Looking where you look
Babies start following where you look, to find the thing you're looking at, at around 10 months. Before that, many turn the same way as your head without following your eyes.
How sure are we?
Not sure yet. Every study so far has tested fewer than 200 babies, all in labs. How we know this
What it’s a sign of
Your baby is starting to understand that where people look tells you what they're paying attention to.
Some studies report babies turning the same way as an adult from 3 or 4 months, but they count any turn in the right direction. Studies that need the baby to find the right object put it at about 7 to 12 months. At 9 months, babies follow a head turn even when the adult's eyes are shut.
We don't know the age by which nearly all babies do this. Most studies are from the United States.
A main source for the ages
The development of gaze following and its relation to language
Rechele Brooks, Andrew N. Meltzoff · 2005 · Developmental Science
- Children
- About 100 babies
- Where
- A lab in Seattle, United States
- Ages
- 9 to 11 months
- How
- Researchers tested each baby once in a lab
- What it found
- At 10 and 11 months, babies followed an adult's look to a toy much more when her eyes were open than when they were shut. At 9 months they followed her head turn either way.
- Limits
- One lab in one country, and each baby was tested only once.
A study that questioned earlier findings
The slow emergence of gaze‐ and point‐following: A longitudinal study of infants from 4 to 12 months
Yueyan Tang, Marybel R. Gonzalez, Gedeon O. Deák · 2023 · Developmental Science
- Children
- About 40 babies tested every month, plus about 25 more
- Where
- Southern California, United States
- Ages
- 4 to 12 months
- How
- Researchers tested the same babies every month as they grew
- What it found
- Babies didn't reliably follow where an adult looked until about 7 months, then got steadily better up to 12 months. Even at 12 months they rarely followed a look to something behind them.
- Limits
- A small group in one place.
A main source for the ages
The origins of joint visual attention in infants.
Valerie Corkum, Chris L. Moore · 1998 · Developmental Psychology
- Children
- Not given in the summary we read
- Where
- Not given in the summary we read
- Ages
- First year
- How
- Lab tests
- What it found
- Babies didn't reliably follow an adult's gaze before about 10 months, though it could be taught from about 8 months.
- Limits
- We have only read the summary.
A main source for the ages
What minds have in common is space: Spatial mechanisms serving joint visual attention in infancy
George E. Butterworth, Nicholas Jarrett · 1991 · British Journal of Developmental Psychology
- Children
- Not given in the summary we read
- Where
- Not given in the summary we read
- Ages
- 6 to 18 months
- How
- Lab tests
- What it found
- Babies followed a look precisely to the right object by about 12 months, and to things behind them between 12 and 18 months.
- Limits
- We have only read the summary.
If you’re worried about your child, talk to your child and family health nurse or GP.
Last checked 2 November 2026