When do babies eye colour change

We've got the scoop. By Bonnie Schiedel April 3, We spoke to experts to find the answer to all your baby eye colour questions! It might! Most babies with lighter skin are born with blue or grey eyes. Some stay blue or grey while others gradually change over time to green, hazel or brown.

Most, but not all, babies with darker skin are born with darker eyes that stay brown. The coloured part of the eye, the iris, contains a protein called melanin—the same protein that affects skin colour.

The melanin comes from specialized cells called melanocytes. As your baby ages, the melanocytes respond to light, producing melanin. The more melanocytes at work, the darker the eyes become. A Look At Your Newborn. Continue Reading Below. Read This Next. Newborn and Baby Sleep Basics.

Gripe Water for Newborns and Babies. View Sources. April First Year. First Year Groups. The amount of melanin that may develop in your baby's eyes depends on genetics, Negrin says. A small amount of melanin results in blue eyes, while a medium amount means green or hazel eyes, and those with a lot of melanin are likely to have brown eyes. Typically, Caucasian babies are born with gray-blue eyes that may or may not change to a darker, browner color depending on how much melanin develops.

Whereas black or Hispanic babies have more melanin to start with and, therefore, are more likely to be born with brown eyes that won't change color. Brown is the most common eye color worldwide. Because brown eyes are so prevalent, the most common eye color change in newborns is blue to brown, Negrin says. Though it's important to note that not all newborns' eyes change color.

And while many people assume all babies are born with light blue eyes, the majority of newborns worldwide actually have brown eyes at birth. If by six or seven months of age, one eye is a completely different color than the other eye, you should check in with a doctor as this can be a sign of a rare disease called Waardenburg syndrome , which is also associated with hearing loss. Or if you notice your baby's eye color is actually becoming lighter over time, it could be a sign of ocular albinism not to be confused with general albinism, which can produce pink or reddish eyes.

So before you get too attached to those 6-month-old green eyes, just know that some babies will experience changes up to 1 year of age. But the hue you see at 6 months may still be a work in progress — which means you should wait a few months or more before filling in the eye color section of the baby book.

However, some can take up to 3 years to settle into a permanent eye color. More specifically, a study involving newborns found that the birth prevalence of iris color was:. Melanin, a type of pigment that contributes to your hair and skin color, also plays a role in iris color. Eyes that are a darker shade from birth tend to stay dark, while some eyes that began a lighter shade will also darken as melanin production increases.

This typically occurs over their first year of life, with the color change slowing down after 6 months. A small amount of melanin results in blue eyes, but increase the secretion and baby may end up with green or hazel eyes. If your baby has brown eyes, you can thank the hardworking melanocytes for secreting a lot of melanin to produce a darker color. And the more melanin you have, the darker your eyes become. That said, Bert points out that even the possibility of the eyes changing color depends on the amount of pigment they begin with.