12wo not making eye contact?

[KLM99]

My 12 week old doesn't ever make eye contact with me. Is that abnormal at this age? He's a pretty happy baby - sleeps well, loves to be held and touched, smiles, coos, etc. But no eye contact - it's almost like he's avoiding looking at me, he looks all around my face. Abnormal?

[Jenne]

Have you had his vision checked? It could be as simple as that. Is he able to track objects? Depth perception doesn't come until around 4 months. He should be able to track objects (like a rattle) which are close, catch his attention, and pass from left to right (or right to left) across him. If he can't do this reliably, I'd begin by having his vision checked. That said, baby's vision isn't fully developed (the eyes are able but the brain has to be able to process) until 6-8 months.

Hope this helps!
Jenne

[boysmom2]

How long has this been going on? I ask because I worried about my oldest when he was a baby for the same reason, but it only lasted a couple of days. Looking back on it, I wonder if it was just that his vision was improving and he was able to see farther than before and so was really interested in things other than my eyes. BTW, he's a very bright 7yo with excellent vision now! Hopefully it's just something like that.

[KLM99]

Thanks to both posters! I'm going to have his vision checked this week since we do have some genetic eye conditions in my family.

If anyone else is reading this and has a baby about this age - I would love to know about your baby's eye contact "habits." Thanks!

[Bea]

Originally Posted by KLM99

Thanks to both posters! I'm going to have his vision checked this week since we do have some genetic eye conditions in my family.

If anyone else is reading this and has a baby about this age - I would love to know about your baby's eye contact "habits." Thanks!

My son was similar at that age...even when you tried and tried to make eye contact, he seemed to deliberately avoid it but I do remember his Dr commenting a couple of times when he was a tiny infant, about what a direct stare he had/ his intense eye contact.

Maybe he just didn't want to look at me? With a 12 week old, I'd probably not showered in 5 days, so who can blame him!

He's an unusually sociable 2.5 year old now...just loves people.