Look before you reach – what reaching shows us about your baby’s development
We know babies can’t see very clearly when they are first born, but their vision develops quickly and so does their understanding of what they see. Your baby will show you this progress as they look at an object before they try to reach and grab it. They are showing you that they are developing depth perception, coordination and body awareness (proprioception) – which all sounds very impressive but what does it mean?
How far away is it? Developing depth perception
At birth, your baby could focus on objects close by but other things were blurry. They couldn’t judge distance accurately, as this involves processing information from both eyes at the same time (binocular information).[1]
Your baby will have started to be able to process binocular information and will, as their physical skills develop, begin to use this information when reaching for an object.[2]
You'll notice that your baby will look towards an object before reaching for it.
At first, they might not reach accurately, but as they begin to link information from what they see with what they feel, they will develop their perception of distance and reach more accurately.
This is where my hand needs to be – improving coordination
Looking towards and then reaching for an object helps your baby to link what they see with their movement and what they feel as they touch the object. Your baby will practise reaching many times and as they do this, they'll become more accurate in their reach.
Looking at, reaching for and grasping objects is an important part of your baby’s developing hand-eye coordination, so although it might be tempting to help them, let them have a go first!
Without looking – body awareness (proprioception) and reaching
When your baby first starts to reach towards objects, they use their developing vision to help them to reach accurately. However, as they become more skilled and develop more awareness of their body, they will be able to reach and grasp an object without looking at the object.[3] That’s why you can (usually) pick up your cup of tea without looking at it!
References:
[1] Ekberg, T.L, Rosander, K. von Hosten, C., Olsson, U. Soska, K.C., Adolph, K.E. (2013) ‘Dynamic reaching in infants during binocular and monocular viewing.’ Experimental brain research. 229. Pp1-12
[2] Braddick, O., Atkinson, J. (2011). ‘Development of human visual function.’ Vision Research. 51(2011) pp. 1588-1609.
[3] Crowley, K. (2017) Child Development. A Practical Introduction (2nd edn). London: Sage.