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Early social gaze in infants is linked to later socio-communicative development and is prevalent in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) research. However, recent research suggests that general visual processes guide attention to social and non-social information, rather than gaze being solely socially motivated. This study examined (1) whether infants’ eye preference, measured by the Eye-Mouth Index (EMI), correlates with socio-communicative scores on the Infant-Toddler Checklist (ITC), and (2) whether that relationship remains significant after controlling for vertical gaze toward objects. Exploratory analyses examined direct and moderating effects of Age, Sex and Socio-Economic Status (SES). A total of 111 infants (M = 447.1 days) provided eye-tracking data for social and non-social stimuli, and parent-reported ITC scores. Multiple regression models assessed the predictors of ITC, as well as EMI x (Age/Sex/SES) interactions. There was no significant correlation between EMI and ITC (r = -.035, p = .718), and neither EMI (p = .873) nor object gaze (p = .193) significantly predicted ITC in the regression model. Age and Sex independently explained 8.7 % and 3.5 % of the variance in ITC; no moderation effects emerged. A strong correlation, aligning with previous research findings, between vertical gaze on faces and objects (r = .622, p < .001), challenges the notion that early gaze toward faces is exclusively driven by socio-communicative motivations. Instead, these patterns may also be influenced by broader domain-general visual mechanisms, positioning gaze towards faces as one component within a larger set of skills contributing to infants' development.