When do Babies Eyes Change? We Asked the Expert!

One of the first questions new parents ask their doctor is “when do babies eyes change color”?

If you’re anything like us, you probably needed to find out baby's gender (or sex) (how else would we know how to decorate the nursery?), but babies’ coloring is a little bit of a mystery.

They may take on mom or dad’s hair and eye color, or they may not at all.

Your babe may get grandma’s red hair and auntie’s green eyes— this is something we have to wait to find out.

It’s such fun to see how baby will look, not just at birth, but during the first year when so many things are changing.

We spoke to Ophthalmologist and mom, Debra Guthrie, MD from GC Optics, to get the facts on when babies get their eye color.

In this article: 📝

Do all babies have blue eyes?

The real answer is that it’s complicated.

Light-skinned (Caucasian) parents generally have children who are blue eyed at birth, but the color may change during the first year of life.

Children of dark-skinned parents may have brown eyed children at birth and that won’t change much over time.

Let’s give a little background information first.

There’s a pigment called melanin that’s in our hair, skin and iris in varying amounts.

The iris is the colored part of our eyes.

So, in a sense, the melanin concentration ultimately dictates eye color.

Genes are very important, too.

When do babies’ eyes change?

Well, if your baby is born with brown eyes, the color doesn’t change much over time.

If your child is born with blue or gray eyes, the melanocytes (those little melanin producing machines in the iris), are stimulated to produce pigment in daylight.

Generally eye color is known by 6 months, but the color may continue to change up to 1 year old.

And for some children, their eye color changes till they're 2 years old.

It’s lots of fun guessing!

When do babies get their eye color?

Well, some babies are born with brown eyes so it’s known at birth.

Done deal!

For the blue eyed babies eye color will change for up to a year, sometimes into their second year of life.

When will my baby’s eyes change?

If your baby is born with brown eyes, their color doesn’t change all that much.

If your baby has blue or gray eyes the color will change until 6-9 months.

There may be a further deepening of the color after that time.

If babies are born with blue eyes, when do babies’ eyes change from blue?

Eye color changes in the first 6-9 months.

If both parents are blue eyed there’s a good chance your child will remain with blue eyes.

It’s one of the fun things about being a new parent — watching your child’s eyes change.

How can you tell if your baby’s eyes will stay blue?

Well, there is no foolproof method.

Having said that it’s a good bet if both parents have blue eyes your child will have blue eyes.

This means less melanocytes making the pigment, melanin.

How long until babies’ eyes change color?

The baby's eyes will change color for up to one year.

They may deepen in color for a little longer.

For the brown eyed bunch, there’s not going to be a change.

Enjoy those gorgeous brown eyes smiling at you.

When do newborn eyes change color?

Babies' eyes start changing at birth.

The melanocytes in the iris start producing the pigment, melanin, in response to light.

Increase in pigment can continue for 12 months or more.

When can you tell what color a baby’s eyes will be definitively?

For the majority of babies, by 12 months old, the guessing game is over and you’ll know your child’s eye color.

For a few children the color may continue to change up until age 2.

If anything, the color will deepen, not lighten.

But if you want a head start on figuring out your baby’s eye color, you can try an eye color calculator, where you can enter the eye color of each parent, and it then gives you a breakdown as to what percentage chance you have for each eye color.

We tested it out with 10 toddlers and children, and it was about 80% accurate.

It’s super interesting to see your chances, and even more fun to know if it’s right when you finally see your babe's eyes develop for yourself.

What color will gray babies’ eyes turn?

If your child is born with gray eyes, they may stay light or actually turn hazel or brown during the course of your child’s first year of life.

It’s part of what makes being a parent so much fun.

Can a baby have two different colored eyes?

Yes, and it’s called Heterochromia.

If your child is born with two different colored eyes (one brown, one blue) or in the first six months the eyes become two different colors, it’s a good idea to get it checked out.

In many people, this is normal, but there are some medical conditions that may cause two different colored irides.

Better to have your pediatrician decide if a visit to the eye specialist is warranted.

Can I alter my baby's eye color?

No, you can't.

You might have heard that whether you breastfeed or use formula can change baby's eye color, but, medically speaking, it won’t make a difference.

Destiny is destiny.

What are the odds of having a blue-eyed baby?

If one parent is brown eyed and the other is blue, the chances are pretty much 50:50, with a slight lean towards brown.

Only 8-10% of people worldwide have blue eyes.

If both parents have blue eyes, the chances of a blue eyed baby is closer to 99%.

What are the odds of having a baby with brown eyes?

Almost 75% of people worldwide have brown eyes, so it’s pretty likely.

Especially if both parents have brown eyes.

Unless one or both parents carry the blue-eye gene, it’s almost certain your babe will have brown or hazel eyes.

So there you have it!

All there is to know about when babies' eye color changes, straight from the expert!

And here's a quick fun fact from Dr. Debra Guthrie for you to take away with you: newborns can't actually produce tears — the lacrimal gland, which produces tears, isn't fully developed yet.

Of course, that's not to say that they won't cry (believe us, they will!), just that there won't be any real tears.

But from one month old, baby will produce tears… and the rest is history.

If you want to chat about all things baby eye color with other moms like you, join our Peanut Community we think you'll fit right in.