Color Preference in 10-1/2 Month Old

I also think this can be normal, but the only different thing from the other responses I wanted to add is that you want to look at his overall development. Yes, this may be just a quirky little kid thing, but if he is fine in every other aspect, I wouldn't worry. Like another mom said, if he starts regressing in speech later, does other repetitive behaviors, etc, later on, you may want to look into it more. But, it sounds like his development overall is great so I don't think you have anything to worry about with an isolated behavior.

Although varrying degrees of color blindness is more common in boys than girls, I certainly would not leap to any assumptions in this regard based on a color preference.

I took a couple of classes in color therapy. Each color provides differing wave lengths of light for visual stimulation. The brain has a different chemical response to each color. We are all very unique. Your son may simply get a brain chemistry balance from yellow right now. Yellow is the color that color therapists suggest for libraries and schools because it is more condusive to study. Some colors provide a certain therapeutic effect for short periods of time and then the effect changes. For example, pink can be very calming when you are surrounded by it on walls, but only for about 15 minutes. Some jails paint the holding cell pink for this reason. A neurologist once told me that the color red slows down brain waves on an EEG. This will often make us uncomfortable if we surround ourselves with it for long periods of time. But we are each unique.

I learned that it was always best to trust a baby's instincts in such matters. They really are attracted to what they need in most cases.

Hi V.,

My daughter did the same thing, nothing to worry, my dad loved yellow, and I used to love orange (my least favorite now) my little one loved yellow until 3, now she likes pink.
it's fine, little ones usually choose bright colors like red or yellow, they are the ones that catch their attention that's all:)
Mariana Abadie
www.Maiacreations.ecrater.com

My daughter has always seemed to have a preference for pink. From the time she was 9-1/2 months, if given a choice, she would always choose the pink item before anything else. If pink wasn't available then purple was her 2nd choice. If I'd take her to the fabric store and ask her if she liked this one or the other she would definately have a choice. People used to look at me like I was crazy since she was so little but laughed when they saw how she chose by caressing or loving on the one that she liked...most often pink. She's 18 months now and I can tell you that she has a strong will and definately knows when she likes or dislikes something.

You've gotten tons of responses and mine is no different I just thought I'd share it anyway:) My son is 2 1/2 and yellow has been his favorite color for a very long time. He tells evryone he loves yellow, and when we see a yellow car on the road or anything he mentions it. None of my other children did this.

As long as he is hitting all of his other milestones on time, I wouldn't be worried about it. If his speech isn't developing normally, or he seems to stop learning new words or regress in his speech then I would be more concerned. Also if he develops repetative self soothing behaviors like rocking, hand flapping, etc. My daughter was diagnosed with Autism in January, and those are a few of the symptoms we saw. She also stopped responding to her name, and we thought maybe she had a hearing problem. If his development is normal besides just his color preference then I wouldn't be concerned at all.

Hi V.,

It's possible that your son is color blind. It's more common in men, and both my dad and grandfather are color blind--from different sides of the family. However, they can both see yellow. There are varying degrees of the issue, too. Of course, it's too early to tell, and he'll still have a normal, healthy life, but that's what I thought when I read your post...

Hope that helps and you can set it aside and not worry. Yes, I know, easier said than done!

Good Luck!

S. Jarman
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I think it's normal. My son hated the color red for about 6 months.

I think kids change their color preferences in different ages and stages of life. My son liked green in preschool and noticed a lot of other kids this age also preferred green. He is a 2nd grader now and prefers blue more now. A lot of infants will respond to seeing black and red things more than any other color.

Your son may just like the color yellow -- it's a soothing color. From my perspective, it could be a genetic/ancestral memory coming through this DNA. I don't think you have anything to worry about. I also think such behaviors can be representative of "past life" memories - however that works.

I agree with the others that this is pretty normal but I thought I would add my 2 cents about color blindness. All of my brothers are color blind to some extent and one of my uncles (on my mom's side) is completely color blind. He only sees black and white with shades of gray. This is rare but does happen occationally. Most people who are color blind can still see most colors. The problem comes mostly with similar shades of different colors. My brothers have a hard time distingishing certain shades of red, green, brown, and sometimes yellow too. The warmer earth tones are usually the hardest. However, bright colors are usually not a problem. My mother has always told me that she knew my brother (who has the most problems with colors of the three) was ready to learn his colors when he was wearing a red shirt one day and told her his shirt was ketchup. So since most baby toys are bright colors, even if you son does have some color blindness, he would most likely still be able to tell the difference between the colors of the toys. You probably won't even be able to really tell that he is color blind until he is much older. And unless it is extreme, it will not really effect his learning abilities. Like so many things, kids who have it just learn to adapt and don't even realize it is a "problem".

I don't really have any input, but would be interested in what your pediatrician says. My daughter is 2 and has a HUGE preference in blue and has since I can remember.

Thanks
A. W.

for my son it was green things. for my daughter it was yellow things. It's normal as far as I can tell. my niece liked blue things. It's interesting the little quarks that kids have.

As for color blindness, it's an x-linked trait, so look for any men in your family that were color blind. your husband can't pass it on to your son. If there is no history of color blindness in your family then it's unlikely that he is color blind. There is always a chance of a genetic mutation that caused it but that is not very common. It wouldn't be anything to worry about until you send him to school, if his teachers don't know he's color blind they won't understand why he doesn't learn the colors like the other kids.

Don't fret about his color preferences, just enjoy his individuality and the time you have with him, it will pass too quickly.

This reminds me very much of my son ! He loves yellow also. His "blankie" was yellow. We had a yellow car when he was little and he named it "Yellowie". In first grade he wrote a story about "Yellowie". Lots of his favorite toys were yellow. He just really liked the color. (Wonder if that is why he married a girl with blonde hair ?)He was also crazy about cars to the point of not wanting to play with any other toys. Just cars, or anything having to do with cars.
Anyway, he is 24 years old now, and a very happy, very intelligent, well adjusted man. I think his strong preferences were maybe just a sign of his strong will, and of someone who would turn out to be a person capable of thinking things through and then standing by his convictions.
I wouldn't worry about your child's preference. Just do like we did ..... indulge him enough to keep him happy and secure, but keep introducing him to other, just as pleasant colors, toys, and experiences.

The Mom who suggested the possibility of color blindness is right, he'd see yellow, but not reds, according to one of my brotherinlaws, pink is a ghastly shade of yellow, and he always hated it when my sis would put pink on his baby girls.

On the other hand, my daughter was about 9 months old when she was sitting on the floor playing with colored blocks. I realized she was "tasting" the different color blocks to see if they tasted different. She was associating tastes with color and it was fascinating to see her make the connection.
Her preference was red.

I think it's pretty common for them to start showing preferences for colors at this age.

Hello there!
I am experiencing exactly the same thing with my 13.5 month old boy. From around 12 months he has shown a strong preference to anything yellow. If I build a tower with blocks or stacking cups, he will reach for the yellow block or cup first. If we play with coloured balls, he will hold the a yellow ball in his right hand and play with the other balls, although he will never hand back the yellow ball! Often he has watched me apply my make up, and I could never work out why he would carry on when I applied mascara, and then I realised that tube is yellow, so he always wants me to hand it to him. He has soft toys in his cot now, and sleeps with the yellow big bird in his hand. I find it totally bizarre, cute, and facinating... I would love to read into the psychology behind this behaviour, my mum says it's because he's a happy sunshine baby... maybe she's right!
All the best
K, Australia : )

My oldest loved the color yellow when he was a baby & toddler. Now he is 6 1/2 & his favorite color is now green. I think it is normal for babies to have a favorite color (a lot of kids & adults do). I would only be concerned if he never played with or touched other colors.
God Bless!

2 of my 3 kids did the same thing. My daughter, now 11, started to grab this green toy when she was between 5 and 6 months, didn't matter where it was, across the room or right next to her, she always went in the direction of green colored toys.....for 11 years now, her favorite color has been green. My son, who is now 3, always went towards the color yellow as well. He was about 7 or 8 months when he started doing it. But even today if yellow was the choice of a cup, popcicle, a toy, he seems to choose items that are yellow.

I think some kids just do that. I told my nephew when he was four that he didn't need anything else yellow because he had everything. He said "I don't have a yellow sink." He was right! lol He doesn't do that anymore it just stopped.

L. B