Everytime I see a baby, (newborn) he or she has blue eyes. Why are they blue? Why do they change colors?
2007-03-19 09:57:30 · 6 answers · asked by First Name Whittney 3 in Pregnancy & Parenting ➔ Newborn & Baby
You inherit your eye color from your parents, but no matter what the color is now, it may have been blue when you were born. Why? Melanin, the brown pigment molecule that colors your skin, hair, and eyes, hadn't been fully deposited in the irises of your eyes or darkened by exposure to ultraviolet light. The iris is the colored part of the eye that controls the amount of light that is allowed to enter. Some other animals are born with blue eyes, too, such as kittens.
Melanin is a protein. Like other proteins, the amount and type you get is coded in your genes. Irises containing a large amount of melanin appear black or brown. Less melanin produces green, gray, or light brown eyes. If your eyes contain very small amounts of melanin, they will appear blue or light gray. People with albinism have no melanin in their irises and their eyes may appear pink because the blood vessels in the back of their eyes reflect light.
Melanin production generally increases during the first year of a baby's life, leading to a deepening of eye color.
The color is often stable by about 6 months of age. However, several factors can affect eye color, including use of certain medications and environmental factors. Some people experience changes in eye color over the course of their lives. People can have eyes of two colors. Even the genetics of eye color inheritance isn't as cut-and-dried as was once thought, as blue-eyed parents have been known (rarely) to have a brown-eyed child!
2007-03-19 10:13:40 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
The melanin hasn't developed. Melanin is a protein that helps determine pigment. Most caucasian babies are born with blue eyes while many black and asian babies are born with darker eyes because of darker pigmentation. A baby's eye color changes -- if it is going to -- within the first six months and is usually stable by one year.
2007-03-19 10:14:35 · answer #2 · answered by Barbara B 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
when a baby is born. their eyes don't have any pigment in them. that's why they are blue. as the baby gets older the eye color will gradually change into the color it's meant to be. sometimes, it doesn't change and the baby's eyes stay blue.
my daughter's eyes were blue/grey when she was born. when she was 6 months to a year old her eyes were hazel. and now she is 20 months her eyes are a rich brown.
2007-03-19 10:12:55 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
By the time that they are born, the pigment in the iris (the part of the eye that has color) isn't fully developed yet. It takes a few months for the pigment to finish developing to bring the eyes to their final, permanent color.
2007-03-19 10:06:24 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
They change color as the pigment settles in. Takes some time.
2007-03-19 10:03:57 · answer #5 · answered by Waiting and Wishing 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
the pigment needs oxygenated blood to develop. This usually takes about a month or so.
2007-03-19 10:01:18 · answer #6 · answered by pegasis 5 · 0⤊ 2⤋