Q&A: My baby screams when he sees black. What's wrong?

While your baby may seem to cry when something black is put in front of him, you can rest assured that isn't likely the case. Based on everything known about an infant's developing vision, it's considerably more likely that your 2-month-old's response is more of a startle reaction to objects put in front of him or a coincidence rather than distress specifically triggered by the color black.
Newborns can fix their gaze on a specific object (most commonly a human face), and have about 20/400 vision. By 1 month, they start making more intentional eye contact and looking more intently at objects that are put close to their faces. By 3 months they develop the ability to follow an object with their eyes. That said, the ability to be more engaged in watching activities around them, however, doesn't really develop until 3 to 4 months and recognition of more specific characteristics, including specific colors, favorite people, toys, or food, at a distance isn't typical until closer to 6 months.