearly as well as you do.

We all know that newborn babies can be awfully sporadic in their sleeping habits. Babies, like everyone else, go through periods of light sleep and deep sleep. Unlike adults, however, babies typically cycle through light and deep sleep every 50 minutes or so, creating the potential for your baby to wake up many times during the course of the night.

Some babies are better able to soothe themselves back to sleep than others. While there may be many factors involved in this, most of which are completely out of our control as parents, recent evidence suggests one common factor in baby sleep problems which we may be able to do something about.

Researchers at the University of Michigan have recently demonstrated a connection between erratic sleep behaviors in babies and depression in the baby’s mother. They theorize that the baby can sense the anxiety the mother is going through, and this adds to the baby’s sense of anxiety, which makes it harder for them to soothe themselves to sleep.

Of course, this leads to a rather vicious cycle, as the new mother finds herself not only depressed, but also needing to care for a cranky baby who can’t seem to stay asleep for any significant period of time. Needless to say, sleep deprivation does not exactly help feelings of depression.

Do yourself and your baby a big favor. If you think you may be experiencing depression, whether it is caused by post partum or anything else, seek professional help. Start by talking with your doctor, who may either recommend counseling or medication. Both have been known to help, and your doctor is the best person to recommend which course you should take. In any case, it is better to receive treatment for your depression than to let it go untreated.

Dealing with negative feelings and depression does not make you a bad parent, or a bad person. Postpartum depression is very normal, and many women just like you go through it. Making sure that you get the proper treatment to take care of yourself is best for you and your baby.

As you well know, that first year of your baby’s time on this planet is one of intense development and learning. That’s often one reason why a baby will have trouble falling asleep – he’s trying to learn a new skill. The one year-old you will have in a few months bears little resemblance to that newborn you welcomed just a little while ago. Knowing what to expect during that first year of development can help you watch out for delays, and it can also help you to encourage your baby as he learns new skills.

Here are the stages of that first year of development:

• The newborn stage. During this stage, your baby’s development and movements are all about the reflex. There are the sucking reflex and the rooting reflex, both of which help him to feed. There is the quirky “tonic neck” reflex in which your baby will turn his head one direction, and then straighten the arm on that side while bending the other. There’s the startle reflex, as well as the grasping reflex.
• The 1 to 3 month stage. During this part of the first year of development, your baby will get some more control over her body. She’ll roll over, prop herself up on her arms, and be able to lift her head up when she’s on her belly. She’ll kick her legs too, getting ready to crawl.
• The 4 to 7 months stage. This stage is characterized by rolling over, reaching out for objects, and passing things from one hand to the other. She can probably stand on her own, too, but not for long.
• The 8 months to 1 year stage. The final stage in the first year of development is characterized by sitting up, standing, bouncing, crawling and getting up onto all fours. Some babies will also walk during the first year of development.

As always, if you’re concerned about your baby’s development, bring it to the attention of your pediatrician.