Your baby will be able to see pretty clearly by the time he's 12 months old, but his vision won't be fully developed until he's between 3 and 5 years old. A baby's vision improves dramatically over the first year. At birth an infant can detect light and motion, then can make out faces and large shapes. By the end of the first month, a baby can make eye contact and focus on objects about 12 inches away. By the time a baby is 3 to 4 months old, he can distinguish between colors and focus on smaller objects.