when do premature babies open their eyes

Hello Anonymous,

Welcome to EmpowHER. Thank you for such an interesting question.

To begin with, a premature baby’s development typically follows the same sequence as a full- term baby while it is in the womb.

A baby born at 26 weeks gestation might open his eyes occasionally, but he can’t focus. Light or other visual stimuli might stress his body’s systems.

At 26-28 weeks babies in the womb start blinking. They also grow eyelashes and eyebrows.
Between 26 to 28 weeks gestation, a premature baby might open her eyes, but she probably still can’t focus or get her eyes moving together.

Between 28 to 30 weeks gestation, in the womb a baby keeps getting heavier and longer, starts to move more often, knows the difference between some sounds – for example, voices and music – starts to grasp with his hands, and opens and shuts his eyes.

The premature baby is starting to close her eyelids tightly if it’s bright, but she still can’t move her eyes together very much. Her eyes wouldn’t normally get much stimulation at this age, so it might help to limit what she sees.

I found this information interesting and I hope you do too.
Maryann