Babies have a lot to take in as they are brand new to this world. That is the exact answear to why is my baby always looking up? Their immature brain is developing, absorbing, and processing their new surroundings. This phenomenon is happening while their eyes are getting the ability to focus. Also, they get audio and other visual cues for representing safety and contact. In the beginning, it is a lot. But it is totally normal for the new baby to look up always.
Normally babies are on their back most of the time. So they try to fixate their eyes straight ahead. So they look up and check out of fans, the ceiling texture, and shining lights. All those are the things fascinating them.
It is totally normal for babies to look upwards aging 12 to 16 weeks. It is difficult for disturbing their attention. But if they are not recurrently identifying the most familiar mom’s and dad’s faces further, it is high time to consult a pediatrician.
1. Your baby is having an immature brain
Babies are so fascinated by immature things a lot. They love to see the detailed thing of a particular object. At this time, fresh connections are built in their minds. Sometimes they spend hours looking at things like seeing fans etc.
Young babies are passing huge development in their life cycle. Specially their brains. So they still don’t have developed a sense of vision. So the light and the movement is special thing to them. Most babies of 6-8 weeks of age are developing their vision very quickly. They always look at their parent’s faces and ceiling fans etc. for a long period.
At this age limit, the focus is not precise. They can only focus on the things about 8-12 inches in front of their eyes. Other closer or farther objects are out of focus. But if there is a certain object connected with movement and the contrast, young babies can attend to them very well.
Sensory experiences are very much helpful to developing the immature brains of babies. The development of brains occurs slowly. After 6-8 months the development rate is increased. The things with contrast and movement can catch their eyes quickly as they provide intense stimulation to the little ones.
Personal interests differ from one baby to another. So the things they look at are different from person to person. So if your baby is always looking up or looking at a ceiling fan, it is totally normal part of their visual capabilities. This behavior persists up to 3 to 4 months of age.
Staring upwards can relate to conditions such as autism rarely. Normally screening babies for autism starts after 18 months of age. So you don’t need to worry. Most kids at age of 4 always look upwards and after that their habits will disappear with time. But still, you notice the older kids are looking up towards ceiling fans, etc, it is advisable to consult your pediatrician.
2. Looking up or staring at ceilings – Very normal for newborns. Not so normal for older babies.
Newborns only can see 6-9 inches in front of them. So the capability of making eye contact is there nearly at 9 weeks of age. Within ceilings, there must be a contrast. So babies are fond of looking at them. Most newborns and infants are visually attracted to stark contrast. As an example they don’t like to look out from the window instead they try to look towards the dark frame of the window
Babies are not focusing on anything. Instead, they cross their eyes as their eye muscles are so weak. That is the reason babies just look upwards instead of focusing on an exact thing.
Babies with wandering eye movements or lack of eye contact commonly have law vision or sometimes they are blind. But this is not a common incident. You should not worry that much.
So dear parents, don’t get many details from Mr. Google. Don’t google the topic that much. Most of the result articles are related to autism and ADD. But these conditions are difficult to diagnose in the infancy period.
3. Baby’s gaze may signal autism
Here, you need to be concerned about one thing. That is your baby’s ability to look at somebody and make eye contact. Looking up or looking up towards a ceiling fan is a different thing to diagnose autism. Autism is totally relates to the capability of making eye contact with others. But if the baby is keeping fixated eye movements similar to repetitive action type it may also be related to autism.
Few authors state that the steepest decline in looking towards people’s eyes over time developed the most severe autism. Also, if they fall off their eye fixation quickly, they show more socially disabled than the other kids. So if your kid is making eye contact properly you should not worry about this.
The eye-tracking differences are advanced skills that should monitor with the help of technology and clinical expertise. Also, you need to know that autism therapies are not developed for young babies but some behavioral therapy techniques are helped for children of 12months old or more.
4. Final thoughts
Most babies always look up. They sometimes look at ceilings or rotating fans for hours. Dear parents, wish to say that it is very normal for looking upwards for newborns. But for the older babies, it is not so normal.it may be an indication of a later medical condition.
Looking up constantly and being unable to make eye contact with people are totally two different things. For newborns, focusing on the eyes is not accurate. They look at it in general. Not for specific detailed things. Their eye muscles ate weakly.
If there are visually contrasting things, the newborns are attracted to them. Same as the moving objects. When they get old, their focusing ability is getting increased. So they try to make eye contact and try to start nonverbal communication with others. If this ability is not present with older kids, you need to get the assistance of a medical professional. Conditions like autism and social disabilities are present with the kids who don’t have proper gaze.
So it is your duty to observe your kid deeply and judge whether he/she has these issues and take the relevant medical assistance.