Unlike common misconceptions, babies are not born with limited vision restricted to black and white. In fact, their color vision capabilities do have certain limitations. Newborns are able to detect some intense colors, particularly red, but it appears as though the saturation is dialed down. This is due to the color-sensing cone cells in their eyes being immature at birth.

Over the initial months, infants progressively enhance their color vision. By approximately 2 months old, they can differentiate between red and green, and by the time they reach 4 months, their color perception closely resembles that of adults, albeit with colors that may not be as vibrant.

This article addresses the question posed by Maxine Gilmore from Sheffield: “Can babies only see black and white for the first month of life?”

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