You think babies would be fascinated with the big ball of fire in our sky. We were told never to stare at the sun when we were kids, lest we go blind, but babies are too young to know.
So is it by instinct that babies avoid looking at the sun? It seems unlikely, babies don’t seem to have an instinct at avoiding other sorts of hazards. Or perhaps babies eyes are quick to recover from the sorts of injuries staring at the sun can cause?
Um, I think they avoid it because of the lancing pain associated with staring at it. Try it some time, it hurts.
They certainly are fascinated by bright lights. For a little while.
But it hurts to look at the sun - and not because my mommy told me it was bad to look at it. Physical pain here.
Yes, it takes some cranial development to be really stupid.
Aaron does not stare at the sun. He does, however, stare at overhead lights for short periods of time.
Robin
They do go blind. At least in one case that I know of.
When I was in college, there was this blind guy from Uganda. His story was that his grandma left him out in the sun when he was about one, and he went blind.
When he was 15, during the reign of Idi Amin, he decided to leave the country, and did so. On foot. Blind.
He walked into the next country, but I can’t remember which, this being 19 years ago.
An inspiring story all the same about human courage. He was (then) always cheerful, in spite of the cold in Sweden and his handicap. I guess getting away from Uganda that way builds character.
And I think this answers the OP. Yes. I met I guy once who went blind from staring at the sun as a baby.
or so he said
And not saying that is not possible for a baby to go blind being left out in the sun, there is also a possible explanation that in the case of this gentleman, blindness could have been caused by eye infection due to flies.
Possible.
XicanoreX
It’s actually pretty difficult to overcome your body’s instinct to close your eyes if you stare at the sun too long. There’s a longstanding Urban Legand about pot smokers staring at the sun and going blind, but medical folks have said that it’s pretty much impossible.
didn’t Lenardo De’vincci look at the sun through his telescope and saw sunspots. IIRC he eventually went blind but it may take awhile.
That was Galileo, k2dave.
In an episode of Dragnet, “The Prophet,” aired January 11, 1968, Sgt. Joe Friday comments, in a three-person colloquy with Officer Bill Gannon (Harry Morgan) and “Brother William” (Liam Sullivan):
“Neither did the teenager who pulled his eyes out of their sockets to get a better look. Or the teenagers up in San Jose who went blind from staring at the sun. LSD really opened up a new world for them; if it didn’t they’re in trouble because they’ll never see the old one again!”
Brother William (aloofly): “They’re better off.”
I might add that around the time this episode would have been prepared I heard about two incidences of kids on drugs staring at the sun and going blind.
In the first section of a volume by Robert Ripley, published originally in 1931, he gives an account of a fakir in India who turned his head daily to follow the path of the sun across the sky: “He has looked too long and now sees nothing. The fiery rays of the sun have burned his eyes out long years ago.” 
I remember being able to stare directly at the sun as a child without experiencing any pain at all.
In days of old, sailors often went blind in one eye from looking directly into the sun to determine their ship’s position. Hence the eye patch. Aye, matey!
I had always assumed it was from being at sea too long without any women and going blind from self abuse. Well I learn something everyday 
If I look directly at the sun (when it is bright) I have to look away quickly. But I can “see” the sun without pain or blindness if I look in the direction of the sun, but not directly at it (say 30 degrees away from the sun).
Is it just that parts of the retina are more susceptible to damage from the sun than other parts?
Well the pain explanation seems plausible, and babies eyes might be ever more sensitive (when I googled for this topic, I got plenty of hits on eye damage caused by bright hospital lights, especially in the ICU). So i suppose it makes sense that babies quickly look away because of pain. Thanks for the replies!
Well the pain explanation seems plausible, and babies eyes might be ever more sensitive (when I googled for this topic, I got plenty of hits on eye damage caused by bright hospital lights, especially in the ICU). So i suppose it makes sense that babies quickly look away because of pain. Thanks for the replies!