ASK A STUPID QUESTION

Why do babies’ eyes often change from blue to brown?

‘This phenomenon is more common in Caucasian babies,’ says consultant eye surgeon Allon Barsam, of Ophthalmic Consultants of London.

‘Levels of melanin, the pigment which gives eyes their colour, increase gradually after birth, leading to baby-blue eyes turning green or hazel or brown.’

We inherit a mixture of eye colour from our parents: the genes for darker colours tend to dominate, so brown tends to win out over green, and green tends to win out over blue.

Mr Barsam adds: ‘By about the age of one, you will know the child’s definitive eye colour.’