Why does a baby`s eye colour change from when they are little to when they are a little older

Question: Why does a baby`s eye colour change from when they are little to when they are a little older
- Keywords:
  body,
  eye,
  human
Asked by aishahxx to Emma, Jimmy, Janet, Niall, Simon on 13 Mar 2013.
- Janet Daly answered on 13 Mar 2013:
  
  Babies are often born with blue eyes (so are kittens)…the colour of our eyes is determined by the amount of melanin (a brown pigment that also colours skin and hair)…it can take a little while for this to appear in the coloured part of the eye (the iris). How much you end up with is determined by your genes…so a baby may always have blue eyes, or they may go darker and turn brown. Dark brown eyes help to prevent too much sunlight getting into your eyes and damaging them, which is why people from less sunny countries are more likely to have blue eyes.
- James Holloway answered on 14 Mar 2013:
  
  @Janet wow I was wondering what the answer to this question was – i didn’t have a clue!
- Niall Crawford answered on 14 Mar 2013:
  
  I didn’t even know babies eyes were a different colour.
- Emma Ashley answered on 14 Mar 2013:
  
  Yes, I did wonder why all babies are born with blue eyes!

Question: Why does a baby`s eye colour change from when they are little to when they are a little older